Children's home run by Leicester City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 1 SC039001 Registered provider: Leicester 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 run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven children and young people. The main purpose of the home is to look after those young people identified by the local authority as being in need of support and structure and who are unable to live with their family. The home is designed to allow for a more ‘semi-independent’ service for the older young people. The opportunity to offer this type of provision has allowed the home to offer some young people the experience of ‘semi-independent’ type accommodation before they leave care. The registered manager resigned with effect from 1 February 2018. A new manager is in post and has applied to Ofsted to become the registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/11/2016 Full Good 03/12/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 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 engaging with the wider system to ensure that children’s needs are met standard is that the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority, or relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c)) 31/05/2018

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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. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)) This is with specific reference to ensuring that the impact/compatibility assessments completed are robust in identifying the risks and behaviours of all young people living in the home. Additionally, information contained in young people’s risk assessments must be a clear reflection of current risks. 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— 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)) This is with particular reference to ensuring that there is sufficient time for the manager to carry out her managerial 31/05/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 4 tasks. The registered person must ensure the home maintains records (case records) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; ensure records are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 31/05/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are cared for by a committed and well-trained staff team. Young people have positive, trusting relationships with staff. They live in an environment that is decorated and furnished to a good standard. As a result, young people are happy and settled in the home and are making good progress. Young people are actively involved in decision-making regarding their own plans and about the running of the home. This helps them to feel valued and have some control in their lives. Young people make good progress in their education, particularly given their starting points. Staff provide support to ensure that young people receive education, training and employment based on their individual needs and interests. Young people are supported well in maintaining contact with their families and friends, where appropriate. As a result, many young people’s relationships with their families improve. The quality of transitions into, and from, the home is variable. This is mainly because

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

most young people are admitted to the home in an emergency. This often means that staff do not receive sufficient information at the point of admission. Consequently, staff are not always able to adequately assess if they can meet the young person’s needs. Impact/compatibility risk assessments are not as robust as they could be because they lack detail of the needs, behaviours and risks of all young people.

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

Since the last inspection, the home is more settled. The requirements made have been addressed and this has improved how well young people are protected from harm. Bullying is no longer prevalent and, when there are incidents, these are dealt with promptly and effectively. Young people become safer as a result of living at the home. Staff know young people very well. They understand the needs and risks that young people face and the triggers that are likely to affect their emotional well-being and behaviour. Young people are able to develop strategies to improve their behaviour, keep themselves safe and take responsibility for their actions in preparation for adulthood. Young people’s risks are well documented in their individual risk assessments, and these Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 5 are reviewed regularly. However, risk assessments are needlessly long which can lead to confusion about what the current risks are.

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

Staff work collaboratively with a range of agencies to ensure that young people are protected from the risk of harm. The inspector received positive feedback from the local police who visit the home regularly, and from placing social workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post for approximately two months; prior to this, she was the deputy manager at the home. This means that young people and staff already know her, which helps to provide stability. The manager has extensive experience of working with children and young people, and extensive management experience. There have been some staff shortages. This has meant that the manager has had to work on shift fairly regularly. There is no evidence that this has had a negative impact on the young people. However, it has hindered the manager’s ability to carry out her managerial tasks and produce an up-to-date development plan. Regardless of these constraints, she has been able to introduce some new and improved systems. For example, staff are now receiving regular individual supervision; the manager has introduced group supervisions as an additional forum to discuss young people’s care and staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s care plans, risk assessments and other relevant documents are not always signed and dated by the author. This has the potential to affect the monitoring of progress and future plans for young people. Staff were very positive about the manager, stating that she is approachable, supportive and proactive in getting things done. They feel valued and listened to. Staff work well as a team, which helps to ensure that young people receive consistent care. Partnership working is central to the care provided. The manager challenges agencies when young people are not receiving the services that they require. However, the manager needs to be more robust in challenging agencies to ensure that plans are not allowed to drift, for example ensuring that important documents are received as soon after an admission as possible.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC039001 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall, 3rd Floor, Rutland Wing, 115 Charles Street, Leicester LE1 1FZ

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Inspector

Katarina Djordjevic, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC039001 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 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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