Children's home run by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in Walsall

Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 1 SC066214 Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council 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 seven young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This includes two placements within a semi- independent flat. The home is owned and 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2017

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children‟s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not appropriately assess or manage all known fire risks. This failure means that young people may be at risk of significant harm.  Staff do not adequately assess young people‟s risks and vulnerabilities or ensure that suitable strategies are in place to manage and reduce these risks. This shortfall compromises young people‟s safety and well-being.  Staff do not encourage young people to take responsibility for their unacceptable actions or behaviours. This limits young people‟s personal progress and development.  Managers do not effectively monitor or evaluate the quality of care provided by the service. This hinders the ongoing development of the home.  Managers do not ensure that staff work together as a team or that their practice is consistent. Consequently, young people are not provided with suitable boundaries to keep them safe or protect them from harm.  Staff do not seek young people‟s views about the care that they receive.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Complaints records contain insufficient detail about the action taken in response to the complaint and the outcome.  Staff do not fully support young people to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The provision of a separate semi-independent flat helps young people to develop independent living skills.  Staff promote young people‟s education and, as a result, young people‟s attitude to learning improves.  Staff work well with young people‟s birth families, and this helps young people to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 24/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/08/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 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 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— provide personalised care that meets each child‟s needs, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, taking account of the child‟s background. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iv)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who engage with them In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home‟s care. (Regulation 7(1)(b)(2)(a)(iv)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10(1)(b)(c)) 31/12/2017

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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 an understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; and encourage each child to take responsibility for the child‟s behaviour, in accordance with the child‟s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(1)(b), (2)(a)(ii)(iii)) 31/12/2017

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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. 10/12/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; and take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi))* The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered

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Requirement Due date

person to— ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(h)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire. (Regulation 25(1)(a)) This specifically relates to the accuracy of fire risk assessments. 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information, and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) This specifically relates to incidents of fire in the home. 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 5

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Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.4) This specifically relates to recording the actions for staff to complete.  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people‟s day-to-day and overall experience is inadequate. This is because leaders, managers and staff do not continually promote young people‟s safety or protect them from harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people do not always receive personalised care that reflects their individual needs and takes account of their risks and vulnerabilities. This is because staff fail to implement young people‟s care plans. For example, the care plan for one young person states that staff will conduct regular one-to-one sessions to address risky behaviours such as criminal damage, consuming alcohol and drug misuse. Staff do not conduct these sessions. Consequently, young people do not receive the support that they need to promote their development. Furthermore, staff do not make sure that young people‟s files include all necessary information or statutory documents, and they do not keep case records up to date. As a result, young people do not benefit from comprehensive or integrated care and support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Relationships between young people and staff are mixed. Young people say that they have „decent‟ relationships with some staff and „bad‟ relationships with others. As a result, young people‟s engagement at the home is also variable. Staff do not seek young people‟s views or opinions relating to the quality of care that they receive. This is a missed opportunity for young people to influence the development of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people say that they know how to make a complaint and that managers take these seriously. However, records of complaints show that managers and staff do not consistently detail the actions taken to resolve these complaints or undertake the required follow-up work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff promote young people‟s education. They challenge the emotional and practical barriers that young people face, building good links with school placements and Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 6 alternative provisions. This creates a culture at the home that supports and encourages education-based learning, and helps young people to recognise the positive impact that education has on their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although staff support young people to arrange and attend primary healthcare appointments, they do not consistently encourage them to maintain a healthy life-style. Staff are aware that some young people consume alcohol and misuse drugs on a regular basis, but they do not effectively challenge this behaviour. They rely on external agencies to provide young people with relevant information about the harmful effects of drug and alcohol misuse. However, young people are unwilling to voluntarily engage with these agencies and so receive limited help. Consequently, young people do not consider their behaviours to be harmful to their health and are reluctant to change them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff work with young people and their families to facilitate regular visits and maintain phone contact. As a result, young people are not isolated from those who are important to them. This helps to strengthen family relationships. For some young people, this means that since the last inspection they have returned to live with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home can accommodate up to two young people in a semi-independent flat. This facility provides young people with an opportunity to develop the practical and emotional skills that they need for adulthood. Staff devise independent living plans to assess young people‟s needs, skills and abilities before they move into this accommodation. This helps young people to recognise and prepare for the challenges of independence.

