Children's Home run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC028905 1 SC028905 Registered provider: Staffordshire County 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 is a local authority-owned children’s home. It is registered to care for up to five children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides care for up to five young people aged between 12 and 17 years on a short-term basis. Young people normally stay no longer than four weeks, during which time staff support them to return home or to move on to appropriate long-term placements. 

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children's home: SC028905 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people feel welcomed and cared for by highly committed staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home is comfortable, well maintained, and young people can personalise their rooms as they wish.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make significant and sustained progress in their emotional well- being and ability to manage their behaviour.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people engage with staff in fun activities which support their emotional, physical and social development.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Skilled staff recognise the importance of helping young people to quickly form trusting relationships with them, so as to maximise the impact of work undertaken during the short time that young people are living in the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Highly trained staff keep young people safe and work with young people to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 When young people go missing or are at risk of child sexual exploitation, staff respond quickly and appropriately in order to keep young people safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The experienced and child-focused registered manager ensures that the home is well staffed and that young people are provided with consistent care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff benefit from regular supervision and up-to-date, relevant, training.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager constantly strives to drive up standards in the service in order to meet the needs of the young people effectively.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/07/2016 Full Good 08/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/08/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC028905 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a spacious, comfortable and calm home where they can relax and focus on their own needs. The home is well maintained and young people like their rooms, which they are able to personalise as they wish. The home has its own cat, and there is a piano in the sitting room which staff and young people can play. Young people quickly form trusting relationships with warm and dedicated staff. Young people spoke highly of the home and staff. One young person said, ‘It's lovely here.’ Another young person commented that the staff are very kind and that they look after him and care for him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a wide range of activities and outings with the proactive staff, which are fun and also support their educational needs. One young person commented, ‘We do lots of nice things and outings, and if I’m bored in the evening they will help me bake a cake or go for a drive.’ Young people can help grow vegetables in the garden which are used in the home, and staff have acquired some fertile chicken’s eggs which they are hatching. Young people are thoroughly enjoying the new chicks and find the process fascinating. The cook provides healthy food which takes into account young people’s personal choices and cultural needs. Staff work hard to identify and meet young people’s diverse needs and, for example, celebrated the Chinese New Year, involving all of the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The four-week placements enable young people to make progress in their emotional well-being. One young person said that she has not had a panic attack or self-harmed since she moved in. She explained that this was because the staff really care about her and look after her. Young people learn to manage their own behaviour and comply with the rules and boundaries, which provide them with stability and security. They make significant progress in their independence skills, education attendance and social development and benefit from having a ‘breathing space’, allowing them to plan for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Highly skilled and sensitive staff help some young people to improve their family relationships and benefit from positive contact so that they are able to go back and live at home. Some young people successfully move on to independence, foster placements or residential care. When young people leave the home, staff work closely with family members, the intensive prevention team, asylum seekers team and the local authority placements team and provide invaluable information and support. This ensures smooth transitions for the young people. Dedicated staff enabled one young person, who had refused to consider a foster placement, to visit the placement, and then invited the foster carer to the home. The young person quickly formed a warm relationship with the foster carer and agreed to move in with them. This has since been highly successful in meeting his needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff engage young people in discussing what they want for the future and how that can be achieved. One young person expressed how much she values the opportunity to Inspection report children's home: SC028905 4 discuss her feelings in depth, address the difficulties in her family life and consider her future options. Young people benefit from key-work sessions which address their behaviour, education, activities and personal issues such as sexuality. Staff empower young people by helping them to understand the impact of their behaviour and to see how they can make positive changes themselves. Young people are able to express their views, wishes and feelings in weekly young people’s meetings, and they know how to complain and who to go to for help. One young person said that staff always listen to her.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Unaccompanied asylum seekers experience a strong sense of security in the placement and benefit from the highly experienced and skilled staff, who understand their complex needs following traumatic travel experiences. One young person felt able to talk to the staff about his very challenging 14-month journey to the UK. He was particularly reassured that staff understood his need to receive education at the right level for him to progress. He has written to staff expressing how much he values their help, kindness, respect and hard work. Staff pay great attention to the health and cultural needs of unaccompanied asylum seekers and are highly proactive in identifying local places of worship, working with language interpreters and being creative in how they communicate with the young people who do not speak English.

