Children's Home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 1 SC033723 Registered provider: Leeds 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 children’s home is operated by a local authority. It provides medium- to long-term care for up to five children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account requires improvement

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 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

 The staff do not always follow the children’s and young people’s care plans and risk assessments. This results in some of the children’s and young people’s behaviour escalating, and police assistance being sought.  Children and young people held in police custody are not supported by the staff from the home.  The staff team does not have access to all of the children’s and young people’s healthcare plans. This does not allow effective and individualised care planning for each of the children or young people.  The registered manager’s monitoring systems are not enabling her to identify shortfalls in practice, especially in relation to safeguarding.  External monitoring systems do not support the registered manager’s oversight and monitoring of this service.  The registered manager does not have access to all of the staff supervision records. This does not enable her to monitor the quality of care practice, and

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Key findings from this inspection

take action when issues are identified.  The staff have not had access to training around wider risks to the children and young people, such as radicalisation.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children and young people feel that the staff listen to their opinions.  The staff team works hard to support the children and young people to rebuild relationships with their families.  The staff team has good knowledge of the home’s safeguarding procedures.  The staff feel that the manager supports them well.  The children’s and young people’s education is prioritised. The registered manager works hard to ensure that the children and young people attend the educational provisions which best meet their needs.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 3 21/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/01/2017 Full Good 14/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the young people’s risk assessments reflect their current risks. Staff must follow individual risk management plans to ensure that the young people are safe. 15/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager improves the recording and monitoring systems to allow her to identify any shortfalls in practice. The registered manager must have access to and oversight of all records, including staff supervision records. 15/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

Before implementing, or making an amendment which the registered person considers to be substantive to the missing child policy, the registered person must–

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Requirement Due date

have regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. 15/10/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 5 (Regulation 34(5)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all children have timely return home interviews. The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether–

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 44(4)(a) and (b)) 15/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking into account of the child’s background.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that each child has a personalised health plan that staff follow. 15/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if–

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny for the home and make best use of information from the independent and internal monitoring (including under regulation 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvements. They should be skilled in anticipating and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice (‘Guide Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 6 to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24). In particular, improve the regulation 44 visitors’ monitoring and the quality of the report in order to support the manager to identify areas for development and improve the care for the children and young people.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key

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Recommendations

role they play in the training and development of staff in the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11). In particular, ensure that all staff undertake training to help them understand radicalisation and the risks to children and young people.

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improvement

The children and young people generally enjoy good relationships with the staff. However, the staff do not always follow some of the children’s and young people’s care plans. This results in some of the children’s and young people’s behaviour escalating. The staff then resort to calling for police assistance to manage some of the children’s and young people’s challenging behaviour. This is likely to harm the children’s and young people’s relationships with the staff. It may also have a negative impact on the children’s and young people’s sense of value and belonging.

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improvement

The staff do not have access to all the children’s and young people’s individual health plans. This hinders their ability to understand the children’s and young people’s individual health needs. The system for storing and recording medication is poor. This results in drugs being unaccounted for, and unknown medication being stored. This makes auditing very difficult and creates the potential for error during administration.

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improvement

The staff encourage the children and young people to attend education in line with their personal education plans. The manager works hard to make sure that the children and young people are in educational placements that best meet their needs. This is helping the children and young people to gain the skills they need for later life.

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improvement

The children and young people complete a range of key-work sessions with the staff, which help them to understand how to maintain good physical health and healthy relationships with others. The children and young people benefit from access to specialist emotional support when needed.

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improvement

Families are involved as much as possible in the lives of the children and young people. Consequently, with the support of the staff, the children and young people start to rebuild relationships with their families. This promotes the children’s and young people’s Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 7 sense of identity. In some cases, this helps the children and young people to return home to their families.

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improvement

The staff take time to get to know the children and young people and listen to their views. One young person commented: ‘Staff always take an interest in my problems.’ The children and young people have an active voice in the running of the home. They enjoy choosing what activities they want to do. This includes caravan holidays, ice skating and trips to local parks. This helps them to engage in positive activities, and broadens their life experience.

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improvement

The children’s and young people’s risk assessments do not always reflect their current risks. When risk assessments are up to date, the staff do not always demonstrate an understanding of risk management, and do not consistently follow risk management plans to ensure that the children and young people do not come to harm. This is hindering the ability of the staff to take the required action to keep the children and young people safe.

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improvement

The staff are quick to take action to find the children and young people who go missing from this home. They liaise with other professionals, such as the police, and follow individual plans. This helps them to locate the children and young people as quickly as possible. When the children and young people return from missing episodes, they do not always have the chance to speak to an independent person. This is limiting their opportunities to share their worries and their experiences while missing from home.

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improvement

The staff do not always follow the children’s and young people’s behaviour management plans. The staff resort to ringing the police for assistance to help them to manage challenging incidents. As a result, on occasion, the police take the children and young people into custody for up to six hours with no appropriate adult present. This means that the children and young people are alone at a police station without any support from the staff, which leaves them frightened and upset.

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improvement

The staff benefit from training around child sexual exploitation. This helps them to be able to spot any signs that the children and young people may be at risk. However, not all the staff have had training to help them identify other potential risks, such as radicalisation. This may hinder their ability to protect the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The registered manager has been in post since November 2015. She has extensive experience of working in residential care. The manager recognises the strengths of this service. She demonstrates understanding of the shortfalls found at this inspection. She acknowledges that poor monitoring is limiting her ability to take effective action to Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 8 address issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The external visitor does not support the registered manager’s oversight. The visitor’s opinion on the children’s and young people’s well-being and safety is not always clear. The reports do not always analyse or evaluate safeguarding and general practices in the home. This is hindering the registered manager’s monitoring. It is not helping her to identify shortfalls in recording or care practice, particularly in relation to safeguarding and behaviour management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The quality of notifications of serious incidents to the regulatory body is poor. They do not provide sufficient detail to enable the regulatory body to monitor safeguarding practice and procedure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The staff feel well supported by the manager. They receive regular supervision. However, the manager is not able to monitor or assess the quality of all the staff supervision because she cannot access the files of staff who are supervised by other senior staff members. This limits the manager’s and the regulatory body’s oversight of staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The registered manager promotes opportunities for the children and young people to voice their opinions. She ensures that regular children’s meetings, group work and one- to-one sessions take place. This gives the children and young people a chance to talk about any issues and voice their opinions about the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The registered manager maintains good relationships with other professionals, such as social workers and the police. She raises challenge when needed, to make sure that the children and young people receive the right service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

This home is not fully operating within its statement of purpose. The use of police assistance to manage the children’s and young people’s behaviour is not promoting strong and trusting relationships between the staff and the children and young people. The staff are failing to consistently follow the children’s and young people’s plans. This is not offering an individualised and child-centred approach to their care.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 9 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: SC033723 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Leeds City Council, 40 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3DL

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Inspectors

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Rachel Holden: HMI Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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