Children's home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Overall, the service continues to offer a high standard of care to young people, who make excellent progress. However, the registered manager and staff have failed to take adequate action in response to two significant incidents. This has influenced the judgement at this inspection. In addition, the registered manager has not fully addressed two of the four recommendations made at the last inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Generally, young people receive good support from consistent and caring staff. Young people talk positively about the staff and the relationships they have. Several young people also confirmed that they ‘do loads of fun things’ during their stays. Staff set specific targets and help young people to work towards these, celebrating positive progress. This helps young people to achieve more. Young people are rightly proud of the progress they make. This increases their self- confidence.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Incidents are rare and staff generally manage them well. However, on two occasions the registered manager and staff failed to take effective action in response to concerns. On the first occasion, staff members failed to record their observations after a young person displayed inappropriate and unusual behaviour. As a result, the young person’s family were not informed in a timely way. Risk assessments were not updated to reflect this behaviour, or consider the possible impact on the young person or their peers. Following a second incident, similar in nature, a young person’s school indicated that they had concerns about a young person’s ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. The registered manager and members of staff failed to explore these concerns or gain any additional detail. These shortfalls have an impact on the support young people receive. This has prevented the registered manager and members of staff from accurately assessing the level of risk young

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

people face, or making suitable arrangements to reduce this.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager’s oversight in most other areas remains effective. He has implemented a new action plan aimed at developing the service. This includes enhancing the referral processes for new young people coming into the service. This will improve the information available to him and the quality of the introductions for these young people. In contrast, the registered manager has not fully resolved two of the recommendations made at the last inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

First, staff routinely leave the ‘sleeping in room’ door unlocked and the keys accessible to young people. The registered manager has only considered whether this is appropriate in relation to one young person. He has not extended this assessment to cover the other young people who use the service. As a result, the registered manager has not assessed whether this practice is safe and reasonable, or whether the area poses an unacceptable risk and should be more secure. This is particularly relevant as medication is sometimes stored in this room.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Second, although the majority of staff receive regular, good quality supervision and records reflect this, records for one ‘casual’ member of staff still do not show that her formal supervision is delivered in line with regulation. This reduces the support the member of staff receives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Senior managers have recently agreed that an assistant manager will be recruited to support the registered manager. This has the potential to increase the capacity that the registered manager has and improve management oversight.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff have developed excellent relationships with young people’s families, who are positive about the service they receive. They also have strong relationships with other agencies, particularly social care. A social worker commented, ‘The service is excellent.’

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Information about this children’s home

This service is operated by a local authority. The service offers short-break care for young people who have severe learning disabilities. It is registered to accommodate up to six young people at any one time. The service is generally only open at weekends but opens occasionally during the week in school holidays.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 18/11/2016 Full Outstanding 18/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/01/2016 Full Good 01/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Statutory requirement

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to incidents, the registered person must ensure that staff–

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

(vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. 31/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the registered person assesses what would be safe, achievable and reasonable for each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 32, paragraph 6.10)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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