Children's home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull, City of

Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 1 SC034706 Registered provider: Kingston Upon Hull City Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The local authority owns and runs this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people, irrespective of gender, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 December 2017

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

p.1

inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

p.1

inadequate

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2017

p.1

inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

p.1

inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This children‟s home is inadequate because:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are at risk of harm, both emotionally and physically.  There is a chaotic household environment, characterised by high levels of aggression and poor behaviour.  Risk management is weak, missing from home incidents are not decreasing, and the mix of young people is having a negative impact on each of them.  The staff struggle to develop positive daily routines and structured activities that would benefit young people. Staff do not have the time to undertake regular direct work with young people and provide the emotional care and warmth that young people need.  Management oversight of the quality of care is weak and ineffective at making any improvements.  Care planning is poor and does not reflect the diverse needs of young people.  Record-keeping is confusing, and important up-to-date records are not available for all staff.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 There has been a significant improvement in the physical environment, giving young people a homely and comfortable setting.  Staff work closely with schools to promote young people‟s education and support their transition into college.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Requires improvement 15/07/2016 Full Inadequate 19/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

*The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the overall aims and outcomes the home 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(2)(b)(iv)) 28/01/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In order to meet the protection of children standard, 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. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)) 28/01/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In order to meet the protection of children standard, in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(ii)) 28/01/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In order to meet the protection of children standard, in 28/01/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 4 particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(iv) *The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In order to meet the protection of children standard, in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(2)(b) 28/01/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

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 their potential, and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(2)(c)) 31/03/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

*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 their potential, and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13(2)(d)) 28/01/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

*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 their potential, and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(f)) 28/01/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard the registered manager must ensure: 28/01/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 5 that arrangements are in place to— plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child‟s placing authority. (Regulation 14(2)(b)(iii)) The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it, and 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)) A person may only manage a children‟s home if the person has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28(1)(b)(i)) 31/03/2018

p.4

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)) 28/01/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(2)(c)(5)) 28/01/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.5

Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The young people are not being protected from emotional harm and potential physical harm. At least two young people require high levels of nurture and therapeutic care. They are not receiving this. One young person is rarely at the home and his placement has had no impact on his welfare. He is involved in crime and is at risk of harm. Two of the four requirements from the last inspection are not met. The leadership of the home is not making any impact on the welfare of young people. A restriction of accommodation notice has been served as a result of this inspection, prohibiting any admissions to the home. Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 6 The staff struggle to develop positive daily routines and structured activities that would benefit young people. Staff do not have the time to undertake regular direct work with young people and provide the emotional care and warmth that young people need. Too

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

often, staff‟s time is taken up managing challenging behaviour. Consequently, the relationships between young people and staff are poor. Key-working sessions are limited and there is no plan to address the safety, welfare and relationship needs of young people. In these circumstances, the outcomes and experiences for young people are not improving. Similarly, staff are unable to engage young people who are over the age of 16 in meaningful activities to develop their independence. Without this support, young people are not prepared for the transition to adulthood. The home aims to prevent young people from entering the criminal justice system by using restorative practice. However, there is no system of restorative work in the home. Instead, there are high levels of police involvement and two young people are at risk of custodial placements. Staff are unable to support young people to have positive relationships with each other or with the staff.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Three young people do attend education, one does not. Attendance is good for one young person. However, attendance has declined for the other two young people this term, impacting on their progress. Staff promote the health needs of young people and will seek the input of specialist help, for example with diet and nutrition. Staff struggle to engage young people to accept support with their mental health needs and there are difficulties accessing local services. Young people self-harm and misuse substances. Despite the efforts of staff, the emotional and psychological needs of young people are not met. Staff support young people to maintain and develop relationships with their friends and family. Relatives are welcome in the home and, in one particular case, the partnership work with relatives is having a positive impact on a young person. This is an important aspect of young people‟s lives and helps promote their sense of identity and positive

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

attachments. Young people make progress in some aspects of their lives, such as progression to college education, having sheets on the bed (instead of sleeping without them), and eating sociably at the table. The home was recently refurbished and redecorated. Young people now have a home that is a physically inviting space.

p.6

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

There is a chaotic household environment, characterised by high levels of aggression and poor behaviour. The manager and staff are not providing young people with safe day-to-day care. Young people are causing significant and repeated damage to the physical environment and there are regular assaults on staff. One young person does not cope with high noise levels and, as a result, has twice threatened to stab staff and young people. The environment does not meet his needs. The actions of another young person impact negatively on the previous young person‟s anxiety and behaviour. Another young person has previously lived in a domestic abuse situation. The frequent episodes of challenging behaviour are repeating that experience. Consequently, this is putting young people at Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 7 risk of harm and emotional upset. Staff do take action to address young people‟s behaviour, but have limited impact on making any changes.

