Children's home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report children's home: SC033387 1 SC033387 Registered provider: Kirklees 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 is owned and operated by a local authority. The home provides short breaks for eight children or young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 13 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children and young people are being helped by the staff team to work towards their individualised goals. This provides a level of development towards the children and young people’s independence. Inspection report children's home: SC033387 2  The children and young people enjoy their stays as they get to do activities that they thoroughly enjoy.  The parents and carers speak very highly of the service that is provided for their children.  The staff are aware of the children and young people’s communication methods and, as a result, the children and young people are able to make choices and their needs are met.  The staff maintain regular communication with parents and professionals to effectively plan the children and young people’s stays.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children and young people are affected by the emergency admissions of other children and young people.  The children and young people should consistently experience positive engagement and interaction from all members of the staff team.  The staff need to ensure that the children and young people’s care plans detail the specialist guidance in relation to aid and adaptations.  The home environment needs to be maintained so that it provides the children and young people with a welcoming environment.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 20/07/2016 Full Good 14/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC033387 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirements Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)) 24/11/2017

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Requirements Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(2)(c)) 15/12/2017

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Requirements Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— engage with them. (Regulation 7(1)(b)) 24/11/2017

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Requirements Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 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. 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. (Regulation 14(1)(2)(a)) 24/11/2017

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality Inspection report children's home: SC033387 4 standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) With particular reference to the exploration of the procedures for the removal of human waste, and to address the appearance of the home. The general decoration and maintenance of the home needs to be improved.  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

With particular reference to ensuring that the staff receive regular supervision, in line with the home’s policy.  Staff must also be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) This is with particular reference to the children and young people’s records being detailed and clear about their preferred care needs. Also, where relevant, records are to contain the advice and guidance from specialist agencies, such as an occupational therapist and a speech and language therapist. In addition, there needs to be signed consent from parents in respect of the use of harnesses to reduce the risk to children and young people while out in the community.  Homes are required to develop and keep under review a ‘Statement of Purpose’.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5) This is with particular reference to the updated versions of the document being sent to Ofsted.

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Recommendations

 The children’s guide should help children to understand how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24 paragraph 4.22)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people enjoy their time during their breaks. Their stays are planned and their admissions are structured. This ensures that the staff receive from parents and carers current information that meets the complex needs of the children and young people. When possible, the children and young people can choose their preferred bedroom and they get to spend time doing activities that they thoroughly enjoy. One young person said: ‘I like drawing and doing crafts, and there is an arts and craft cupboard which has lots of great stuff in.’ In addition, a carer said: ‘[Name] loves coming, because she gets to go out. I daren’t take her to the cinema, but the staff take her.’ Inspection report children's home: SC033387 5 The children and young people’s personal care needs are met and this is evident in their presentation. The staff help them to maintain their appearance, which, for some of the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

children and young people, is an important element of their identity. For example, the staff were helping a young girl to dry and straighten her hair. And one carer said: ‘All [Name’s] clothes and belongings come back and they are freshly laundered.’ The children and young people are being helped to work towards achievable goals that are pertinent to their individual abilities and levels of future independence. The staff are supporting one child with a toileting regime. Other children and young people are being helped to sit at the dining table to ensure that they gain the benefits of meal times. One carer said: ‘The staff have helped [Name] to pay for items in the shop and she has learned some cooking skills.’ The staff understand the communication needs of each child and young person, meaning that they are able to express a choice and make their needs known. Staff generally engage the children and young people well during activities, clearly

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

understanding each individual child or young person’s strengths and encouraging their development. However, it is also apparent that not all the children and young people are routinely engaged by the staff, as some interactions were limited. In addition, the children and young people do not have any information on how to contact the children’s commissioner, who promotes the views and interests of all children in England. The staff are clear about their roles in the home and what the service brings to the children, young people and their families. One staff member said: ‘We really help the families out. If we were not here, a lot of families would break down. The children and young people do behave differently here and we give them a lot of opportunities that they might not get with their families.’ The children and young people benefit from the fantastic equipment that the service offers. These features include a sensory garden, an indoor sensory room and a spa bath.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, there are areas of the home that do need to be brought up to standard to ensure that the initial appearance of the home is welcoming and inviting to all.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people have high levels of support and supervision. As a result, they rarely go missing from the home. On one occasion when this did occur, the staff promptly encourage the young person’s safe and quick return. The staff have implemented detailed plans to ensure that there is a clear process in place in order to respond to any further occurrence. A carer said: ‘My child is safe when she comes for her break.’ To promote the safety of the children and young people while out in the community, some of the children and young people will wear a harness. This aid prevents the child or young person from causing harm to themselves or others. However, the manager needs to ensure that the child or young person’s record contains signed consent to use the harness from the person with parental responsibility. Emergency admissions into the home have impacted on the provision of service being

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children's home: SC033387 6 offered to the children, young people and their families. As a result of the emergency admissions, other children and young people experienced limited access to areas in the home and their stays were altered or cancel. The children and young people’s perception of the home since these admissions has been affected. Some children and young people report that there is now a ‘naughty side’ to the home, thus impacting on their own thoughts about their stay and time spent within parts of the home. To prevent further emergency admissions, the manager needs to work in line with the home’s statement of purpose, while ensuring that any changes to this document are forwarded to HMCI. The children and young people’s files are being redesigned so that the records are easy to use and that they reflect clearly the pertinent needs of the children and young people. This means that the children and young people are being helped and encouraged by the

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improvement to be good

staff to contribute to their records. However, some of the records still provide no clear practice direction for the staff to appropriately meet the complex needs of the children and young people. For example, the staff have no record from specialist agencies about the care needs of children and young people who use aids and adaptations. An example of this is when the staff responded to the request of a child to exit their wheelchair in order to reduce the child’s anxieties. However, it is not clear how the time while the child is out of their wheelchair should be managed.

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

For a substantial period of time, the home has not had the consistent input and overview from the registered manager. This has impacted on the consistency and continuity of oversight of the home. However, a manager has now been appointed to the position and is actively progressing their application for registration. The manager has a wealth of experience within disability services. He is able to identity the strengths of the home, including the strengths of the staff team and what it brings to the lives and experiences of the children and young people. Members of staff can see that the service is moving forward and have a sense of trust and positivity about the home’s future. A staff member said: ‘The new manager is approachable and will offer a level of consistency. He will share his knowledge, information, practice experience and expectations with us.’ Importantly, the manager has clear insight into what is needed to develop the home,

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

including the staff care practices. The implementation of some of the identified changes is having a positive impact for the children, young people and families. However, despite the developments, there are missed opportunities for the manager to analyse the staff members’ strengths and areas of development as they are not receiving regular supervision. It is evident that the staff and the manager are working in partnership with agencies and families. Parents and carers report that the staff in the home maintain regular communication and that steps are taken to ensure that relevant information and the experiences of their children are shared. A carer said: ‘The staff are brilliant. I don’t know what I would do without them.’ The manager has varying means to monitor the efficiency and quality of care recording Inspection report children's home: SC033387 7 and practice. This is inclusive of the completion of an internal assessment. This identifies

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

that the manager has clearly reviewed the needs of the home, using feedback from others to evaluate where the service requires development. However, this needs further development to evidence an action plan.

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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: SC033387 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 30 Market Street, Huddersfield HD1 2HG

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Inspectors

Jennifer Fenlon, social care inspector Dorothy McGough, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC033387 9 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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