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

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates and runs this home. It provides care for children and young people whose plan is to live in a medium- to long-term residential setting. There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered .

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/12/2017 Full Inadequate 26/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 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 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)) In particular, ensure that there is a thorough system in place to track what is considered as non-mandatory training, and provide staff with the training that they require, especially with regards to training around child sexual exploitation. 30/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The placement plan must set out, in particular— how, on a day-to-day basis, the child will be cared for, and the child’s welfare safeguarded and promoted by the home; the arrangements made for the child’s care, education and health. (Regulation 18 (5)(a)(b)) 30/06/2018

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Recommendations

 Some records may be kept electronically, provided that this information can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. Electronic records should be held at the individual home in accordance with data protection principles. Electronic records should clearly demonstrate who the author of the record is and contain reference to any paper records held in the home that pertain to the entry, for example missing from home records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 4 record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information

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Recommendations

about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children to manage long-term conditions and where necessary meet specific individual health needs arising from a chronic condition such as diabetes. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.12)  Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to

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Recommendations

understand this and carry it out. Equally, staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraphs 9.38 and 9.39)

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improvement to be good

Newly introduced care plans comprehensively outline each child’s individual vulnerabilities and needs. However, steps on how to address those needs are not detailed enough, nor is it clear how achievements are to be recognised. The current recording is not clear or helpful to the children. The children are encouraged to embrace a healthy lifestyle, and the staff team works closely with the looked after children’s nurse to improve their physical health outcomes. However, there is insufficient understanding of how to manage some health conditions, for example diabetes. There have been a number of management and staff changes over the past three months. Nevertheless, the staff team members’ commitment to forging positive attachments means that the children have positive relationships with individuals they trust. The staff team members’ adherence to consistent boundaries and expectations provides the children with warmth and security. An independent reviewing officer (IRO)

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improvement to be good

said, ‘To meet the needs of a boy with such complex needs, at the moment the home is probably in good shape.’ Recent redecoration and refurbishment means that the children live in bright and comfortable surroundings. The homely atmosphere enhances the children’s sense of belonging. The home’s close proximity to community provisions and access to direct bus routes enables the children to participate in inclusive activities. This bolsters their social and life skills. Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 5 The children are fully supported by the staff team to maintain good relationships with family members. The children receive consistent messages from all of the professionals involved in their care as a result of the partnership working promoted by the home. The staff team’s support and expectation that children will attend school mean that they have good attendance at suitable education provisions. The children have ambitions to

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improvement to be good

move on to further education. Their emotional and psychological health improves as a result of the attention paid, in partnership with specialist agencies, to building self- esteem and feelings of self-worth.

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improvement to be good

A comprehensive range of risk assessments contribute towards protecting the children. There have been a number of episodes of going missing. The staff team members follow the children’s individualised missing person risk assessments to locate and safeguard them. However, complicated paper and electronic recording procedures do not assist with establishing patterns and working towards preventing absences. Sanctions imposed for negative behaviours have mostly been of a financial nature. The children are not provided with opportunities to reflect on the impact of their behaviours on others and to make reparation. Positive consequences for good behaviours are not being recorded. Therefore, effective rewards are not recognised and may not be repeated. The staff team model consistent and caring behaviours. The sense of security and belonging this engenders encourages the children to behave appropriately. The use of

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improvement to be good

physical interventions has not been necessary to safeguard the children. The home’s safeguarding arrangements, including a good locality risk assessment, acknowledge the risk of radicalisation within the area. The staff team reports positively about the training that they have received to address this concern and promote the children’s safety and welfare.

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

The acting manager has been in post since 26 March 2018. She took over from a temporary manager who had been in control for a month. The acting manager holds relevant qualifications and has over 18 years’ residential childcare experience. She has worked hard to build positive relationships with the children and staff team members. A member of staff said, ‘[Name] is super. The staff and kids get on well with her.’ The acting manager has introduced a training plan and arranged for awareness-raising sessions on subjects such as autism. However, not all of the staff team have completed core or specialist subject training, including around the risks and issues of child sexual exploitation. Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 6 All of the staff team have now had supervision sessions and their annual appraisals. Their resilience and commitment to the children is laudable. The staff team members’ morale is much improved as they feel listened to and valued by senior managers.

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

The local authority arranged for the staff team members to attend a course designed to enable them to support children from different cultural heritages than their own. The staff team members have an understanding of equality and diversity. Directed and collaborative working with appropriate partner agencies ensures that the children receive a consistent approach to their care. The introduction of new and detailed internal monitoring processes now allows the voices of the children and staff team members to be heard. The acting manager has a clear vision of the changes necessary to improve the care and outcomes for the children. She has implemented robust procedures to ensure that only children who will be suitable matches for the current resident group are admitted. To this end, no new admissions have been agreed. An IRO said, ‘There has been a change of manager and the matching is better. He is more settled now than he has been in a

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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: SC034706 7

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Ann-Marie Born, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034706 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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