Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 1 SC034313 Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City 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 home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six young people who have emotional and/or behavioural problems.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 October 2016

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The progress that young people make is highly variable. Some young people do not make sustained progress with regard to their educational potential. Their Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 2 engagement in the home is minimal and staff influence on their behaviour is limited.  Behaviour management approaches used by staff are not reflective of those outlined in the statement of purpose, and staff lack a uniform and consistent approach.  Staff have not been able to forge trusted relationships with some young people, and their whereabouts when out of the home is unknown. As a result, the risks posed to their welfare are not fully appreciated by staff.  The impact of recent changes to the purpose of the home has yet to be realised. Senior managers previously disregarded the process of matching young people’s needs when decisions were made about admissions. This resulted in the behaviours of some young people causing damage to the

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Key findings from this inspection

building, as well as a number of significant incidents and disruption.  The home presents as ‘institutionalised’ in its appearance, and it lacks the décor and furnishings that provide a welcoming and homely environment.  Young people are not involved in developing their goals or areas for change.  Training provided for staff does not address young people’s specific needs. Management overview of staff skills and areas for development is restricted due to the absence of a workforce plan that details, analyses and plans for the home’s development.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager has actively challenged inappropriate admissions to the home. Changes in senior management have resulted in the manager being supported in his decisions, and appropriate processes are now being adhered to.  The staff are committed and work extremely hard to support the young people. They are resilient in the face of the challenges that some young people’s behaviours present.  The management team is committed to the changes that are necessary in order to offer good care and outcomes to young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/10/2016 Full Good 02/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/09/2015 Full Good 17/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 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 and; have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 30/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) With particular reference to staff offering a restorative approach when dealing with children’s behaviours. 31/05/2018

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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 fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)) With particular reference to staff receiving good quality training in order to meet the specific needs of young people, and receiving supervision that meets local authority agreed timescales of frequency. 31/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— provide to children the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. Ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are 31/05/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 4 designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)) With particular reference to repairing all damaged areas and improving the décor, fixtures and overall presentation of the home. The registered person must ensure that children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises and that any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against

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Requirement Due date

the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) 31/03/2018

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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, 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) 30/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome such barriers help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(iii)(viii)) 30/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of a measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered manager to do so ("the authorised person") has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within five days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the 15/04/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 5 authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should:

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Recommendations

Detail the necessary management and staffing structure, the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose Detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training Detail the process for managing and improving poor performance Detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.

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Recommendations

The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 The home should work in partnership with relevant people as appropriate to ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)

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improvement to be good

Some young people make steady progress in learning to appreciate the value that education plays in their lives. They are actively supported by staff to remain engaged and achieve. Other young people, however, refuse to attend or take part in any education that is offered. As a result, their life chances are curtailed. Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 6 Young people are treated as individuals and their backgrounds are understood well by the staff. However, the staff knowledge base of additional and specific needs of young people is limited.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard at providing routines and activities for young people. Some respond to this attention and, as a result, incidents of sustained aggression and violence have diminished, and for some are rare.

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improvement to be good

However, staff have not been able to establish healthy daily routines for some young people. The lack of educational focus results in them rising late in the morning and being out of the home for long periods during the day and into the night. The staff have not been able to establish trust with them and, as a result, the impact of staff influence and advice is minimal.

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improvement to be good

Although young people are consulted in meetings and are listened to on a daily basis, they are not actively encouraged to formulate their goals or plans. Documents used by the staff are adult-orientated and not shared with young people. The work by the staff is broad, and is insufficiently prioritised to meaningfully measure progress and share this with young people.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise, support and fully respect young people’s diverse cultural heritage. They are flexible, and are committed to ensuring that young people fully take part in religious events and celebrations. For example, staff rotas were adjusted in order to ensure that a young person was transported to and from places of worship late into the evening. Staff ensure that young people are introduced to culturally appropriate local networks and are supported to attend their chosen leisure activities. As a result, their sense of identity is maintained and enhanced.

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improvement to be good

The home presents as basic and functional. Sustained damage over a number of months has resulted in ongoing difficulty in maintaining the environment as homely and welcoming. Internal doors are heavy and institutional looking, there is a lack of soft furnishings, décor is basic and damage to plasterwork requires professional repair. Bathrooms present as worn and old looking, and there is a significant lack of decorative features such as pictures.

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improvement to be good

Young people are restricted in their movement around the home due to staff practice of locking all the downstairs rooms at night. Young people do not have free access to their bedrooms as they do not have their own keys.

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improvement to be good

Some young people have made significant progress with regard to incidents of missing from home. Since joining the home they have not gone missing. Others, while being late back to the home, rarely stay out overnight. Staff are active in searching for young people, liaising with other agencies and following reporting procedures. However, not all young people are offered return home interviews and there is no comprehensive system Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 7 for tracking these omissions. Information from these interviews is not systematically collated or evaluated. As a result, opportunities to better inform risk assessments are missed.

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improvement to be good

Staff maintain ongoing and close liaison with other professionals and regularly communicate concerns regarding the risks that some young people may be exposed to outside the home. However, these young people continue to spend long periods away from the home, and their whereabouts and activities are unknown. For these young people, drug use remains a prevalent feature of their lives.

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improvement to be good

Staff use effective techniques of de-escalation in managing young people’s behaviour, and physical intervention is only used to maintain the safety of the young people or others. However, the recording and follow-up processes to these events do not meet regulations.

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

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. He has been registered for the home since August 2017. The management team is fully aware of the areas that need improvement and is committed to ensuring that young people are suitably placed and are given good quality care leading to the best possible outcomes.

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

The manager is very ‘hands-on’ in his approach, and is readily available to both the staff and young people alike. He has a good understanding of young people’s needs and readily seeks out and is open to advice from other agencies. The manager and staff regularly attend meetings with other professionals in order to better understand young people’s needs and adjust the care that is offered.

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

Professionals consider the sharing of information from the manager and the staff to be regular and timely. They also comment on the perseverance and commitment of the staff to caring for the young people. One social worker commented: ‘They have done a fantastic job in trying to meet his needs.’

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

Although the manager makes himself available to staff regularly on an informal basis, formal supervision has not taken place within local authority timescales. In the main, this is due to supervision not being afforded protected, undisturbed time, the frequency of recent incidents and configuration of shift patterns between supervisors and staff.

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

Some young people present challenging and complex needs. However, staff training does not reflect those needs and there is no comprehensive managerial overview that informs or plans for staff development.

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

Staff responses to young people’s negative behaviours do not reflect required responses as described in the statement of purpose. There is an absence of an overarching and consistent approach. As a result, consequences set by staff for young people are monetary in nature and do not address any learning outcomes. Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 8

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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: SC034313 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 10 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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