Children's home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 1 SC033486 Registered provider: City of Bradford Metropolitan District 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 home. It provides care and accommodation for up to six children 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children‟s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 A number of emergency placements have caused instability and have had a negative effect on young people already living at the home.  Staff supervision and professional development and the induction of new staff have not been prioritised.  Planned admissions to the home are not sufficiently scrutinised for risk factors that could potentially undermine the safety of the young people already in placement.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager has a clear understanding of what the home does well. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience. This underpins her practice in implementing improvements.  Young people who have been in placement for some time are doing well in all aspects of their development. Their placements are stable due to the relationships that they have developed with staff.  All the young people are engaging in education and their attendance is good. Staff provide opportunities for the young people to develop their confidence and social skills and promote learning.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2016 Full Requires improvement 22/06/2016 Full Inadequate 01/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enable to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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 risks of any harm to the child; and— manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)(iv) With specific reference to ensuring that all behaviours are assessed when completing risk assessments, particularly in relation to the risk to others when a young person is admitted to the home. 31/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home; and— have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 31/07/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 4 16. Statement of Purpose The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is

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Requirement Due date

consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16(4)) With specific reference to ensuring that admissions to the home are in accordance with the home‟s statement of purpose. 31/07/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Specifically, ensure that all members of staff receive planned supervision in line with the provider‟s policy.  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child‟s assessed needs as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟ page 56, paragraph (11.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Young people have mixed experiences at this home. Some have continued to make notable progress in all areas of their development. Educational attendance and engagement is good; young people have aspirations and take pride in their appearance. One young person is focusing on her GCSE examinations with a view to going on to further education. She commented: „I want to go to college and further my chances of getting a career. I don‟t engage in the negative behaviours that go on here.‟ This attitude demonstrates considerable maturity, testament to the positive attachments that have been nurtured with staff. However, others have done less well. This is due to a high level of emergency placements, several of which were not properly risk assessed for impact on young people already resident in the home. As a consequence, one young person has been targeted and bullied, culminating in the setting of a fire adjacent to her room. Staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

actions to address this behaviour, and the strategies put in place to safeguard the young person, were eventually effective. A comment made by the independent reviewing Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 5 officer confirmed this: ‟Staff handled this situation very well. I have a lot of time for the staff at the home, they do their best for young people under difficult circumstances.‟ The situation is continuing to improve. All the young people are attending mainstream education; they are supported to attend, with staff endeavouring to maintain good working relationships with local schools. One member of staff commented: „Over the last few months, we have had a cluster of young people that were very challenging. We had to be with them all the time. We have very different dynamics now. It now feels very refreshing working with a group of young people where you feel as if you are making a difference.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Some young people are supported to engage in activities outside of the home, where positive peer relationships can be promoted and developed. One young person attends the cadets with the intention of joining the Royal Air Force. „I really want to be a pilot,‟ he said with a hopeful expression. For another young person, playing rugby really expels excess energy. Other young people are less easy to engage, but staff continue to encourage them to spend more time at the home.

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improvement to be good

The home has experienced a prolonged period of turbulence and instability due to the behaviours of some of the young people. Episodes of young people missing from care and behaviours associated with being missing, such as risk of child sexual exploitation and criminal activity, increased significantly. The incompatibility between the young people increased challenging and disruptive behaviour in the home, with staff having to deal with crisis situations on a frequent basis. The work undertaken to reduce the risk of young people engaging in behaviours associated with child sexual exploitation has had mixed results. Two young people have benefited from attending a girls‟ group that combines social activities with work around sexual health, stranger awareness and confidence building. The manager has made some improvements to the quality and content of risk assessments, but this is not yet effective in promoting safe care in the home. Individual

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improvement to be good

and up-to-date risk assessments do not fully address known risk factors to self and others, or describe what action should be taken to address the risks. The manager has not ensured that she has all the presenting information at the point of referral to adequately appraise any potential risk posed to other young people already in placement. Managing the safe use of social media remains a challenge. All the young people have mobile phones and use these for communicating with friends and family. Staff have undergone eLearning, and key work sessions have focused on internet safety to promote a wider understanding of the potential risks associated with different applications. Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 6

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

The manager and the staff team have focused their efforts and energies on managing the complex and diverse mix of young people. For a significant number of weeks, the manager needed to be more „hands on‟ with the more practical tasks, to ensure that the young people‟s welfare and standards of care continued to be a priority. The manager‟s ability to follow the admission criteria, as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose, has been undermined with placements being made in an emergency and often on a short-term basis. This is contrary to the home‟s statement of purpose. Following the last inspection, the manager made an impressive start in „bedding in‟ monitoring and quality assurance processes, most noticeably in areas such ensuring that behaviour management plans and risk assessments are individualised and updated on a monthly basis. Overall, this has been maintained, but with some slippage when the

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

manager had to give priority to the safety and well-being of the young people. The frequency of staff supervision remains a shortfall. Some members of staff have not received regular supervision as outlined in the home‟s statement of purpose. Discussions have taken place on an ad hoc basis. Staff report that, following particularly challenging incidents involving the young people, the manager gives priority to undertaking debriefing sessions. Team meetings are used to facilitate group supervision and to reflect on practice. The recent appointment of an assistant manager has seen some good progress in getting „back on track‟ with monthly supervisions. A recommendation is made to ensure that regular supervision is maintained to address practice issues and to promote the well- being of staff. The home has been through a period of instability during a period where the manager and the staff were having to deal with a range of competing demands and complex

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

behaviours. Staff have been instrumental in covering extra shifts in ensuring the safety and well-being of the young people in their care.

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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. 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC033486 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1HY

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Inspector

Cath Sikakana, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC033486 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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