Children's home run by Worcestershire County Council in Worcester

Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 1 SC356781 Registered provider: Worcestershire County 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 service provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people. It is divided into two self-contained four-bedroomed homes. One provides care for young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The other provides care for young people who have a learning disability and who have autistic spectrum disorder. This service is operated by a local authority.

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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: 17 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have trusting and warm relationships with young people. This helps young people develop their relationships with others.  Staff have a good knowledge of safeguarding processes and practices.  Young people are encouraged to share their wishes and feelings.  The staff team works in partnership with parents to make sure that effective communication and regular contact takes place. This helps young people to maintain their emotional well-being and family links.  Young people access a range of age-appropriate and creative activities. This enables young people to have fun and develop their social and communication skills.  Placement plans are comprehensively written. They identify aims and objectives in line with local authority care plans. This helps the staff team to meet young people’s complex needs.

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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

 There are some areas for development. These include making sure that young people’s complaints are responded to appropriately. The registered manager should also request a review of a young person’s plan if the placement is not able to meet their needs. The staff team need to improve their response to bullying.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/08/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 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

The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13(2)(g)(ii)) 29/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard requires the registered person to ensure that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14(2)(e)(i)) 27/10/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse such as peer abuse, cyber-bullying and bullying in day-to-day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the last inspection, three requirements and one recommendation were made. At the time of this inspection, all shortfalls are met. The registered manager has worked hard to ensure that improvements have been made to the lounge areas in the home. New carpets have been fitted, along with magnetic curtains. Some young people have had their bedrooms redecorated. The garden areas are well maintained. There are vegetable patches and new play equipment has been purchased for the summer. The registered Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 4 manager has plans to make further improvements to the home. This includes upgrading all en-suite bathrooms, and fitting specialist flooring for a young person who requires it. Since the last inspection, one young person has left the home and one young person has arrived at the home. Young people are supported to move on from the home with warmth and guidance from staff. Staff work in partnership with the local authority to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

enable a good end to a placement. This is achieved through one-to-one sessions and an activity of choice for the young person. This helps young people to feel reassured and to understand why they need to move. This helps to reduce potential anxiety and aggression. The manager ensures that new placements are well planned. Visits to the home by young people and their parents take place when appropriate. All necessary paperwork is provided in advance from parents, social workers and other professionals. Impact assessments and matching meetings assist managers in making decisions about whether the needs of a young person can be met. This high level of care helps to ensure the longevity of some young people’s placements. Young people’s files are well organised. Placement plans are written to a very high standard. They clearly identify aims and objectives to enable progress. This helps staff and young people to work towards their goals. The managers and staff team use

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

positive praise and rewards to celebrate achievements. This allows young people to feel proud of their progress and encourages more positive behaviour. If sanctions are used, they are mostly restorative in nature. They are reviewed appropriately to assess their efficacy. As a result, young people receive appropriate guidance and boundaries to help them improve their behaviours in preparation for adulthood. Staff have very good relationships with young people’s parents and carers. Staff maintain regular communication with them and seek their views when this is relevant. Young people receive appropriate emotional and practical support to stay in contact with people who matter to them. As a result, young people maintain their family links. This adds to their sense of emotional stability and their sense of identity. A parent told the inspector, ‘Staff are absolutely brilliant and they couldn’t do any more, he is very well

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

cared for. There is a nice mix of staff and different genders as well. They communicate really well, they keep us informed of everything.’ One young person repeatedly shared that he felt he was being bullied. He shared this in house meetings, one-to-one sessions and with staff and managers in writing. Staff have recorded the views of the young person well. Staff listened and appear to have safeguarded him in the home from the other young person. The registered manager ensured that the young person had time away from the home and was helped by staff. However, staff did not complete meaningful work with the young people to address bullying behaviours. This would help educate young people about the harmful effects such behaviours can have on others. Consequently, this would reduce episodes of similar behaviour in the future. Young people are encouraged and practically assisted to develop their independence

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

skills. The home has a main kitchen and several other kitchen areas where young people are encouraged to prepare food. During this inspection, young people were observed making snacks, preparing their breakfast and getting drinks. Some young people also Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 5 had fun making savoury and fruit waffles. This means that young people gain age- appropriate skills in a normal home environment. This assists them in preparing for adulthood while enjoying time with their peers and staff. Young people are provided with a range of social and physical opportunities. This helps them to experience new possibilities and builds their confidence. One young person told the inspector, ‘My holiday to Mallorca was the best holiday ever, it was such fun. I loved it.’ One young person was enabled by staff to attend his prom. Staff bought him an expensive suit and he was transported in a vehicle of his choice. The photographs clearly

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

indicate his happiness at attending this event. The practical guidance and persistence of staff mean that young people are afforded new opportunities. Memory books are completed with up-to-date photographs of young people’s fondest memories and achievements. This helps young people to build relationships with staff and gives them a sense of belonging.

