Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire Dales

Inspection report children's home: SC035972 1 SC035972 Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and managed by a local authority.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children's home: SC035972 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress from difficult starting points.  Staff provide good, consistent and nurturing care to young people.  The health needs of young people, especially relating to their emotional and mental health, remain a high priority for the manager and staff.  Staff encourage and support young people to maintain relationships with their families and those important to them. Family contact takes place as part of a clearly defined plan and receives continuous monitoring and oversight by the manager and staff.  Young people are kept safe by staff who fully understand their risks and vulnerabilities.  The behaviour of young people is good because staff implement clear behavioural boundaries and maintain high expectations.  The manager works effectively with local partner agencies. This has aided the manager in completing an effective locality risk assessment.  The staff receive a good level of supervision and feel supported by managers.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Staff training and development is valued and promoted. Managers understand that this is crucial in providing good and effective care to young people.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The physical environment of the home still requires improvement. Plans for the re-development of the site have not been progressed.  The manager has not sufficiently scrutinised the past work references and work histories of newly appointed members of staff.  More effective planning is required for some young people who are struggling to engage with education.  The manager has not yet developed a workforce development plan to support strategic workforce planning. Inspection report children's home: SC035972 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/05/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/10/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children's home: SC035972 4

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure— that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished in such a way that—

p.4

Requirement Due date

they meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(2)(d)(i)) 08/09/2017

p.4

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(b)) 08/09/2017

p.4

Recommendations

 For some children who have experienced severe trauma, have mental health difficulties or have been excluded or out of education for significant periods, it may be necessary to address and work through their past experiences and present needs before they can positively participate in learning activities and formal education. Staff in children’s homes will play a key role in supporting these children in line with their personal education plan or EHC plan and recommendation from education and health professionals. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.3)

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should: detail the necessary management and staffing structure, including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training; detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; detail the process Inspection report children's home: SC035972 5 and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people make good progress across all areas of their development because of the help and support provided by the staff team. One young person said, ‘It is good here, I get looked after.’ Young people present as settled and happy, and enjoy living in an environment that is calm and relaxed. Young people enjoy good relationships with the staff caring for them. One social worker said his impression of staff ‘is they are caring and committed’.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance to young people’s future prospects of education, training and employment. Some young people have recently completed GCSE exams and have college placements arranged. A social worker for one young person commented, ‘They have done incredibly well since being at the home.’ Another young person, to his credit, has made excellent progress on an apprenticeship and is likely to secure permanent employment as a result. He has a commendable work ethic and clear vision for his future. Educational attainment is more challenging for other young people. The staff work hard with education providers to help young people in education and to improve attendance. For example, one young person is struggling with consistent attendance and focus at school. The manager arranged a joint development session with school, home staff and a psychologist to help understand the young person’s barriers to

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

education. This young person has been at the home for some time and the attendance and achievement have not improved sufficiently.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff meet all young people’s health needs. All young people attend routine health appointments and receive annual health assessments; this ensures that routine health surveillance remains a priority for the manager and staff. The staff work with more specialist health services, such as the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to ensure that the emotional and mental health needs of young people are met. The service greatly benefits from the services of a clinical psychologist working with the staff team. The psychologist undertakes regular meetings with the staff to review the individual young people and approaches to their care. The staff report that these meetings are valuable in helping them understand the emotional needs of young people and the underlying causes of behaviours. Consequently, this helps the development of a staff team that understands and responds well to the emotional needs

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of the relationships young people have with their families. Arrangements for visits to family and friends take place within a clearly defined plan and are monitored closely by staff. The manager and staff, wherever possible, develop relationships with family members and keep them informed of the progress of their young people. Staff understand the emotional impact upon those young Inspection report children's home: SC035972 6 people who do not have any contact with family members. Staff provide reassurance and support to young people, who know that the staff are available to them and that they care.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive the help and support they need to help them live independently. Staff undertake focused work with young people to provide them with the skills and knowledge they will need when they leave the home. Help with budgeting, shopping, cooking and utilising community resources prepares young people for leaving care. The staff will help young people to decorate and furnish accommodation and provide outreach support to young people to help them make this difficult transition. Young people return to the home regularly, for meals or just drop in for a chat with staff, as would be expected in any caring family home. Young people know they are cared for and valued.

p.6

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

The registered manager and staff work effectively with partner agencies to keep young people safe. The manager attends local area meetings, which are also attended by police, safer neighbourhood teams, the youth offending service, and other agencies. These meetings help the manager understand the risks to young people in the local area and areas of specific interest. This information helps the manager complete an effective location risk assessment and take any action required to keep young people safe.