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

Staff keep young people safe and help young people to understand how to keep themselves safe. One young person said that she feels very safe here and confirmed that staff talk to her about safety. She has undertaken a course on internet safety and been involved with other young people in discussing and learning about child sexual exploitation. Staff provide young people with booklets on internet safety and a DVD which highlights the risks of grooming, including the ‘boyfriend’ model, and how to protect themselves. Staff constantly talk to young people about safety. Highly trained staff undertake detailed risk assessments and behaviour management plans which are regularly reviewed by the registered manager. They closely involve young people in their plans in order to enable them to start taking responsibility for their own safety. Staff provide young people with opportunities to be independent while identifying appropriate

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

safeguarding strategies. For example, young people agree to keeping their mobile phones on when they are out by themselves, and to staff going out to check on them and monitor their well-being.

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

Young people make significant progress in reducing unsafe behaviours including going missing and misusing substances. No young person has gone missing for more than a few hours since the last inspection. If they have left the home without authorisation, staff have successfully located them locally, often with family or friends. When young people do go missing, staff follow clear and effective procedures to try to find them and report the matter to the police and placing authority, as appropriate. Staff have only had to use one physical intervention since the last inspection, in order to prevent a distressed young person from standing in the road. Inspection report children's home: SC028905 5 Staff safeguarding training is up to date and relevant and includes key areas of child protection, internet safety and child sexual exploitation. The locality risk assessment is undertaken in consultation with the police to ensure that it is current and effective.

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

Staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable in working with unaccompanied asylum seekers who are at risk from people traffickers. Staff undertake impact assessments when young people are admitted which inform initial risk assessments and they have developed in-depth knowledge of this complex area of work. They effectively liaise with the local police to ensure that information regarding risks is shared. Staff work closely with the asylum social workers and alert them to any concerns. Professionals in the asylum social work team said that the staff are highly important in safeguarding asylum seekers, that they respond quickly and are aware that, for example, Vietnamese young people are at especially high risk of being trafficked. The vigilant staff ensure that these young people are monitored effectively in order to keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Over the past year, the focus of the service has changed in order to provide young people with shorter, four-week assessment placements aimed at ensuring that their next placement is appropriate and meets their needs. The committed registered manager has skilfully supported her team to adjust to the increase in work with family members and faster pace of work with young people. The service meets the aims in the statement of purpose, and staff use a social pedagogy approach to their work which emphasises building positive relationships with young people. Staff constantly relate this theory to practice and identify the techniques that they use when recording the key work that they undertake with young people. Staff recognise the excellent opportunities for young people to relax and talk about their lives and feelings, afforded by engaging them in activities such as walking, cycling, playing pool, and beauty sessions. This approach has

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

proved very effective in making young people feel cared for and in enabling them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The efficient registered manager ensures that the staffing levels are sufficient to provide consistent care for young people. Staff receive training and regular supervision which enables them to confidently and competently fulfil their roles. Recent staff training has addressed anti-bullying and racism and the registered manager is seeking additional training for staff to enhance their work with unaccompanied asylum seekers. The child- focused registered manager and staff do not hesitate to advocate on behalf of young people and to challenge other professionals if they consider that the needs of young people are not being met. The registered manager reviews recording and practice issues on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are effective for staff and young people. Since the last inspection, she has introduced ‘outcome arrows’ to capture and illustrate the progress being made by each young person. The registered manager has a ‘hands on’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

approach to working with young people and leads a culture in which staff aim to return young people to their families whenever possible. She clearly demonstrates her in-depth knowledge and understanding of the specific needs of traumatised teenagers and uses social pedagogy to successfully engage and protect them. The registered manager has a Inspection report children's home: SC028905 6 very good knowledge of her team’s strengths and areas for development and skilfully manages their different skills for the benefit of young people. Staff said that they love working here and appreciate the support that the registered manager provides for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work closely with a wide range of professionals, including the intensive prevention service, in order to significantly increase the likelihood of some young people being able to return home. Staff also work with the minority ethnic achievement service (MEAS), health, youth offending services and social workers. The local police informally call into the home on a weekly basis. Professionals praise the staff and the registered manager for their proactivity and the welcome that they provide. One young person’s social worker said, ‘Nothing is too much. They have a good understanding of the young people’s needs and they know the young people.’ A member of the asylum seekers team emphasised that staff work with them in a highly effective, collaborative way, resulting in good experiences and outcomes for young people. She stated that staff support age assessments, act quickly and have very good working relationships with the team. She

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

emphasised that she trusts the views and information provided by the staff, who she said are non-judgemental and unoppressive, and is impressed that they are not afraid of coming forward with information and views.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is effective in obtaining feedback from staff and professionals to inform her review of the service and drive up standards. In order to gain more meaningful feedback from parents, the registered manager and the team are working to help parents better understand how the social pedagogy approach supports their work with young people. Inspection report children's home: SC028905 7

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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: SC028905 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Staffordshire County Council, Wedgwood Buildings, Tipping Street Stafford ST16 2DH

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children's home: SC028905 9 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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