Children's home run by Portsmouth City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 1 SC037762 Registered provider: Portsmouth City 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

The local authority operates the home. This home is registered for up to seven children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers have taken steps to fully address the failures of the last inspection.  Young people are safe and actively involved in their care planning; they are making good progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 2  Relationships between staff and the young people are positive, supportive and effective.  Young people are no longer displaying concerning behaviours, such as missing from care or engagement with criminal activity.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2017 Full Inadequate 06/06/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/03/2016 Full Require improvement 03/11/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

13. The leadership and management standard. In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person is required to: (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation (2)(h)) 08 August 17

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation (36)(1)(a)) 08 August 2017

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Recommendations

 The policy on protection of children from abuse and neglect should include arrangements in relation to dealing with e-safety and to counter risk of self-harm and suicide. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key improvements have been made since the last inspection that have contributed to young people making good progress while being kept safe. The discharge of two young people who were negatively affecting each other and others in the home, and putting themselves at risk, has allowed the two young people remaining to settle. Good relationships exist between the young people and staff. The young people are respectful and positively engage with staff. Evening meals and planned activities in the community have provided opportunities for young people to bond with staff. Young people understand their care plans. They attend review meetings with staff and Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 4 express their views regarding their care. A review of the young people’s files revealed that key documentation was missing, such as the most recent looked after review meeting minutes. There was no evidence available to demonstrate that staff had

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

attempted to obtain the minutes form the local authority. This oversight has not adversely affected the young people. Young people have a voice. Staff listen to their needs and respond appropriately. Key workers guide young people in their daily living. They mould the regular key-work sessions to talk about pertinent issues in the young person’s life and wider society. Key workers are diligent at recording succinct notes that are made available to the young person. Young people benefit from the various health assessments that are in place. They receive treatment such as dental work and all their immunisations are up to date. However, the registered manager does not hold some reports on file in the home. There is a risk that, without key information, responsibilities are missed. In one case, a young person was overdue for a check at the optician. This was corrected during the inspection. Young people make good progress in regards to their general health. Of particular note

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

is a young person able to participate in a sport that health professionals once considered improbable. It is admirable that a young person with an adverse health condition ensures that this is not a barrier to participation in the exercise of his choice. The young people are in full-time education and attend education regularly, even those that have a considerable commute. Staff provide incentives to the young people to encourage their attendance and academic performance. The young people’s commitment to education was evident during the inspection, as they attended school to sit exams. The physical environment of the home has much improved and no longer has an institutional appearance. Photos of the young people and staff have been displayed, along with notice boards containing information for young people. Most of the communal areas have been painted with colours chosen by the young people. New furniture,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

plants, and a big screen television have been purchased to make the home comfortable and appealing.

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

Young people feel safe and believe that they can talk to staff if they have a worry. Staff have good knowledge of the processes to follow should they be concerned about a young person’s safety or well-being. The social workers for the young people stated that the young people are currently protected from risk of harm. Staff understand the risks associated with these young people. However, this is not communicated on the individual risk assessments for the young people. Staff are struggling to correctly complete the new risk assessment template and have not received any feedback from the manager. As a result, some risks to young people are not fully assessed or detailed in the paperwork. Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 5 Missing from care incidents have decreased since the last inspection. The young people are currently not absconding from care. Staff proactively contact the young people on

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

their mobile phones when they have not returned as planned. Young people often respond by answering their calls and advising of their whereabouts. Staff have signed off on the updated fire protocols to acknowledge their understanding of what to do in the event of fire. Independent fire training has been scheduled for staff assigned the role of fire warden. All significant events have been notified to Ofsted since the last inspection. Discussions with the manager evidence that he has improved his awareness into what incidents involving the young people need to be reported in line with regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The leadership and management have taken steps to address the failures identified at the last inspection. Senior management has been highly involved and has implemented a plan of action that has addressed all concerns in a short period of time. The manager believes the disappointing results of the last inspection have ‘rejuvenated the staff and provided a renewed focus.’ The majority of admissions to the home are on an emergency basis. The managers have rewritten the admission policy and created a new process for monitoring and reviewing the young people when newly admitted. The plan is to make an informed decision regarding the future of the placement using a matching tool and information obtained from attending a weekly resource panel. If a young person is having a negative impact on other people and not engaging, an alternative placement will be sought within seven days. Staff are experienced and qualified and have been actively involved in the development

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

of the service. A team away day was held to seek their views and discuss ways to improve their practice. Staff presented as very motivated and committed to working with the young people. They are confident in their ability to meet the needs of any young person; they have embraced the changes implemented by the managers. The statement of purpose has been updated to reflect key changes in the age range of young people admitted, along with how their needs will be met; in addition, staff qualifications and experiences have been added. This addresses the previous concerns regarding the home operating outside its statement of purpose. A new young person’s guide has been created that offers information in a child-friendly format. Two requirements and one recommendation have been made because of this inspection. The absence of sufficient management overview has resulted in the misplacement or failure to obtain key documents and to risk assessments being only partially completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

These shortcomings could have been identified if the manager had a system in place to monitor the records of young people.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 6 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: SC037762 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth PO1 2BG

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Inspector(s)

James Harmon, social care inspector Keith Riley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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