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

Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 1 SC486606 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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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: 9 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people benefit greatly from being cared for by an experienced and well- trained staff team that is child-centred and nurturing.  The strong and positive relationships quickly established between young people and staff assist in young people trusting the adults who care for them.  Young people’s emotional well-being is well supported with specialist mental Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 2 health teams who work alongside staff.  Young people enjoy a homely environment that is well maintained, decorated and furnished to a good standard.  Staff are proactive, working with other agencies and professionals to safeguard young people.  Staff provide consistent care. This is achieved through the excellent communication systems, regular meetings and formal supervision.  A wide range of thorough monitoring systems ensures that shortfalls are quickly identified, and addressed to maintain and improve the quality of care provided.

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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

 The manager’s registration needs to continue to proceed to ensure that a permanent and stable leadership is provided.  A review of the training needs of the staff should be undertaken, and training provided in areas of deficiency, ensuring that the staff have the knowledge and skills to be able to meet all the needs of young people accessing the home.

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Recent inspection history

This is a local authority-run children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good 11/08/2015 Full Requires improvement 22/06/2015 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a) 20/08/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, ensure that additional training is provided to ensure that all the needs of the young people accessing the service can be met fully. Examples of this additional training to include outcome star, signs of safety, substance misuse and child sexual exploitation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people arrive to live at the home as a result of emergency or crisis situations. The great skills and support from staff ensure that young people settle in quickly and begin to manage their emotions and behaviour better. This occurs as young people respond positively to the structure and routines put in place and the strong relationships that are quickly established. A young person said: ‘It’s nice here. I get on with all the staff, but get on with [name of staff] best.’ Young people’s health improves as they get the health services they need, including routine check-ups and regular visits from the emotional well-being and mental health professionals. This maintains and improves their health outcomes over time. Most young people’s attendance and learning in education and work placements improves from their starting point. One young person said: ‘Staff talk to me a lot and Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

encourage me to go to school.’ Young people build on their independence skills. These include managing their own personal care, keeping their bedroom clean and tidy, and planning and preparing meals. This promotes a good level of independence that is appropriate to their age and stage of development. Staff work extremely closely with young people’s families. One young person said: ‘Staff help me to arrange visits with my mum.’ This reinforces young people’s connections with their families and those who are important to them. There is a strong focus on engaging and supporting young people to develop their leisure interests and hobbies and, therefore, give them new experiences. Young people relish going out with staff, taking part in artwork and going on short breaks. A young person said: ‘I’ve recently been away with staff to Butlin’s. I really enjoyed it; we went on the rides and to the beach.’ This increases young people’s self-confidence, their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

enjoyment and social opportunities. Young people are consulted well. This is achieved through daily discussions, key-work sessions, young people’s meetings with staff, and attending their own statutory reviews and other meets. This allows young people to express their views and opinions to influence their day-to-day care and the plans for their future.

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

Young people respond well to the immediate daily structure and routines that staff put in place to support their everyday life, after a crisis and/or an emergency admission. This helps young people immensely to manage their anxieties, to settle and feel more secure. Young people thrive as staff focus on their positive behaviour and achievements. Only when young people are at risk of harming themselves or others is a physical intervention used. These incidents decrease for individual young people over time, as they respond well to the well-defined care routines and the positive relationships built that make them feel safer. Young people’s safety is actively promoted and individual missing from care protocols are followed to achieve their safe return at the earliest opportunity. This results in the reduction of incidents of young people going missing. A young person said: ‘Staff talked to us both about bullying and then it stopped. [Name of child] said he was sorry to me,

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

and then it was ok after that.’ Staff demonstrate well their awareness of each young person’s diverse needs, vulnerabilities and the risks specific to them. In addition, they implement the strategies and safety practices set out in written risk assessments. They work exceptionally well alongside other professionals, communicating valuable information to protect young people. These include the police and the child sexual exploitation team. Consequently, young people become increasingly safer. Young people benefit greatly from living in a safe and homely environment. Enormous effort has been made to improve young people’s home surroundings and daily life experience. The house is well furnished and decorated, and personalised with pictures and ornaments. Routine health and safety checks maintain good standards throughout Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 5 the home, for example building maintenance, fire, and medication. This protects and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager has been in post since March 2017 and has commenced the process to register with Ofsted. She holds suitable qualifications and has over 17 years’ experience of working with children and young people and managerial positions. The management team leads with vision and strongly focus to provide young people with the very best care. The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and the areas that it intends to improve on. This ethos is embraced by all the staff and meets the aims of the home, as set out in the statement of purpose. Staff receive effective formal and informal supervision. This, along with great teamwork, ensures that staff work in a supportive environment. Communication systems between staff and other professionals is to a very good standard. This committed, nurturing and child-focused staff team is experienced and receives suitable training, with mandatory training being up to date. As the service has recently changed its statement of purpose,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

not all staff have received training in all the specialist areas to ensure that they are fully equipped to meet the needs of young people coming to live at the home. Well-established collaborative working with other professionals and agencies ensures that young people receive prompt support to meet their specific and individual needs. A professional said: ‘Their communication is excellent; we are always kept fully up to date with events.’ Therefore, young people receive immediate support and interventions to ensure that they are safeguarded and well cared for. Action has been taken to implement the two previous recommendation made at the last inspection. Young people’s personal education plans include grades and targets that enable staff to monitor their progress. Bathrooms have been personalised to make these facilities more child friendly. Thorough monitoring systems exist. In recent months, additional internal auditing

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

systems have been built on by the management team. The regulation 44 monthly external monitoring remains robust. These quickly detect any shortfalls, enabling the manager to respond immediately to address them. This maintains the good quality of care provided to young people.

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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, 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. Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 6 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: SC486606 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

Debbie Foster, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC486606 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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