Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 1 SC369840 Registered provider: Stoke On Trent 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

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A local authority operates the home. The home only supports children from the local authority’s area.

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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 Requires improvement to be 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: 6 February 2017

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is good because:  Young people say that they feel safe.  Young people develop good attachments with staff.  Staff ensure that young people have clear risk assessments that help minimise the risk of harm. Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 2  Managers and staff work in partnership with parents, educational providers and specialist health services.  Young people make good educational progress.  Staff are proactive in working with family to encourage, promote and support contact.  Young people are encouraged and supported to increase their semi-independent skills in line with their age, ability and level of understanding.  Staff make sure that young people’s views and opinions are central to the running of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:  Damage to young people’s bedrooms has not been promptly repaired.  Managers have not ensured that the young person’s guide is accurate.  Managers are not ensuring that staff supervision is detailed and thorough.  The manager has not made sure that the home’s development plan is an accurate document.  Young people require input around internet safety as a further safeguard.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Requires improvement 09/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(2)(c)) 14/09/2017

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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 requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(h)) 14/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 14/09/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular course of action in relation to e-safety. Staff should discuss the decision with the child’s placing authority where appropriate. If a child makes a choice that would place them or another person at significant risk of harm, staff should assist them to understand the risks and manage their risk-taking behaviour to keep themselves and others safe. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the workforce plan can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people spoken with during the inspection reported they have good relationships with staff. One young person told the inspector that, ‘I like living here, the staff are good with us.’ This was further validated by a social worker who said, ‘I am really pleased with Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 4 the quality of care [name] receives. He has been making excellent progress.’ This supportive approach ensures that young people develop positive and trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are in good health. Staff ensure that young people are registered with primary healthcare services. Staff receive clinical oversight that provides them with opportunities to discuss any particular issues they have in relation to the care of young people. This means that staff have the appropriate strategies to support young people. Appropriate arrangements are in place for the safe management of medicines to promote the safety and well-being of young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend educational settings according to their needs and abilities. Staff work in partnership with education departments and other relevant professionals to make sure that young people have every opportunity to increase their academic ability and reach their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact arrangements support young people to maintain positive relationships with family and friends. Staff work closely with young people and their families to ensure that contact is safe and a positive experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from making a positive contribution to their home through a variety of forums such as one-to-one sessions, monthly house meetings and through informal discussion. Young people engage with positive activities inside and outside of the home that include trips out to places of interest and opportunities where they can develop sporting talents and other abilities. Through these activities, young people can try different experiences and develop new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to develop independence and life skills that are relevant to their age and level of understanding. They are provided with opportunities to develop new skills, with good support and encouragement from staff that include money management, cooking and taking responsibility for their healthcare. This helps young people develop practical skills and enables them to complete daily tasks safely and independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is mainly well maintained and decorated. However, staff do not work with young people to make repairs when they cause damage at the home. This means that young people’s bedrooms contain damaged furniture and have graffiti on the wall. This presents as an unsightly and dismal environment for the young person.

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

Young people say they feel safe because staff care and always offer them good advice and support on safety matters. However, young people do not benefit from input around e-safety to support them at the home and as part of promoting their independence. Safeguarding procedures are thorough and staff are well trained. Staff have a good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of the young people currently living at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 5 Staff are consistent in applying boundaries. This helps young people to learn socially acceptable behaviour and provides them with certainty and security. All the young people said staff are fair. Staff follow a range of risk assessments to help them manage the behaviours displayed by young people and to minimise risk. Review and development of the plans is ongoing to keep pace with each young person’s changing circumstances.

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

Staff know how to implement and follow the local authority’s joint protocol and procedures for reporting young people missing from care. Staff take appropriate action to locate young people quickly and promote their safe return by means of keeping in touch with the young person and liaising closely with the police and other agencies. There is a process in place for young people to be seen by an independent person on their return. This gives assurance that any issues within the home that have led to the missing episode will be identified and acted on.

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

Young people live in a home that provides physical safety and security. There are effective health and safety systems in place. Regular practice evacuations ensure that young people know how to exit the building safely and quickly in case of an emergency.

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

Young people are protected by the organisation’s safe recruitment practices, which make sure that all staff are thoroughly vetted before they are allowed to start work at the home. The identity of all visitors is checked and their whereabouts at the home monitored during the time they are there. These systems support the safety and well- being of young people.

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

The home has an appropriately qualified registered manager in place. The manager has been in post since September 2016 and holds a level 4 national vocational qualification in leadership, health and social care.

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

Staff receive regular training to help ensure that they have the skills and competencies necessary to meet the individual needs of the young people. All staff members either have a minimum of a national vocational childcare qualification at level 3 or equivalent.

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

Staff receive monthly supervision. The quality of the supervision recording requires more detail to allow staff to reflect upon their practice, and recognise their own strengths and weaknesses.

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

The manager keeps the statement of purpose up to date. The document sets out the vision, values and aims of the service. This helps placing authorities, parents and other interested parties to have a clear understanding of what they can expect from the service. The young person’s guide contains information that is not related to the home. This means that young people are not being given an accurate description of the home they are living in. Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 6 Monitoring visits from someone independent of the home take place every month. The person undertaking these visits speaks to staff, young people, parents and professionals. This provides an effective check for compliance with regulations and standards. This ensures that there is good monitoring of the quality of care for the young people.

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

The manager makes sure that communication between agencies is prompt and effective in ensuring that all parties are kept well informed of young people’s progress. A social worker reported, ‘The communication with the home is excellent, they send detailed reports of significant events, they send weekly summaries.’ This means that young people are benefiting from a holistic approach to their care.

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

The manager has a development plan for the home. The plan contains information pertaining to a different home. This does not support the home in driving forward improvements to the service.

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

In response to the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection, the manager has taken action to ensure that missing from care protocols have been updated, care planning is undertaken with greater detail, medication procedures have been improved and staff recording is more detailed.

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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: SC369840 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Of Stoke On Trent, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke On Trent ST4 1HH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Hammersley

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC369840 8 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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