Children's Home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 1 SC062573 Registered provider: Wakefield 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

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven young people, irrespective of gender, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The main aims are to support young people to move back home with their families or to move on successfully to independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 One young person has not been safeguarded adequately. Staff did not act in accordance with the risk assessment.  A young person’s risk assessment was not fully updated to reflect the current level of risk.  Staff did not know that a young person had been missing from the home for several hours.  Staff do not follow the missing from home procedure systematically.  Return home interviews following episodes of missing do not always take place.  Staffing levels at the home do not adequately allow the staff members to search for missing young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The majority of young people resident at the home are progressing in all areas.  The staff team is well established and long-standing.  Communication between the home, professionals and parents is generally good.  The manager is supportive of the staff team.  Young people have stable placements and good relationships with staff.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good 12/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 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

In meeting the quality standards, if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5(c)(d)) In particular, agencies used to complete this task must consistently follow return to home interviews. The registered person must ensure missing from home procedures are followed. 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled 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 risk of any harm to the child; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 04/08/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 4 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policy. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that

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Requirement Due date

procedures are followed and staff are suitably trained. In order to meet the leadership and management standard, in particular the standard in paragraph (1) which requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child, and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(d)(f)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that enough staff are available to search for missing young people. 04/08/2017

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Recommendations

 Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (Regulation 36 (schedule 3(14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluations of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff, or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care (see paragraph 15.2). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations and quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean some children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. Young people say that they ‘feel safe’. However, not all young people are safe given their missing from home and associated risk-taking behaviour. One young person was missing from home for 12 hours without staff knowledge. This young person Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 5 has a high record of missing from the home incidents, and staff do not routinely look for her. This means staff do not always know where young people are. The home’s procedure for locating those missing from home is not always followed by staff. Consequently, young people going missing are not always located and neither are they routinely offered return to home interviews to speak to an independent person about this. This limits the chances of the young people sharing the details of their

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inadequate

missing episodes and limits staff’s ability to make safe plans for them. Consequently, there are missed opportunities for staff to ensure all young people are safeguarded appropriately. Education outcomes are mixed with most of the young people at the home engaging in their education and employment plans. Staff actively encourage and support them to attend their education provision. However, when young people go missing regularly, this impacts on their routines, causing disruption to their education. Some young people are not achieving as well as they could due to their own behaviour and emotional stability. One young person, who regularly goes missing, does not invest in the home or their education. Consequently, this limits their opportunities to make progress in school and limits social opportunities and independence skills. The majority of young people are making progress in relation to their overall health

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inadequate

and wellbeing. Staff actively seek advice from specialists and encourage young people to take some ownership. However, some young people continue to take risks through using unknown substances that impair their safety. The majority of the young people can identify staff to talk to when they feel worried. Young people know their plans and work well to achieve their goals. Progress is measurable from their starting points with most of the young people making good choices and wanting to do well. One young person is now ready for independence and good support provided by staff has ensured that this is achievable. This shows that young people value the guidance they receive and the majority make marked improvements. The large and purpose-built home has a welcoming feel. Decorated to a good standard, the home provides space and comfort for young people. They have their own large bedrooms with private bathrooms.

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inadequate

The majority of young people engage well, they respect the staff and want to make progress. Due to the strong relationships that staff have built, most of the young people learn how to negotiate and self-regulate their behaviour. Consequently, this helps their development and independence skills. Physical intervention is rarely used. Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques and will use other methods, such as humour, to calm situations. Due to the consistent staff team, young people have the opportunity to develop trusting relationships. The staff are good at keeping professionals and family informed of all issues. There is a clear plan to develop relationships and use feedback to inform better care. This shows that the manager and staff are open to making changes where needed. Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 6

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

There are significant safeguarding shortfalls and widespread failures that leave young people vulnerable. Missing from home incidents have significantly increased and relate specifically to one young person. A young person returned home in the early hours of the morning following a missing incident and went to bed. Staff did not check on the young person’s welfare at all during the day. Had they done this, it would have alerted them of her absence. The young person had been away from the home for 12 hours without anyone being aware of her whereabouts or status. The missing from home procedures are not always followed by staff in that they do not take timely action to locate young people that are missing from home. They have not routinely gone out to look for young people when they are missing. A social worker said, ‘Not enough is being done by the home before they report them missing to the police.’ Furthermore, young people are not afforded the opportunity