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

Young people are not safe at the home, because managers and staff do not ensure that fire risk assessments identify actual and known fire safety risks. For example, managers and staff are aware that some young people smoke, and that they do so in their bedrooms. They are aware that these young people possess lighters and that they have access to flammable products. On one occasion, a young person set fire to his bedroom curtains and, on another occasion, a young person attempted to set fire to a flammable product. Managers did not notify Ofsted of these significant events. Fire risk assessments do not highlight these increased risks or detail preventative measures to reduce them. This failure places young people at risk of significant harm.

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

Staff do not appropriately assess and determine young people‟s individual risks or initiate suitable strategies to manage and reduce them. Although young people‟s individual risk assessments highlight some of the complex, dangerous, challenging and unacceptable behaviours that young people present, they do not detail the strategies that staff should use to manage the risks. Staff do not sufficiently review or revise these risk assessments following any further incidents of concern. In addition, staff do not include the content of these risk assessments in other support plans. For example, a behaviour management plan for one young person makes no reference to the known prevalent risks associated with this young person. As a result, staff do not effectively manage young people‟s risk- taking behaviours, and this does not keep young people and others safe. Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 7

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

Young people do not take responsibility for their negative actions or behaviours, because staff do not consistently challenge these. Staff do not support young people to develop socially acceptable behaviours. When young people‟s behaviours are unsafe, staff do not always explain to young people why this is the case. They do not conduct meaningful one-to-one sessions with young people to help them to understand the detrimental impact that these behaviours have on their development. Records of these sessions show that discussions with young people are reactive, not preventative. They focus on criticism, not on reflection or learning. As a result, young people do not learn to take responsibility for their own safety or for their actions.

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

Incidents of young people going missing from the home have increased significantly since the last inspection. At this time, the young people placed at the home are not deemed to be at risk of child sexual exploitation or radicalisation, although managers retain links with these safeguarding agencies. Nevertheless, staff do not consistently follow young people‟s support plans to reduce the potential for young people to go missing. The differing responses by staff to these incidents mean that young people are not provided with suitable boundaries. For example, some staff report young people missing from the home at 9pm, while others report young people missing at midnight. Furthermore, some staff follow young people when they leave the home late in the evening to encourage them to return home, and others do not. As a result, young people do not receive clear boundaries and consistent care to help them to recognise,

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

understand or accept the risks associated with this behaviour. This inconsistent and poor standard of care compromises their welfare.

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

Managers review annually the suitability of the location of the home and highlight any community risk or concerns that may impact on young people‟s safety. However, these risk assessments do not sufficiently detail actions to mitigate these risks. This does not promote young people‟s welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

An acting interim manager is in day-to-day charge of the home, supported by two care managers. The registered manager has been absent from the home for a number of months. The absence of stable and permanent management means that the service lacks focus and direction. Staff say that practice is often inconsistent and that managers do not effectively address this. This impacts on teamwork at the home and means that young people do not benefit from working with staff and managers who have a shared or aspirational vision for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision. Although these sessions are generally practice related, managers do not detail the actions for staff to achieve in the coming period. This is a missed opportunity for managers to fully assess the practice and performance of staff. Training programmes are up to date and staff are appropriately qualified for their role. They have the opportunity to complete a varied range of bespoke courses that reflect young people‟s individual needs. This means that staff have the knowledge that they need to support young people. However, they do not use it effectively to improve children‟s experiences and safety. Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 8 The statement of purpose is up to date and is amended when necessary. This document details the aims and objectives of the service. However, internal monitoring systems are weak and ineffectual. This is because managers and senior staff do not use these

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

appropriately. Systems prompt managers to count quantitative data, but not to consider the qualitative information behind these statistics. For example, monthly monitoring records indicate that relevant statutory documents are held for all young people and that staff conduct a number of one-to-one sessions. However, these statutory documents are out of date and the quality of the one-to-one sessions is poor. They do not support or promote young people‟s development or help them to reflect on their behaviours. As a result, monitoring systems do not enable managers or senior staff to effectively evaluate the service or young people‟s progress, or to consider any patterns and trends that may be detrimental to young people‟s development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Relationships between the service and external agencies are generally positive. The acting interim manager takes a lead in this area of practice and maintains regular contact with other agencies and professional organisations. One social worker said, „The managers whom I work with are very passionate about the young people. They do want the best for them and want to help them to have a good future.‟

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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 difference 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: SC066214 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, Civic Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall WS1 1TP

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Inspector

Jo Stephenson, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC066214 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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