p.6

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

Missing from home practice is not consistent with young people‟s risk assessments. The times that staff have reported a young person missing have varied. Low staffing levels mean that there are times when staff cannot search for young people who are missing and cannot go and pick them up when they are located by the police. The record- keeping system makes it difficult to oversee any patterns or trends both in young people‟s behaviour and staff practice. Consequently, the manager has not analysed this information in an attempt to reduce risks and improve practice. On one occasion, staff left two young people at a local bus stop and returned to the home to report them as missing. This left the two young people at risk of harm. The return home interview process is weak. Although young people are offered an independent interview, these rarely happen. This is a missed opportunity to gather information and contribute towards

p.7

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

reducing the number of times young people are missing. One young person is routinely missing. Police intelligence suggests that he is involved in a significant amount of crime and may be at risk from other factors as well. Risk assessment information is in a range of different formats and is not accessible to all staff. For example, current risks, such as a young person needing two-to-one staffing, were not known by all staff. There is no programme of effective key working in place to help young people learn how to keep safe. Direct work by staff with young people is not prioritised in order to meet young people‟s needs and reduce risks of harm. Young people are, therefore, not receiving the care and nurture that they need to improve their emotional well-being and develop a sense of safety and feel secure.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has been in post for three years. She has a social work qualification and is working towards the required leadership and management qualification. The date by which this should have been achieved has passed. The history of inspection outcomes under her leadership is poor. The manager has assessed two of the young people as needing two-to-one staffing. The staffing levels are not high enough to provide this and meet the needs of other young people living in the home. This leaves the young people at risk. It is the provider‟s policy that two staff have to remain in the home. Staffing levels mean that young people are at times unaccompanied when taken to hospital in a medical crisis, such as when they have taken, or it is suspected that they have taken, an overdose. Unless relatives are able to attend, this leaves young people without emotional support in these distressing circumstances. Some of the staff do not feel safe working in the home and there is currently a high level

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

of sickness. This impacts negatively on the manager‟s ability to provide the correct levels of staff to meet the complex needs of all of the young people. The inspectors found that management monitoring of the children‟s home is weak. The review systems in place are ineffective. Staff supervision records are not up to date and some staff have yet to receive training in safeguarding matters such as prevent and child sexual exploitation. The scrutiny and reflection about levels of challenging behaviour, Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 8 missing from home practice, quality of care planning and staff use of restraint is poor. The current level of management oversight does not lead to improvements, help keep young people safe, or ensure that their needs are met. There are no in-house care plans. Staff follow the local authority care plans, but do not always have up-to-date copies. These plans are not individualised to reflect the diverse

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

needs of the young people. Consequently, systems to track young people‟s achievements and progress are weak. Record-keeping systems are confusing, with information stored in different locations and not always accessible to staff. This makes it harder to evaluate the quality of care and the impact that the care is having on young people. Some progress has been made in meeting the requirements from the last inspection. In particular, there has been considerable investment in improving the physical condition of the home. Long-awaited bedroom furniture arrived during the inspection. Ongoing repairs to damage have been completed, but it is important that the provider sustains this to give young people a pleasant place to live. Young people are now offered a key to their bedrooms, but they do not always want one. The arrangements for transition planning have not improved and the manager‟s six-monthly reviews of the service still do

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

not meet regulations. These reviews do not include feedback from young people, their parents and social workers and the impact that this has had on improving the service. The quality of partnership working is variable. There is good communication and joint working with one of the schools that two young people attend. This is helping those young people to achieve. There are delays for young people in receiving specialist help, for example from child and adolescent mental health services. Differences of opinion between partner agencies are preventing young people receiving this appropriate support. Communication and consultation with young people‟s independent reviewing officers are weak and impact negatively on placement planning. Matching reports were not available to be able to assess the appropriateness of admissions. The home‟s statement of purpose is not up to date. This lacks staffing details and is

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

confusing in relation to how many young people the home can accommodate.

p.8

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.

p.8

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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 9 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: SC034706 10

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

p.10

Inspector(s)

Simon Morley, social care inspector Angela Norrie, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC034706 11 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.

p.10

Inspector(s)

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector(s)

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector(s)

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11