p.6

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

Young people feel safe; this is achieved through positive and trusting relationships with staff. The young people understand what staff expect of them in relation to their behaviour. Staff set clear behavioural boundaries and maintain high standards of behaviour management. This has resulted in incidents of physical intervention being extremely rare, and there have been no sanctions given out because of negative behaviour. This is because young people respect and care about the staff looking after them. Staff rarely have to give out direct instruction to young people, and instead they make use of conversation, negotiation, and compromise. Staff proactively engage young people with an array of activities; they welcome young people’s friendships and take an interest in young people’s lives.

p.6

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

The staff understand the young people’s risks and vulnerabilities, and take effective action to keep them safe. The number of incidents of young people being away from the home on an unauthorised basis has decreased. Managers have dealt with significant incidents in a proportionate and effective manner with good oversight. When young people have attempted to harm themselves the manager and staff have worked well with partner agencies to understand the underlying causes and ensure that those young people get access to the services they need immediately.

p.6

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

The manager and staff complete regular risk assessments for young people. These assessments are discussed with staff in both team meetings and reflective meetings with the psychologist. This ensures that staff understand what actions to take to safeguard young people. Inspection report children's home: SC035972 7 Staff receive regular training and development in safeguarding and child protection. The staff understand what action they should take when faced with safeguarding concerns and the appropriate procedures to follow. The staff understand what constitutes bullying and take action immediately when faced with any concerns. Additionally, the staff ensure the safety of young people when using social media and the internet. All staff have completed training in the safe use of physical intervention should this be required. This means young people receive care from a staff team that understands how to keep them

p.6

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

An experienced and registered manager, who has the required management qualification, leads this service. She is currently undertaking the Diploma Level 5 in leadership and management. She brings to bear a great deal of experience and commitment to providing a good quality of care for the benefit of young people. The manager is well supported by an experienced and skilled deputy manager and they work together well.

p.7

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

At the last inspection, a requirement was raised regarding the condition of the building not being of an acceptable standard for young people. The organisation has submitted plans to demolish the existing building to make way for a new build. The planning application has not yet been determined. The Strategic Director of Children’s services has met with relevant officers and the Responsible Individual has submitted a Public Benefit Statement to support the application. A further response from planning officers is expected. The requirement remains unmet because there is no clear plan for the future of this building. This situation leaves young people living in the home and staff working there with uncertainty over the future. This is unacceptable and requires resolution.

p.7

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

The young people benefit from a stable and consistent staff team. There have been no changes to the staff team for a considerable period. In the event of new staff recruited, there exist robust processes to ensure that those in positions of trust do not harm young people. However, the manager has not always been sufficiently rigorous in this process through checking information contained in references and dates of past employment. For example, one worker had previously worked abroad and the manager, although receiving a reference, did not verify the actual dates of employment or that it was the only employment. These management processes should be robust to ensure that the welfare needs of young people are met.

p.7

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

Staff receive a good level of supervision. This takes place through formal individual supervision sessions, group supervision and additional sessions with the clinical psychologist. Staff are accountable in their work with young people and all supervision processes centre around the care provided to young people. The training and development of the staff team is good. Staff have access to, and are encouraged to attend, relevant training. The manager complete development appraisals with staff in which their work performance, knowledge and skills are reviewed. The manager has not yet developed a workforce development plan, which would enable the manager to plan the workforce going forward and how this will meet the needs of young people. Inspection report children's home: SC035972 8 The manager takes complaints seriously and responds quickly. There have been two complaints made, both of which were investigated thoroughly by the manager and

p.7

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

resolved to the satisfaction of all involved. The manager seeks to learn lessons from complaints that may assist her in improving the service. Conversely, the service has received a number of compliments, with one parent reporting, ‘Staff care about my child and they are taking good care of him.’ Likewise, the manager also learns valuable lessons from compliments as to what works well.

p.8

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

The manager has a robust quality assurance process. She receives insightful monthly reports from an independent visitor who makes recommendations for areas requiring improvement and simultaneously highlighting areas working well. The visitor speaks to staff and young people, and scrutinises documents pertaining to young people. The manager also completes her own quality of care reviews and from this is able to develop service improvement plans. This helps to improve the standards of care, benefitting young people.

p.8

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 differences 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.8

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: SC035972 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

p.9

Inspectors

Phillip Morris, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC035972 10 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10