Children's home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 1 SC034441 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

This children’s home is owned and operated by a local authority. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children or young people who have sensory impairment, learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 30 January 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Irrespective of the length of time that the children and young people have lived in the Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 2 home, they are making life-impacting progress. For example, one child is now mobile and is developing their ability to communicate.  The trust developed between the staff, children and young people is enabling the children and young people to gain new life experiences.  The children and young people do not go missing from the home and they are protected from exploitation by the measures implemented by the staff.  Despite the complexities and challenges that the children and young people’s behaviours present, the staff continue to provide consistent care and attention.

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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

 As children and young people are admitted to the home, the manager needs to consistently ensure that there is a clear record that explores the impact of any new placement and that the manager always has the required signed paperwork from the local authority.  The children and young people’s risk assessments need to be updated by the staff to reflect all the current risks and strategies being implemented to help them.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Outstanding 08/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/12/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 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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Requirement Due date

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 arrangements are in place to— manage and review the placement of each child into the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(2)(b)(ii)) 05/01/2018

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Recommendations

 The information set out in the statement of purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and the placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6) This is with particular reference to ensuring that the updated statement of purpose is sent to HMCI.  The registered person must challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5) This is with particular reference to the manager ensuring that she has the relevant signed paperwork from the local authority when a child comes to live in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are making outstanding progress. Living at this home is having a fundamental impact on their independence and life opportunities. The children Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 4 and young people make progress irrespective of the length of time that they have lived in the home. Although one child has recently moved into the home, through the staff engagement and continued encouragement, the child’s mobility and communication capabilities have vastly improved. A professional said: ‘[Child] has made massive progress. The staff are doing fantastic with her. Before she came, I would have described her as non-verbal but now she can verbalise to make her views known.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people enjoy their interactions with the staff and their peers. The children and young people’s needs and interests are fully understood. Relevant plans are implemented to ensure that the children and young people get full enjoyment from activities. One young person said: ‘The trips out are good.’ Another child talked enthusiastically about the garden and the bikes they can use. The staff are proactive at capturing the children and young people’s level of engagement and happiness in the photographs that they take. For example, one child went on a holiday to Blackpool, which they said was ‘good’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are helped by the staff to have any presenting health needs appropriately investigated and treated. Given the complexities of the children and young people’s needs, their engagement during appointments can be difficult. Despite this, the children and young people’s medical needs continue to be thoroughly met, through the perseverance and innovative practice of the staff team. For example, when a child attended the optician, the staff used the continual movement of a toy to ensure that the optician could examine the full workings of the child’s eyes. In addition, the staff ensure that any missed health appointments are rescheduled. As a result, for one child, the referrals to the ‘speech and language therapist’ and ‘wheelchair service’ have been submitted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are making remarkable achievements in education as they thrive in their education provisions. For example, one young person has achieved a GCSE in art, while other children are now loving going to school and attending a full timetable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When appropriate, the children and young people are being helped to experience positive contact with their families. The staff are extremely accommodating and considerate in their approach. Their approach ensures that family members are welcomed and that their time with their child is enjoyed. However, if the staff identify any concerns, these are quickly addressed with appropriate multi-agency actions.

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

The staff are attuned to the children and young people’s vulnerabilities, and acknowledge the impact this has on safety in the home and in the community. The children and young people receive high levels of supervision and oversight that crucially maintain their safety and protection. As a result, the children and young people do not go missing and are not involved in any form of exploitation. However, risk assessments are not being consistently updated to reflect the current needs or trends of the children and young people’s behaviours, especially following an incident. Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 5 The children and young people have built up trusting relationships with the staff. One child displays their confidence in the staff by allowing them to support her in new experiences that previously brought her anxiety and resistance. These include going to the park and interacting with her peers. The children and young people’s confidence in

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

the staff comes from the continued quick response from the staff to recognise and meet their needs, and the actions of staff to maintain the children and young people’s safety.

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

The children and young people have individual complex levels of need and they can present with difficult behaviours, inclusive, but not exhaustive of, nipping, biting and vomiting. Irrespective of the challenges that the staff face, and the impact that this has on them physically and mentally, the staff continue to remain committed to delivering high-quality care to the children and young people. The staff show great resilience and retain their focus on the children and young people to ensure that their needs are met, which enables them to continue to move forward. One child was seen to be in crisis and was potentially unwell. This resulted in her inflicting multiple injuries on the staff. The staff maintained their empathy and compassion for the child and this was evident in the care being delivered.

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

The children and young people’s communication needs are clearly understood by the staff. The staff assist the children and young people to express choices and make decisions. The staff capture the children and young people’s views in a variety of ways. Examples include photos of a child with no verbal communication in situations he liked and disliked to evidence his views about his social interests. Other children and young people have written their views and wishes and these are acted on. For example, menus have been changed to meet the wishes of some of the children and young people.

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

The children and young people are helped to understand their own behaviours. This is achieved by the work completed by the staff and the resources that the staff imaginatively create. One young person was able to explain how he identifies his mood through coloured photos of his face, which helps him to portray his emotions. This young person said: ‘The staff help me be good, but it is hard to be good all the time.’

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

The children and young people’s admissions into the home are fully explored. The manager is quick to challenge senior management and routinely advocates and protects the needs of the home when considering future admissions. Therefore, the children and young people are making continued progress as the manager maintains the stability of the home. Despite this evident practice, one child’s record did not clearly demonstrate the consideration given to her impact on the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and is suitably qualified for her role. She is passionate about the home and wants to achieve the best for the children and young people. The staff report that the manager is very supportive and is aware of how the complex needs of the children and young people can impact on the staffing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is supported by a stable, experienced and knowledgeable staff team. This Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 6 provides the children and young people with reassurance as they are familiar with those who provide their consistent care. As the manager recruits staff to vacant posts, there is clear consideration given to their suitability. Some vacant posts have not been filled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff maintain their engagement and communication with professionals and families. This allows for easy sharing of information which develops the children and young people’s records and progress. One professional said: ‘The staff are really good at maintaining communication, and they are extremely quick at responding to me when I request information.’ The staff ensure that interpreters are used when talking to parents and carers when English is their second language. This means that relevant and pertinent information about their child can be shared.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is aware of the strengths of the home and examples of good practice are disseminated within the local authority. The manager and her team have the desire to provide the children and young people with the nurture and care that they need. To achieve their aims, the manager identifies the areas for development. This includes changes to documents and practices to make them smarter. An example of this is the staff daily handover. The manager is continually implementing research and learning from specialist services to enable her team to have a greater understanding of the needs of the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

As a result of the manager’s monitoring of the home, she has made effective changes to practice to address the gaps within staff supervision. Subsequently, the frequency of the staff supervision has improved. The staff are able to identify that, although there had been a gap in formal recorded supervision, they are continually receiving practice guidance and support, including training, which ensures that the needs of the children and young people are met. Alongside the manager’s monitoring of the home, she has updated the statement of purpose. However, this document has not been sent to HMCI and a requirement has been made.

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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: SC034441 7 Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 8

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034441 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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