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

Managers ensure that staff have a robust understanding of safeguarding procedures and follow them well. During this inspection, several staff members shared enhanced knowledge about dealing with safeguarding concerns professionally and quickly. Consequently, staff are able to prioritise the safety of young people and promote their well-being. The registered manager ensures that staff follow missing from home procedures and that return home interviews are requested. Appropriate challenge is given by the registered manager to request delayed missing from home interviews. Young people receive good-quality care from staff who understand their individual needs and past experiences. Staff provide young people with regular and meaningful one-to- one sessions that help them with managing their frustrations and worries. The sessions are reflective of the overall placement aims and developmental needs of young people.

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

As a result, these sessions assist young people in making improvements with issues such as managing their anger, seeking practical help with anxiety levels and helping young people to communicate their wishes and feelings. Physical restraint is only used as a last resort and incidents are thoroughly recorded. One of the strengths of practice in this home is the ability of staff to competently use restraint. Moreover, staff consistently use reflection with young people after an incident has taken place. Young people respond well to these discussions with staff. This dialogue helps young people to avoid similar situations in the future and gives them the opportunity to share potential triggers for their behaviour. Young people are safe and say that they feel safe. The manager ensures that she routinely obtains the wishes and feelings of young people. Improvements to the home, activity requests and concerns are promptly responded to by the manager. The manager

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

ensures that staff meet the individual needs of each young person and takes effective action to promote the well-being of young people. However, two young people have complained to the manager about the challenging behaviours of other young people. The manager has taken effective action to address their concerns. However, the manager did not formally escalate this issue and respond to the young people well enough. Records also need improvement. This shortfall has meant that some young Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 6 people potentially did not feel safe in their home and did not feel they were being listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a number of years of experience of working with young people and holds relevant qualifications for this role. The manager is responsible for a large staff team, as well as a large service for young people with a diverse range of complex needs. The registered manager is dedicated and passionate about her role. Staff receive regular and practice-related formal supervision. Staff are encouraged to develop their practice and the culture in the home is to provide a high standard of care to young people. Staff receive thorough mandatory and specialist training that assists them in meeting the needs of young people with a range of challenging behaviours. Staff are suitably trained and have considerable experience. As a result, young people receive care from adequately trained and skilled staff. The staff have experienced a challenging few months. However, the manager has provided the necessary scrutiny and oversight to ensure that a good standard of care is

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

maintained. Staff have ensured that a consistent level of care has been provided to young people at a time of crisis, despite staff sickness and an escalation in challenging and aggressive behaviours by some young people. This escalation in behaviours has resulted in one young person recently leaving the home. The registered manager ensured that young people were safeguarded and took appropriate action to maintain stability in the home. For example, some young people were provided with luxury breaks and additional activities. The registered manager has reviewed the impact the placement had on the quality of care provided to young people and has identified areas for improvement within the service. Specifically, the registered manager did not request a formal review of one young person’s needs soon enough. The behaviour of this young person had a negative impact on the behaviour of other young people, whose

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

challenging behaviours escalated as a result. Managers ensure that staff are well supported. Time is given to de-brief and reflect after serious incidents. One staff member told the inspector, ‘We have kept routines in place for young people and met expectations, we stuck together as a team. Consistency of the team was paramount for young people. Staff have been very supportive and resilient for each other. We are like a family.’ Another staff member told the inspector, ‘We have strong staff, strong managers and the way that we build relationships is key to the quality of care provided. We do not give up, we look at alternative ways of working and persist, we treat young people as individuals.’ Partnership working between the manager, staff, placing authority and other professionals is generally very good. One social worker told the inspector, ‘He really likes the home and the staff and this is the best place for him. This is the only placement that

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

has been able to meet his needs and he was doing very well until more recently. Staff keep me up to date, the quality of care is really good.’ Another social worker told the inspector, ‘Staff have been so good with her I cannot fault them. They have a grasp on her and her risks… I have no concerns at all about the home, they do everything they can, empathise and sympathise with her when needed. They have given her a reality Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 7 check and make sure she goes to school, for example.’ The registered manager ensures that staff are provided with regular team meetings to consider shortfalls in practice and to develop knowledge. This allows staff to ensure that a consistent and safe level of care is provided to young people. Staff are reminded about revisiting safeguarding policies and referral processes to maintain good levels of practice. Staff recruitment processes are robust. Managers verify references, qualifications and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

check that all necessary disclosure and barring checks are in place. This means that young people receive care from appropriately checked adults. The registered manager has completed a well-evaluated assessment of the location of the home. This means that potential risks within the surrounding area are identified and actions to minimise the risks are well recorded. This helps to keep young people safe and assists staff in responding to potential situations promptly. The registered manager has a strong vision and direction for the service. She is resourceful and strategic in her role. She uses a range of monitoring systems to assess and review the quality of care provided. The registered manager has identified the strengths and weaknesses of the service and has a clear development plan to target areas for improvement.

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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.

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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: SC356781 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Worcestershire County Council, County Hall, Worcester WR5 2NP

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC356781 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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