Children's home run by Portsmouth City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 1 SC037762 Registered provider: Portsmouth City Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority operates this home. The home is registered for up to seven children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The aim of the home is to provide stable and consistent care to young people who are often placed in an emergency.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Placement planning and review is inadequate in this home. Since the last inspection, the registered manager admitted a young person when he was not satisfied that the home could respond effectively to the young person’s assessed needs. The registered manager did not consider fully the impact of the young person’s placement on the existing group of young people prior to accepting the young person’s placement. Short-term strategies, agreed by senior leaders, to keep the young person safe were not followed in practice. Referral documents lacked detail as did placement plans. One such document was not signed to demonstrate agreement with the placing social worker. In another example, the placement plan refers to an outdated care plan. Such poor documents result in staff not having the guidance they need on how to fully protect, or promote the welfare of the Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 2

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

young people. The registered manager has reviewed the home’s statement of purpose. It states that young people may be admitted in an emergency, when remanded into care, or if they are unaccompanied minors. Some young people have been helped to move on to other settings. However, some young people, admitted for a short period in an emergency, are still living in the home and the plan for one young person is to stay long term. The wide range of placements currently described enables the home to accommodate young people who may have a negative impact upon each other. There is a pattern of young people going missing from this home. On many occasions, young people leave the home and staff do not know where they are. Some professionals comment that staff phone the young people regularly, but this is not evident in records. Young people are often out late at night, or missing for extended periods, and some

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

have committed criminal offences when missing from the home. There are no tailored plans in place to demonstrate how the staff team is attempting to reduce such behaviour. Risk assessment is weak. Risk assessments for young people who go missing lack detail and do not clearly set out the procedure for staff to follow for each individual young person. For example, they do not include pull-push factors or demonstrate how staff assess the suitability of individuals that young people mix with when missing, or the risks when young people from the home go missing together. Staff do not have information about the distraction techniques that they should use. Nor do they have sufficiently detailed guidance about when to follow young people or when to inform the police. The guidance lacks an assessment of the known risks and there are no risk-reduction measures in place. The potential for further significant incidents remains high as a result.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager is inconsistent in recording serious incidents. As a result, incidents are not sufficiently analysed, evaluated, used to assess risk, or to inform plans for development or improvement. The independent visitor has recognised that the registered manager does not always record violent incidents in accordance with the home’s policies and has recommended that this must improve. The independent visitor has reviewed how she conducts visits and the format of the report she produces following these. She now spends a considerable amount of time at the home listening to the young people. She identifies the strengths and weaknesses and gives recommendations for improvement. A strength of this home is the staff team. Staff remain consistent, motivated, well trained and supported. Staff develop good relationships with their young people over the short period that young people usually stay in the home. The independent visitor

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

comments positively about the interactions between the young people and staff that she witnesses during her visits. A placing social worker said, ‘The young person had no boundaries in foster care. The staff are doing good. They put up with his difficult behaviour and have not given up on him.’ Some young people are positive about their future and are engaging well in education and work experience. Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/05/2017 Full Good 16/03/2017 Full Inadequate 06/06/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/03/2016 Interim Requires improvement

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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 care planning standard The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs 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 manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(2)(a)(b)(i)) 10/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must- (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate revise it, and (b) notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 10/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

* The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk for harm, taking into 10/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 4 account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child and take effective action whenever there is a concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)(vi)) The registered person must co-operate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan. (Regulation 17(2)) 10/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to statutory compliance notices.

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth PO1 2BG

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Inspector:

Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 5 Keith Riley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037762 6 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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