Children's home run by Calderdale Council in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 1 Registered provider: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 11 October 2016

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children receive highly individualised care, with an emphasis on nurturing healthy attachments. Because of this, children are making good progress from Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 2 their initial starting points.  Children view the home as a safe place. As a result, they rarely go missing from home and are learning to manage their behaviour more safely.  Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs. They have the skills, experience and competence to meet these needs.  Highly effective management ensures that no opportunity is missed to improve outcomes for the children living in the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Further development is required of the staff team’s knowledge and understanding of children’s emotional development.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of children’s lives is improving. They benefit from consistent routines and boundaries alongside genuine warmth from staff. Some children who have experienced significant trauma are supported to manage their emotions appropriately. Staff know the children well, and support them to find ways to manage their feelings and frustrations. As a result, episodes of challenging behaviour have reduced significantly for some children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is in the process of being reintegrated into mainstream education. This is significant progress for her. When others experience difficulties in coping with school, staff work well with education providers to ensure that all children have their educational needs met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun and gain the opportunity to learn new skills by taking part in activities such as swimming, dance classes and girl guides. This also gives them the chance to become part of the local community and make new friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good physical health. Staff are creative in helping children to improve their emotional well-being. For example, each child has a ‘pop up’ den in their rooms, to provide them with a ‘safe’ enclosed space. Children are also provided with toys to match their emotional stage rather than their chronological age. Staff undertake life-story work with children to help them to understand their past history better. In addition, children get the help they need from specialist therapeutic services. This helps children to develop the emotional resilience they will need in later life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s relationships with family members are actively promoted by the staff team. This promotes their identity as part of their family. One parent commented that his child, ‘couldn’t be in a better place’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The requirement to improve the home’s admissions process is met. The statement of purpose has been altered to reflect that the home will no longer accept emergency placements. The manager now insists on the fullest information from social workers, and prepares comprehensive impact risk assessments before an admission is agreed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children report that they feel safe and happy in the home. They can identify trusted adults they can talk to about any concerns.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Any risks associated with the children are known and understood by staff. Individual, up- to-date risk assessments inform staff of action to take to address these risks. Children are learning how to keep themselves safe. For example, they have all completed online Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 4 modules about safe use of the internet.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are becoming increasingly safe due to the staff’s use of strong relationships with them to promote positive behavior. These relationships have resulted in missing- from-home episodes reducing and ceasing for most children. When they have occurred, staff have promptly followed the risk management procedures.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are alert to signs of distress in the children and are on hand to divert and reassure them. The home focuses on a restorative approach to managing behaviour, with the result that sanctions are rarely used. When incidents occur, children are helped to reflect on what happened and to explore other ways to manage their emotions. Physical intervention is not needed for the majority of children. When it is necessary, it is recorded in line with requirements and evaluated thoroughly by the manager. The recommendation in this area is met.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Careful recruitment and regular monitoring of staff ensures that children are cared for by suitable people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager holds a level 5 management qualification. He is supported by a qualified and experienced senior management team. Together they work collaboratively to provide inspirational and confident leadership which is helping to change the lives of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Care plans are viewed as living documents, constantly updated with new insights and information. These are communicated effectively to staff, and this ensures that staff respond to children’s needs in the most effective way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A recommendation to record achievements and progress is met. Children’s achievements are well documented and their self-esteem is reinforced through individual sessions, photos and affirmative comments displayed in their bedrooms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The requirement to improve management oversight is met. Meticulous monitoring identifies both achievements and areas for further development in the care of the children. This further promotes positive outcomes for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are knowledgeable about the aims and ethos of the home as stated in the statement of purpose. They use a restorative approach to behavior management, and focus on the strengths of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have the qualifications and training they need to do their job well. They receive effective supervision which increases their understanding of children’s complex needs. With encouragement from the manager, they look for ways of making life better for children. For example, one member of staff is researching life-story work and using this Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 5 to good effect. This is helping children to understand the reasons why they are not living with their birth families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnerships with others who are involved in children’s lives are highly effective. Professionals highlight the ‘particularly strong’ knowledge and understanding the manager and staff team have of the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has developed strong partnership working arrangements with the fostering team resulting in staff using their in-depth knowledge of the children to assist in the matching process and preparing carers. This will maximise the chances of long-term fostering placements being successful.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 6

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Registered provider: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

Registered provider address: Northgate House, Halifax HX1 1UN

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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1236540 7 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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