Children's Home run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in Dudley

Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 1 SC038500 Registered provider: Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of four homes run by this local authority. It is registered for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, and is situated in an urban area.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 28 to 29 November 2017

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people receive individualised care from a committed staff team.  Young people receive help and support to promote their well-being at each stage of their placement.  Staff develop nurturing, sensitive and caring relationships with young people.  Staff act as a positive role model to help young people to develop self-care and independence skills.  Young people enjoy a range of activities that meet their needs.  Young people are treated with dignity and respect.  Staff recognise risk and make appropriate safeguarding referrals. Young people say that they feel safe.  The manager and the staff work in partnership with the placing authority and other agencies to promote the progress and well-being of young people.

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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

 Young people’s files are not kept updated with key information relating to their health and cultural needs.  Staff do not always keep a record of systems in place to monitor young people’s use of the internet.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/11/2016 Full Outstanding 23/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 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 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)) 13/12/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the policies on safeguarding children from abuse and neglect include arrangements in relation to e-safety. All policies should be reviewed regularly and revised where appropriate (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 41, paragraph 9.17). This is with specific reference to monitoring young people’s use of social media.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a safe and caring environment that enables them to make good progress in many aspects of their lives. There are notable improvements in young people’s outcomes, especially in their safety and school attendance. Committed staff work hard to get to know young people and understand how best to support them. Young people feel valued and develop a sense of belonging to the home. One young person told the inspector, ‘This home is better than any other home I have been in. I get on with the staff. They are really positive about my achievements.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular key-working sessions take place. These sessions help young people to reflect on their progress and consider their future needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has good links with schools. This support means that most young people access appropriate education. Staff are proactive in helping young people to address any issues that arise in school. Consequently, any disruption in young people’s education is managed well. This collaborative approach helps young people to overcome barriers to Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 4 their learning so that academic success can be achieved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager considers all potential new admissions and ensures that the staff team can meet the identified needs of young people. This results in good placement stability. A social worker told the inspector, ‘The staff have provided my child with a good introduction to the home and have developed good relationships with her. Communication is good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When it is appropriate, young people are encouraged to prepare for their move to adulthood. Young people successfully learn the skills that they need to be independent adults. Young people are supported to do their own laundry, prepare meals and travel independently. This ensures that young people have the necessary life skills ready for adulthood. When young people leave, moves are planned well and sensitively. Staff accompany young people to see their new accommodation and help them to get to know the area that they are moving to. The staff recently supported one young person’s move by allowing him to bring his bedroom furniture with him to his new placement. This supported the young person to feel at ease in his new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s views are taken very seriously. All young people have access to an independent advocate, who visits the home monthly. Staff notice achievements, no matter how small, and highlight these to the young people on a daily basis. This boosts young people’s confidence. This is central to the care that they receive and the progress that they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people get involved in a range of activities, attending youth clubs and outdoor pursuits. One young person is an active member of the children in care council. This helps them to make new friendships in the community and gives them a chance to try different experiences and develop new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s meetings capture and celebrate each young person’s achievements. These meetings are used to enable young people to have a voice and to be listened to. Young people feel confident to identify issues and make suggestions about issues that are important to them. The manager has a good overview of these meetings and responds to each request being made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with the placing authorities to ensure that young people are able to maintain relationships with their friends and families. When contact restrictions are in place, staff clearly explain these. The young people receive practical and emotional support to attend contact visits.

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

Young people feel safe and cared for. Staff have excellent insight into young people’s histories. For some young people, this includes risks such as going missing, child sexual exploitation, criminality or self-injurious behaviours. There are now no concerns about the current young people going missing or being subject to exploitation. There is also a decrease in young people’s self-injurious behaviours. This is because of the support that Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 5 they receive from staff.

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

Staff ensure that boundaries and expectations are clear for young people to follow. Socially acceptable behaviour is actively encouraged both inside the home and in the community. Staff model positive behaviour and they are skilful in defusing situations when necessary. When young people’s behaviours escalate and cause concern or a risk to other young people, staff and managers follow young people’s behaviour management plans. As a result, physical intervention is only used as a last resort.

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

There are detailed missing from home plans in place. When young people go missing from the home, these plans are put into action. The staff work closely with key partners. Return home interviews are consistently available to young people. This integrated approach to protecting young people means that young people become increasingly safe.

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

Staff understand the risks to young people of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Those young people who have historically been highly vulnerable to exploitation are protected from harm. Staff have completed training to raise their individual knowledge base. Staff proactively monitor all young people at the home. This means that young people are safe. Staff monitor young people’s use of social media on their smart phones while out in the community. However, these checks are currently carried out on an ad hoc basis. There is no system in place to record this information. This practice hinders the opportunity for effective monitoring and review.

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

The manager notifies key partners and parents about significant events in a timely manner. This makes sure that any action required to keep young people safe is suitable and appropriate. There are good relationships with key partners. Staff work with the local police to promote the safety of young people. Staff are well trained, which enables them to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities.

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

Regular safety checks are completed on gas, electrical and fire safety systems to ensure that they all remain in good working order. All young people have personal evacuation plans. A fire risk assessment is undertaken annually.

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

The registered manager has ensured that the home’s location risk assessment is reviewed on an annual basis. This means that staff have local intelligence regarding risks within the community. This promotes the opportunity for staff to protect young people from known areas of risk within the community.

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

Potential employees are subject to an assessment of their suitability to work with young people. Safe recruitment and vetting practices mean that young people are protected from adults who may wish to harm them. Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since May 2007 and is suitably qualified. All 12 members of staff are qualified to the level 3 diploma in residential childcare. The manager and staff work hard to ensure that all young people make progress while living at the home. Managerial oversight and review mean that young people continue to progress from their starting points. Managers and staff discuss young people’s progress in team meetings. This means that staff can prioritise the needs of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child-focused and passionate about her role. She understands young people’s individual needs. Staff say that they feel very well supported and they speak highly of the manager. Regular supervision provides the opportunity for staff to explore their professional development and to reflect on their individual practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s files do not consistently contain all of the required documents. For example, key information is missing around one young person’s health needs and the internal care plan for another young person is missing details on their hair and skin care. The absence of these details hinders the staff in being kept informed over individualised needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good-quality professional relationships with other professionals. Partnership working with other agencies remains vital in helping young people to make good levels of progress educationally, socially and emotionally.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The six-monthly self-evaluation report is routinely completed. The manager works closely with the independent visitor, who visits the home monthly, and addresses shortfalls identified at the visits in order to improve the quality of care for young people.

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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: SC038500 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Council House, Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge, West Midlands DY8 2AA

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Inspector

Lisa Walsh: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038500 8 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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