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

to engage with independent return home interviews to discuss their concerns and to share where they have been. Although, the provider has commissioned this service, it does not appear to be effective. This is a missed opportunity for staff and those responsible for the safety and welfare of the young people to reduce these missing incidents. Staff do not always follow the guidance in young people’s risk assessments relating to trying to locate young people. This leaves young people at significant risk of harm through missing and child sexual exploitation. Staff have utilised taxi services to transport young people back to the home following them being missing and away from the home. Staff say this is because there are not enough of them on shifts to go in search of young people. However, a further missed opportunity is that they do not routinely check the address of where the taxi driver is collecting the young

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

person from. As a result, the whereabouts of the young person and the level of risk from child sexual exploitation is not adequately assessed. This means that staff and other professionals are unable to mitigate future missing incidents, break these cycles and develop a sense of insight and evaluation about the risks posed to them. Staff do not feel able to leave the home to search for the missing young person. A staff member said, ‘There are issues with staffing. There are now two staff on shift, there used to be three. It is manageable with three.’ The staffing difficulty has placed added pressure on the staff team, and is the reason for a recent medication error, which resulted in a young person missing a dose of their medicine. Staff highlighted the ‘busyness’ of the shift as a reason for the oversight. However, the management do not feel that staffing levels are low or that they impact on the care

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

of the young people. Since the incident with the missing young person, the manager has made changes, which involve staff checking on young people regularly. They liaise with partners to regularly convene strategy meetings and share relevant information, however the police and the staff at the home are at odds in relation to the young person’s level of risk. This makes it difficult for the staff to work collaboratively with partners to keep the young people safe. Plans are in place for safeguarding training to be refreshed Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 7 and further work with local agencies is in progress.

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good

The registered manager has been in post since January 2015. She is appropriately qualified and experienced. She is child focused and has a strong commitment to young people and her team. The responsible individual has left and a new person appointed to the role in April 2017. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths. Following the safeguarding incident, the manager has implemented additional training. Nonetheless, she has missed significant opportunities to improve aspects of staff’s safeguarding practice. The manager has expected staff to use their understanding and insight to undertake checks on young people however, there is no formal procedure to guide staff in such circumstances. The manager accepts there is a shortfall and now has a procedure in place. Staff now have a clear, daily plan to follow in order to check the welfare of young people. Staffing shortfalls are not recognised by the management as having an impact on

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good

the delivery and quality of care to young people. Some staff although they feel supported and can speak with the manager at any time, have raised issues with regard to staffing levels however, they do not feel this has been addressed. This has led to staff not being able to leave the home when young people are missing given the need for appropriate levels of supervision for others resident at the home. The independent visitor via their external monitoring of the home highlighted that missing from home records were ‘confusing and incomplete’ during their April and May visit. The visitor raised recommendations in relation to this however, these have not been actioned. Consequently, the manager is not proactively using the independent visitor as a critical friend to improve the quality of care and safeguarding practice. The development and action plan created following the manager’s own monitoring of the home does not fully evaluate the current

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good

weaknesses identified during this inspection. The manager has not been proactive in identifying gaps in staffing and training until this serious incident. The manager has now implemented new procedures to alert staff on how to respond should such incidents occur again. Gaps relating to the lack of return home interviews by partner agencies are being addressed. Nevertheless, those involved will require time to embed the new procedures.

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good

The consistent and established staff benefit from regular supervision, team meetings and detailed handovers. This ensures that young people maintain trusting relationships with dependable staff.

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good

There were no requirements or recommendations made at the last inspection. The home has held a judgement of ‘good’ consistently for several years. This shows that the manager and staff are capable of keeping young people safe and providing them Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 8 with opportunities to progress.

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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: SC062573 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wakefield Council, County Hall, Bond Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2QW

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Jayne Mullin Tracey Jones

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Inspector

Abby Maspero, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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