Children's Home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 1 SC062573 Registered provider: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

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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 and accommodation for up to seven children and young people whose plan is to live in a short-, medium- or long-term residential setting. The manager has been registered since 2015 .

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2017 Full Good 27/06/2017 Full Inadequate 21/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; 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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—- meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (2)(c)(i)) Specifically, that the contract of works is completed by 30 September 2018. 30/09/2018

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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— ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)) Specifically to ensure staff have regular team meetings of a satisfactory duration to offer the chance to discuss the young people they are caring for. 30/06/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that arrangements are in place to— ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; and 30/06/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 4 that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(i) and (f)) Particularly, this is in respect of considering the current dynamics of the children and young people and the timing of any new placements to the home. Staff should involve young people in their care planning and behaviour management plans by making these more child-friendly.

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Recommendations

 As the home will have a day-to-day understanding of young people’s capabilities and needs, children’s homes’ staff will have a valuable contribution to make to the pathway planning process. They should actively seek to make the fullest contribution, working with other relevant persons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 18, paragraph 3.28) Specifically, this is to develop an independence plan to demonstrate young people’s ability to care for themselves to feed in to the placing authority’s assessment for adult provision.  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) This is specifically in respect of ensuring that staff have the opportunity to properly discuss incidents; and staff debriefing should always be recorded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children and young people with good levels of care and support. Staff understand children’s and young people’s individual needs and take an active interest in their well-being. Children and young people benefit from the consistent care of the dedicated and long-standing staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people have individualised placement and behaviour management plans. Their input is not visible on documents, which are not child-friendly. Children and young people report that they do not always feel consulted about their plans. They are a vocal group and know how to complain and have their voices heard. The staff team provides children and young people with ample opportunities to discuss issues that affect their lives. This educates them about how to keep safe. Any allegations about staff practice are fully investigated. Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 5 Children and young people have mixed experiences with education. Some struggle to engage, particularly those with a history of sporadic attendance. For others, their attendance at school has increased. Staff are proactive and assist those who have left school to seek employment or further education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s and young people’s contact with family and friends is promoted and supported. The staff team encourages and welcomes the children’s and young people’s friends and families into the home. This provides staff with an opportunity of getting to know the key people in children’s and young people’s lives. Contact is a relaxed and enjoyable experience for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence work is actively encouraged. Children and young people develop daily living skills that are compatible with their age. The staff team is unable to provide the placing authority with a true reflection of young people’s skills or areas for development. This information would assist the planning for the young person’s proposed adult provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is homely and clean, and any damage is quickly repaired. However, the home is looking tired and dated and children and young people would benefit from their home being modernised.

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

Staff keep children and young people safe, as safeguarding practice is good. A strength of the staff team is its resilience, particularly when dealing with children’s and young people’s aggressive outbursts. Children and young people are not unnecessarily criminalised.

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

Staff use effective de-escalation strategies, which keeps the number of restraints low. Physical intervention is only used to keep children and young people safe. Staff have the opportunity to have a debriefing session after any restraint. However, these have been insufficiently recorded. This does not provide the management with an opportunity to assess practice or to look for any emerging trends.

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

The manager reviews the viability of new placements with the aim of keeping all children and young people safe. However, some children and young people have been admitted within weeks of each other. This does not allow new arrivals time to settle. Staff are only getting to know the children’s and young people’s needs upon admission. This has caused some disruption and instability for new and existing children and young people.

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

The individualised risk assessments help the staff team to remain aware of young people’s risks and vulnerabilities. These records are updated with good levels of management oversight. The staff team allows children and young people to take age- appropriate risks as part of their individual development. This is particularly important for those due to move on to independent living.

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

The staff team monitors children’s and young people’s risk-taking behaviours, working closely with the police when they go missing from home. The staff team takes appropriate steps to locate them and excellent links with the police provide a Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 6 coordinated approach. The effective multi-agency relationships help reduce children’s and young people’s risk of sexual exploitation and criminal behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since November 2014. This experienced and qualified manager supports a stable and knowledgeable staff team. The close-knit staff team works well to meet the complex and challenging needs of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection. Also, the manager’s implementation of a monitoring system makes sure that staff are checking children’s and young people’s plans to keep them up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced an unsettled period because of the complex needs of the children and young people. The staff team is proactive and seeks informal ways to be reflective about its care and practice. Staff benefit from regular supervision, but some team meetings have been cancelled. This does not allow for an effective level of reflective practice that relates directly to the needs of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong focus on monitoring the quality of care and outcomes for young people. This involves regular consultation with stakeholders and resident young people. This enables the manager to recognise the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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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: SC062573 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wakefield Council, County Hall, Bond Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2QW

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062573 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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