Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 1 SC040638 Registered provider: Surrey County 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 provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people. The home has been without a registered manager since January 2018.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place on 22 March 2018 to determine progress towards rectifying breaches of seven regulations. Five had been met and two required further work.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 2 15/03/2017 Full Good 13/06/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/03/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 3

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations and quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress while living in the home. They are confident in their surroundings and have some excellent, nurturing relationships with staff. Young people say that staff listen to them, and explain if they are not able to act upon their ideas or suggestions. Observations show staff have a strong understanding of those they care for, and have adjusted daily routines to meet the needs of the young people currently living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people attend education as planned. They are generally making progress in their learning. Staff actively challenge education services if they do not feel a school or college is meeting a child’s needs. This has led to a recent change of education provider for one, and tailoring of college courses for another. Staff are attuned to individual needs. They have created a calm, less challenging environment while some children are taking their exams; they recognise that some fraught behaviour is stress related.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s physical and emotional well-being are acknowledged as central to them succeeding. During the inspection, the child looked after nurse visited the home to catch up with the young people and check on their general welfare. She said that the home is one of the most welcoming that she visits. Young people have access to therapy as needed and staff have links with child and adolescent mental-health workers to discuss individual need and inform their practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people living in the home are supported to learn skills for adulthood and living independently. The approach is tailored to each young person’s understanding and current stage in the moving-on process. Staff identify the anxieties related to moving on, and understand how these are impacting on some young people and leading to regressive or out-of-character behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are positive about the physical changes in the home, such as the new homely furniture in their bedrooms and the redecoration of communal areas. The bathrooms have been recently modernised, and are domestic in style. However, the Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 4 separate toilet rooms and staff showering facilities are dated and institutional in comparison.

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

Young people’s actions and demeanour show that they feel safe in their home. They are confident in approaching staff when they are anxious or upset. Staff respond thoughtfully and afford young people the space and time to share how they are feeling.

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

Staff are confident about their roles in safeguarding and child protection. Any safeguarding concerns are reported to partner agencies as required, and investigated fully. Staff understood how the poor practice noted at the last full inspection manifested itself. They have engaged well in team meetings and training with regard to child protection and the members of the acting management team are open and accessible, allowing staff to share any concerns they many have.

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

Staff are considerate of young people’s individual needs and behaviours. They reflect on what may cause outbursts or negative behaviour, and have produced detailed behaviour-response plans, with young people’s direct input. Staff recognise when young people may be feeling anxious and they are creative in their responses. An example is a member of staff having her hair washed and styled at the same time as a young person was having hers cut, to reduce her anxiety during the process. Staff now reflect upon issues post incident, and analyse their responses to these. Staff are confident about challenging each other, and have found joint training in behaviour management a useful exercise in promoting consistency in the team’s practice.

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

The home has strong links with local police. This has been essential in influencing positive outcomes for young people who have been seeking the emergency services’ attention as a way of managing their anxiety. When young people are missing, the local police work effectively with the home to facilitate their location and safe return. Staff are well informed and trained in understanding young people’s vulnerabilities to exploitation in all its forms while they are missing. They are open to exploring risk with young people, and provide advice on how to keep safe through key-work sessions.

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

The home is being effectively run by the acting manager and acting assistant manager. They have put a great deal of time and effort into improving the home, ensuring that not only have all the requirements and recommendations been met, but that the home is a fully functioning and caring environment. Staff say that they have been well supported to rebuild their confidence and skills under the current leadership.

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

A manager has been appointed to the home and will start in June 2018. He is experienced in running children’s homes and is currently the registered manager at another home in the local authority. The current acting manager will become the service Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 5 manager at this point. In addition, the logistics of how the responsible individual’s role is carried out are also under review to ensure the best possible external oversight.

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

The management team has an excellent understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Newly implemented monthly audits ensure that all aspects of the home and practice are monitored. These will also inform the six-monthly review. There is a new independent visitor, in line with regulation 44. Senior leaders are exploring with the service provider how these monthly reports can become more reflective and challenging to ensure that safeguarding failures do not happen again.

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

The statement of purpose is bland, and does not truly reflect the breadth and quality of the service provided. It is anticipated that the incoming manager will produce a new, more relevant document.

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

The current acting management team has a strong understanding of the needs of the young people living in the home. Staff produce, and regularly review, high-quality plans which accurately reflect the progress and areas for continued development for each young person. They act as great advocates for those they care for and, when needed, the acting assistant manager in particular is extremely confident about challenging what she does not deem to be good practice or in the best interests of the young people.

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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: SC040638 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant Court, 35 Guildford Road, Woking GU22 7QQ

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC040638 7 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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