Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 1 SC035998 Registered provider: Sheffield 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

This is a local authority children’s home. The home provides care for up to five young people between the ages of eight and 18 years who have emotional and 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 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

Date of last inspection: 12 December 2016

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 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

 Staff training is not kept up to date and evaluated for its effectiveness in meeting the needs of children and young people.  Children and young people have been admitted into the home in quick succession, and this has impacted upon the stability of the home and needs of the children and young people.  Care practices are weak in some areas. This is with particular reference to the inconsistent staff practice when managing incidents.  Children and young people are not always admitted to the home in line with the home’s statement of purpose.  Children and young people are spending the majority of the time away from the home. This impacts upon the staff addressing their fundamental identified needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people live in a home that is newly refurbished and is decorated to a good standard.  Children and young people are being helped to re-engage and attend education.  Children and young people are encouraged and helped to take advantage of the support offered by specialist mental health services.  Staff work in partnership with relevant agencies to help children and young people’s care to make progress.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2016 Interim Not judged 31/08/2016 Interim Not judged 18/01/2016 Full Requires improvement 23/11/2015 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 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

The registered person must ensure that – within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(c)) 21/07/2017

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Recommendations

 Regulation 40 (4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)–(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) With particular reference to updating Ofsted about notifiable incidents.  The information set out in the Statement of Purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. Emergency admissions should not be taken unless the home’s Statement of Purpose and its capacity and

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Recommendations

support systems mean that it has the capacity to care for children admitted at very short notice while continuing to offer high quality care to children already living in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The children’s guide should help children to understand how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) With particular reference to supervision records, including reflection on practice and

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Recommendations

discussions about children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 4  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulation 12 (2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process: ‘Children’s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children’s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came in to effect in January and April 2014’. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

64, paragraph 15.1)  Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Children’s case records must be kept for 75 years from the date of birth of the child, or if the child dies before the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of his or her death. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) This is with particular reference to the author of the children and young people’s care plans signing the document.  As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and

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Recommendations

minimises potential risk to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) This is with particular reference to staff receiving the required ligature training and to review staff continuity of de-escalation practice.  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approaches set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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improvement to be good

All of the children and young people have recently moved into the refurbished and reorganised home. Within 11 weeks, there have been five admissions. Each child and young person has individual needs and risks that they need staff to help them to Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 5 understand and manage. The children and young people have not benefited from the timeliness of the admissions. There has been a complex array of behaviours that have presented during this time, and this has affected staff’s ability to address the underlying needs of the children and young people and the suitability and stability of the placement for some children and young people. There are times during the children and young people’s placements when they are making progress in areas of their lives. For example, children and young people are being helped to re-establish their attendance at school. Staff have provided transport to

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improvement to be good

help children and young people to attend education. Yet, for one young person once she is at school, she then is choosing to spend the majority of her free time remaining in her school’s local area with friends. Although staff are in contact to ensure that she is OK, because of the length of time she spends away from the home, staff do not have the time duration to deliver focus work to help the young person with her underlying needs. Children and young people’s views are not always heard. It is not evident how staff are capturing children and young people’s opinions or celebrating their progress. Staff do record the children and young people’s progress in monthly reports, but there is no evidence of the children and young people’s input into these documents. In addition, the children’s guide does not contain details of the children’s commissioner, as an avenue to promote their rights, views and interests.

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improvement to be good

One young person who experiences difficulties with their mental health is making significant progress, including them engaging with specialist support services. When the young person requires hospitalisation, staff immediately implement plans to support the young person’s safe discharge from hospital. The young person said: ‘Staff understand my needs and put things in place to keep me safe. They want the best for me, and worked with people to get me out of hospital so I can come home. Hospital is not a good place for me. You should give them the best judgement that you can.’ Children and young people live in a recently decorated and refurbished home. As the home is a welcoming environment, children and young people enjoy their friends visiting. Children and young people build on their existing life skills and learn new ones, becoming more independent in the process. Independence skills are introduced into daily

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improvement to be good

life, rather than tasks set for individual children and young people. For example, one young person is helping with cooking and other children are taking care of their bedrooms. Staff do not reflect these achievements in the children or young people’s care records and independence assessment packs. Children and young people are starting to build relationships with staff and this is evident as they are able to accept comfort when in times of emotional distress. Together they are enjoying doing activities, for example going on bike rides. Staff have used this time to build stronger relationships with the children and young people to help them feel safe and understand why they are living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 6

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

Children and young people’s risks are identified and frequently reviewed. Upon admission, the manager consistently reviews the impact of the children and young people’s risks upon each other. As children and young people reveal further needs and risks, appropriate support is implemented to keep the young people safe and action is taken to prevent further episodes. Physical intervention has been used to ensure the safety of children and young people, but the use of these measures is not discussed with the child or young person to identify their thoughts and feelings and impact of the measures being used. Children and young people are protected from potential harm, as they are being cared for by staff who have an insight into the risks within youth culture. For example, a staff member was quick to respond and share information about the dangers associated with a social media application. This increased staff awareness and in turn keeps children and

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

young people safe. The staff are also aware of the concerns within the local area, but the manager has not fully completed the home’s location risk assessment. The majority of children and young people experience a planned and well thought-out admission to the home. Children and young people are being welcomed into the home and helped to feel settled and secure. One child’s admission to the home was an emergency. Although this decision was clearly explored, the home’s statement of purpose does not identify the admissions process for emergency placements. In addition, despite the manager completing an initial impact risk assessment, further information-gathering has identified that he knows another young person resident at the home. This raises concerns that this situation could impact negatively upon his behaviour and increase his risks. The manager is encouraging staff to be more consistent in their approach to behaviour

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

management. Staff set children and young people clear expectations about their behaviour and daily routines, but their response to challenging behaviour is not always consistent. The difference in practice reflects a gap in staff training and practice standards.

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

The manager is well qualified and experienced within his role. After a period of closure, the home has recently reopened and the manager is building upon staff practices and developing the fledgling relationships within the staff team. The manager plays a key role in shaping the ethos of the home. This is to provide children and young people with a homely environment where they are cared for by staff who are hands on and actively engaging with them. The manager’s initial handling of staff coming together helped to build relationships and practice through the introductory period of group learning and reflection. However, as the home has quickly admitted children and young people, this has resulted in a period of responsive and reactive practice as children and young people present challenging behaviours. The manager has classed many of these incidents as being so significant that they need notification to HMCI; however, relevant updates on these notifications are

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 7 not routinely completed. The manager wants the home to progress and is aware of the strengths and areas of development. The manager is quick to respond to the needs of the home and this has included changing the shift pattern. This supported staff during a period of increased challenge from the children and young people’s behaviours. Staff reported: ‘We are also held in high regard and our well-being is as important as the children’s.’ Staff receive regular supervision. Staff report that this provides them with a stronger focus about the children and young people, but also on their own professional development. However, the supervision records do not evidence any depth of discussion about the children or young people, yet clear group discussions and reflections about care practices are evident within the team meeting minutes.

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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 whom 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: SC035998 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sheffield City Council, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC035998 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 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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