Children's Home run by Bristol City Council in Bristol

Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 1 SC034184 Registered provider: Bristol 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 home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural needs. The home 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be 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: 28 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 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

 Placement plans are not comprehensive. They lack information about how the staff should support the young people to achieve aims and targets. Information about individual young people is out of date or hard to find.  None of the four young people know where they will receive their education in the next academic year. The staff are not clear about who is responsible for taking the steps needed to remedy this.  The young people do not have individual activity plans. During the school holidays, the young people are not encouraged by the staff to regularly engage in purposeful activities. They are sometimes getting into trouble with the police and are visiting people who are not a positive influence.  One young person has recently moved into the home. They are appropriately placed but are not being supported in line with their care plan due to staff shortages.  The young people’s health care needs are not comprehensively identified and

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Key findings from this inspection

documented. Trends and patterns cannot be identified. Consequently, they are not clear about their health needs for the future.  Some areas of the home, such as the front door and office door, are still institutional in appearance. This detracts from the improvement in the home that the young people and staff have made.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff succeed in building trusting and supportive relationships with the young people. The young people respect the consistent, experienced core staff team and appreciate how well they are cared for. One young person said: ‘I care about my staff team.’  The staff were observed by inspectors to de-escalate a volatile situation with a young person effectively. This was achieved because of the respect and trust the young person has for the staff, and how well the staff know the young people they care for.  Outcomes for the young people who move on are positive. Two young people recently left the home, one to return to a parent and one to live independently. One young person has lived at the home for three years and made considerable progress with their behaviour, education and life skills.  The staff are tenacious and proactive if a young person goes missing. They have good links with the local police. There is a reduction in incidents of the

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Key findings from this inspection

young people going missing from the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 18/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 4

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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

Ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes a description of the measure and its duration and that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, a person authorised to do so has signed the record. (Regulation 35 (3)(iv)(b)(ii)) 29/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the health and well-being needs of children are met; in particular ensure that any specific strategies to meet health care needs are recorded in individual health care plans and all staff are aware of these plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)) 29/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that children take part in and benefit from a range of activities that meet their needs and develop their social interests and skills; in particular, that each young person has an activity plan in place, particularly for school holidays. (Regulation 9 (1)) 29/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff help each young person that is excluded from school to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; in particular, that plans for educational placements are accelerated so that each young person is clear what educational placement has been secured for the start of the school term. (Regulation 8 (2)(viii)) 10/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that records are maintained for each child which – (a) include the documents and information listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; (b) are kept up to date; and (c) are signed and dated by the author of each entry; in particular, ensure that all children and young people in the home have case records that include all the information as detailed in Schedule 3. These records must be accessible to the young person concerned and to others who have a professional need to see them. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 29/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that at all times there are sufficient staff on duty to meet the identified care needs of the children placed in the home. (Regulation 31) 29/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 5

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home presents a homely environment; in particular that the front door and office door are replaced. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The health of looked-after children must be assessed at regular intervals and the child’s care plan must include an individual health plan setting out the approach that the placing authority will follow, and the desired outcomes required to meet the child’s health needs. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.4)

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improvement to be good

The staff are not always consistent in the support that they give to the young people due to a lack of documented guidance in placement plans. Health care plans are incomplete, with no clear strategies for how to meet young people’s needs. This leads to the staff giving mixed messages to the young people. The staff are not clear about one young person’s health care needs and how these should be met.

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improvement to be good

None of the four young people have definite education plans in place for the start of the next academic year. The staff are working towards securing places at a mainstream school, an apprenticeship, a college course and a specialist school. Plans are not in place that detail how these placements will be achieved. Plans lack urgency. One young person has not been in full-time education for six months. There is no evidence that this young person has been receiving the required educational input of 25 hours a week.

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improvement to be good

Not every young person has an individualised activity plan. The staff do not have a clear plan for each day of the school holidays that will prevent the young people from spending their time with unsuitable people or engaging in anti-social behaviour. On the occasions that activities are planned, the young people enjoy swimming, go-karting and shopping. The young people recently enjoyed a week-long holiday away from the home at a seaside resort. For young people who did not want to stay away from the home, staff took them each day to join the others, so they were not left out.

