Children's home run by Leeds City Council

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 1 SC033638

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Leeds City Council

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned and managed by a local authority.

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This monitoring visit

On 31 August 2017, at the full inspection, this home was judged to be good. This monitoring visit was undertaken due to escalating concerns as a result of notifications received by Ofsted in relation to incidents of escalated behaviour at the home.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team has not received training to meet the very complex and challenging needs of the children and young people. Only five out of the 14 staff have had training to remove or cut ligatures. Not all the staff who received the training have any experience of removing or cutting ligatures, or dealing with mental health issues. This leaves the individual children and young people at risk of harm from themselves and of the risk that they pose to others.

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This monitoring visit

Staffing levels have increased during the day to try to reduce the impact of the children’s and young people’s negative behaviour on each other. This has not been successful and there are still not enough staff to keep everyone safe from harm. Consequently, the situation has become unmanageable. Some of the children’s and young people’s behaviour escalates and they target other children and young people. They become abusive physically and verbally towards staff, and they obstruct medical professionals attending the home to help individuals in crisis. Some medical professionals have described the home as ‘violent and chaotic’. At times, police assistance has been required. During the night there is one member of staff awake who monitors the children and young people at high risk of harming Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 2 themselves and others. The member of staff has no means of contacting other staff

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This monitoring visit

in the event of an emergency. This leaves the children, young people and staff at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team’s efforts to stop bullying and to educate the children and young people about the impact of bullying have been unsuccessful. As a result, some of the children are the victims of ongoing bullying. One young person described it as being ‘like a nightmare’. Bullying is likely to have detrimental effects on the children’s and young people’s emotional well-being now and in the future.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team encourages the children and young people to hand in their lighters, but is not successful. Some of the children’s and young people’s bedrooms contained several lighters. Some of the children and young people are using lighters inappropriately to try to burn the hairs off other people’s arms, burn plants in the home and they are flicking the lighter at the face and body of members of staff. The lack of assessment of this risk leaves everyone in the building at risk of harm from being burned or set on fire. There are no assessments for staff to follow to reduce the danger.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team’s efforts to educate the children and young people of the dangers of smoking in their bedrooms are ineffective. The children and young people continue to smoke in their bedrooms. This leaves a high risk of a fire starting, especially during the night when there are lower levels of staffing.

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This monitoring visit

Some children and young people spend very limited time in education or are on reduced timetables. This has recently reduced further from two hours a day in school to one hour a day, and it has now ceased due to their exceptionally challenging behaviour in school. This leaves individuals without any education, structure and purpose to their day.

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This monitoring visit

Some of the children’s and young people’s bedrooms have clothes scattered on the floor and piled in wardrobes, which do not have doors. Long trailing wires down the wall could pose a health and safety hazard. On the floor of some of the bedrooms there were dirty plates and used cups.

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This monitoring visit

The senior manager’s response to the escalating concerns has not been quick enough to ensure that the children, young people and staff are safe. A breakdown in communication between management layers has hindered the provider’s ability to act quickly and make difficult decisions to make sure that the children and young people are safe and that they continue to make progress. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 31/08/2017 Full Good 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 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, The 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; 03/12/2017 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 5

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them.

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Requirement Due date

That each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation11(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii) (xiii)(b)) * 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; and manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other.

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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–

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. 03/12/2017 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 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; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h)) *The care planning standard is that children–

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of need of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and that arrangements are in place to— ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and plan for, and help each child prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care ion a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14(2)(a)(b)) 03/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 03/12/2017 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational training and support throughout the period of exclusion or non attendance and to return to school as soon as possible:

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8(2)(a)(viii)) The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who– understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and Use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that staff— provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the children’s and young people’s bedrooms are clean and maintained to a good standard at all times. 03/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, take steps to stop the children and young people smoking in bedrooms. 03/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 8

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033638 9 to 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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