Children's Home run by Bristol City Council in Bristol

Inspection report children's home: SC034301 1 SC034301 Registered provider: Bristol City Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a local authority and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural care needs.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Two compliance notices have been issued following this inspection.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, one young person has left the home and three young people have moved in. The admissions to the home happened during a period of six weeks. Impact risk assessments were undertaken that indicate that the young people’s needs were a good match. However, the manager failed to consider the potential impact of the three young people moving into the home in a short space of time. The strong leadership and guidance that the staff team needed, in order to safely manage the behaviour of the three young people as they settled into the home and tested the boundaries, was not provided.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Individual care plans and risk assessments are not up to date or are not in place to give the staff team the clear strategies and guidance that it needs to keep the young people Inspection report children's home: SC034301 2 safe. One young person has self-harmed since being admitted to the home, a behaviour that the young person had not been known to demonstrate prior to living here. Following the incidents of self-harm, staff did not complete an assessment of future risks relating to this young person or devise strategies for managing them. The healthcare plan for this young person does not contain any information about how the therapeutic help this young person needs in relation to their self-harming behaviour will be provided.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person is diagnosed with a mental health need. They are currently refusing to take their medication. The staff members have failed to escalate their concerns when health professionals have not offered the young person a service or reassessed their mental health needs. One young person under the age of sixteen is a regular smoker. The staff team does not have any guidance about how best to support this young person to give up smoking and help them to understand the associated health risks. On one occasion, the young person, unchallenged by the staff, smoked so many cigarettes that they felt unwell. The staff called paramedics, who attended to the young person in the home. This incident was not notified to Ofsted as required by the regulations.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager fails to give the staff clear direction and leadership. Recording systems are disorganised and are not up to date.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Incidents of physical restraint are not monitored by the manager to ensure that the staff team is only using accredited holds and only uses restraint as a last resort. Records of restraint do not contain a clear record of which restraint technique has been used, for how long, and what staff did first to try to prevent the restraint. On three occasions, one young person has been held by the staff on the floor in a hold that is not accredited as a safe hold to use or documented in the young person’s physical intervention plan. This leaves the young person at risk of physical and emotional harm. The staff lock internal doors in the home in order to manage the behaviour of the young people in the absence of any other strategy. This is a restriction of a young person’s liberty.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young people are often in control of the home. On one occasion, a young person brought his female friend into his bedroom at 2pm. She was in his room, undetected by the staff, until midnight, when the police arrived at the home, following the girl being notified to the police as a missing child. Following the incident, the manager did not interview the staff on duty to establish why they failed to notice that the girl was in the house and the manager did not put measures in place to prevent future incidents. It is not clear, and is not documented in the records, what safeguarding action was taken following the incident, although the social workers for both young people were notified of the incident. However, Ofsted was not notified of this incident as required by the regulations.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff team fails to manage the behaviour of the young people effectively, and there are no clear and detailed behaviour management plans to guide the staff in this role. One young person has an incentive plan. On most weeks, the incentive targets are not met. This plan has not been evaluated by the staff to ensure that the plan is effective or achievable. Inspection report children's home: SC034301 3 A significant amount of damage has been caused to the home by the young people, and members of the staff team have been injured during incidents. One young person locked another young person with them in the bathroom and refused to let them out. The young person who was locked in against their wishes has previously suffered emotional and sexual harm, prior to coming to the home, and this incident left them feeling very scared. One placing social worker said: ‘… My young person is in a chaotic environment

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

here, which is worrying. They are joining in on it. There are no behaviour management plans in place; some of the incidents have escalated to be unsafe.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff call the police to manage the behaviour of the young people. One young person, who did not have a criminal record prior to coming to the home, has now been charged with assault and criminal damage. This action is contrary to the policy of the local authority, which is not to criminalise children for damage. On one occasion, one young person called the police, as another young person was trying to break into their bedroom. The staff failed to manage the situation and take control to ensure that all of the young people felt safe. One young person said: ‘Staff try but don’t do much. The kids are in charge, they are controlling people… the kids snap their fingers and get whatever they want from the staff… I do not deserve to be here, I was with a nice family before coming here.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two of the young people are not in education, training or employment and are refusing to attend school or college. Neither young person has a detailed plan of how they will be supported to re-enter education. The manager is failing to challenge education professionals so that the young people can be helped back into their educational placements.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff have worked hard to try to improve the environment of the home, and it has a more homely appearance than seen at previous inspections. However, the front door has not yet been replaced by one of a less institutional appearance and the bathrooms have not yet been refurbished. One of the lounges has been painted black and this room appears dark and bleak. The staff bedroom doors are fitted with two prominent, large locks and a metal plate. The manager has not been proactive in ensuring that there is a timely plan for these improvements to take place.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The use of agency staff is now rare. There is now an established and consistent staff team. All of the young people could name a member of staff who they would speak with if they felt unsafe. The young people reported that they could visit the home and were offered an overnight stay prior to moving in. All young people reported that they were given a young person’s guide to the home on their arrival. Inspection report children's home: SC034301 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 31/05/2016 Full Inadequate 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good

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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

Ensure that no measure of control which is excessive or unreasonable is used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that internal downstairs rooms are not locked at any time and that the locks are removed from the internal downstairs doors. 19/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home and that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (b)(ii)(c)) 19/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home and understands 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered manager leads and manages the home in a way that is consistent with the 19/02/2018 * Inspection report children's home: SC034301 5 approach and ethos and delivers the outcomes, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose, and uses monitoring and reviewing systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(a)(f)(h)) 12: The protection of children standard

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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. In particular—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking in to account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child and ensure that the staff have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm and manage relationships between children to prevent them harming each other. Ensure that staff take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)) 19/02/2018 *

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Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that a policy is prepared and implemented which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; and the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(2)(3)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)(vii)) 19/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b) 19/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational progress and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff understand the barriers to 19/02/2018 Inspection report children's home: SC034301 6 learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to overcome any such barriers and help any child, who is of compulsory school age but is not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of non- attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(iii) (viii)) 10: The health and well-being standard

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met; children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles and that each child has access to such psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(c)(2)(c)) 19/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home provides a homely and domestic environment that seeks to provide a ‘domestic’ rather than ‘institutional’ appearance. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that the bathrooms and the front door are refurbished to reduce their institutional appearance.

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: SC034301 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bristol City Council, Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC034301 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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