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improvement to be good

One young person has achieved an award for learning independence skills, and the staff have been proactive in supporting the young people to be as independent as possible. The young people learn new skills, such as cooking, doing their laundry and keeping their rooms tidy. One young person is now managing their own medication following support from the staff. A comprehensive risk assessment supports the young person Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 6 with this.

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improvement to be good

All of the young people are making progress. One young person has lived at the home for three years. Inspectors observed that they are now able to manage their behaviour when angry. They can now speak calmly about what is making them angry rather than resorting to violent behaviour. Other young people have become more confident, begun to go into the community on their own and have a better understanding of their own behaviour.

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improvement to be good

The staff succeed in building and repairing relationships between the young people and their families. One young person is now having regular weekend and holiday stays with their parent. Other young people are now speaking regularly on the telephone with their parent, which is good progress. Families and friends are welcomed into the home. Inspectors observed the young people inviting their friends to the garden and enjoying spending time with them there.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and safety plans for the young people are out of date and hard to locate. The staff do not have clearly documented strategies that tell them how to manage individual risks. As a result, the staff are inconsistent. For example, some members of staff were aware that an item of furniture in a young person’s room may present a risk. Others were not aware of this concern.

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improvement to be good

Young people do not go missing as often as they used to. The staff team is vigilant, and curious to know where young people are going when they are missing. When a young person goes missing the staff follow them, contact people known to the young person, go to the address the young person is thought to be at and bring them home. This gives the young people the message that the staff really care about them when they are missing. The staff liaise closely with the local police, with whom they have an effective working relationship.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is promoted in the home. The young people are supported to develop strategies to manage their behaviour. One young person is now able to express their frustrations and concerns without resorting to assaulting the staff and causing damage. This is notable progress and means that they are now able to apply for an apprenticeship. There are consequences for poor behaviour. These are individualised and fully discussed with the young person to ensure that they are effective. One placing social worker said: ‘My young person has settled well at the home, his missing is reduced and restraints are reduced. Staff are working hard to stabilise him. I am positive about this placement.’

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improvement to be good

Physical restraint is rare and is reducing. It is always used by the staff as a last resort, and for the minimal time and with the minimal amount of force. The staff use a non- confrontational approach based on mutual trust and understanding. This is effective and Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 7 contributes to the young people learning how to manage their behaviour. However, the quality of recording is not consistent. One record of restraint did not have details of the hold used, nor did it record whether the need for the restraint was discussed with the young person.

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

The manager does not make sure that young people’s records and plans are up to date, and information is difficult to locate. This means that a new member of staff or an agency worker would struggle to obtain important information about the young people. There is a lack of urgency from leaders and managers in challenging the drift and delay in securing educational placements for the young people.

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

One young person has recently been placed at the home despite the home having a shortage of staff. This means that in the last month, on 16 days out of 30 there were two members of staff on duty instead of three to care for four young people. This made it very difficult for staff to give the new young person the support that was needed, and this had a negative impact on other young people in the home. Recruitment to fill these vacant posts has taken place and new staff will shortly be appointed.

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

The placement plans are not targeted and do not contain dates for when progress should have been made. The progress that the young people are making is not documented. More regular tracking meetings have been put in place by managers to address this shortfall, but their impact is not yet visible.

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

The staff report that they feel well supported and trained. Supervision is of a good quality and takes place regularly. The staff spoken with were able to state the training they had received. However, this does not match the manager’s record, which is out of date and does not reflect the training that the staff have undertaken.

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

The manager continues to improve the appearance of the home so that it provides a welcoming and homely environment for the young people to live in. Damage is repaired swiftly and the young people are involved in the decoration of the home. The manager is awaiting the replacement of the institutional type front door and office door. This is documented in the home’s development plan, which details what improvements the manager and staff will implement over the next 12 months.

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

The previous registered manager resigned in June 2017. A new manager has been appointed and has submitted her application for registration to Ofsted. The staff comment that she has the support of the staff team and is well respected. She has an open-door policy and encourages feedback and suggestions from the young people and the staff team about how to improve the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 8

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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 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.

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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: SC034184 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, BRISTOL BS1 5TR

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Inspector(s)

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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