Children's home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Staffordshire Moorlands

Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 1 SC008488 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children‟s home registered for up to eight children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home offers education on-site at a registered school. There is a new manager in post who has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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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: 20 February 2018

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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: SC008488 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/04/2017 Full Good 22/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 04/02/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 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

6.—(1)The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

(a)understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; (b)use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (2)In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (c)ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— (i)meet the needs of each child; and (ii)enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)(i)(ii)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

12.—(1)The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

(2)In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

(a)that staff— (i)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 (1) and (2)(a)(i)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

13.—(1)The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

(a)helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b)promotes their welfare. (2)In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (c)ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)) 27/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 4 The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) and (3)(a)(b)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children‟s home‟s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child‟s privacy or access to any area of the home‟s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv)). In particular, that the use of alarms on bedroom doors is kept under review. 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children‟s home if—

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Requirement Due date

(a)the person is of integrity and good character; (b)having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children— (i)the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; 27/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 5 a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person

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Requirement Due date

to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii) and (b)(ii)) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review

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Requirement Due date

and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). The registered person must— supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)) 27/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 6

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Recommendations

 Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. 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 understand this and carry it out. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

 Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from good-quality care that enables them to make positive progress in many aspects of their lives, often from difficult starting points. A child who recently moved into the home has settled well. The placing social worker wrote: „I would however like to express that the care and support that [X] has received is exceptional and above and beyond what was expected. This child presented very withdrawn and lacking in social skills. Since arriving at [name of the home], he has gained so much confidence [and] is engaging with adults and children. He would not be achieving this amazing difference within him if it was not for the staff. They have such professionalism and dedication to their children within their care.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Observations throughout the two days show that relationships between children and staff are warm and appropriate. Most of the time, children enjoy each other‟s company and spend time playing games together. Activites are varied and tailored to the individual preferences of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good educational progress since coming to live at the home. Staff work well with educational professionals to support children‟s learning. Since the last inspection, one child has successfully transitioned to mainstream school. This means that Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 7 children experience opportunities that promote their progression.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s health needs are well met. Staff meet regularly with the organisation‟s clinical team to discuss children‟s presenting needs. This affords staff the opportunity to address any areas of concern relating to the children‟s emotional well-being. One child showed the inspectors his „worry toy‟. He explained that he wrote his worries down and placed them in the zip compartment of the toy; when he woke the next morning the note had gone along with his worries. Consequently, children are helped to reduce their anxieties over time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in understanding their needs and behaviours. Staff spend time talking to them and discussing matters that are important to them. Regular house meetings enable the children to make decisions around menu choices and their activities. However, the house meeting records and the key-worker records show that these are often written with adult language which makes it difficult for the child to own the records once completed.

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

Children receive a high level of support that ensures their overall welfare and safety. The home has effective links with the local designated officer and there is good communication about safeguarding concerns in relation to staff.

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

Staff have a good understanding of any risks associated with children and know how to keep them safe. Individual risk assessments identify children‟s risks and provide guidance to staff in how to manage risk-taking behaviours. Overall, staff manage risks well, but the assessment of risk does not always correlate with the known risks. For example, riding a bike is assessed as high risk, but self-harm was identified as low risk for one child following an incident of self-harm. That said, the self-harm incident occurred some time ago, and there have not been any further incidents for the child since. Staff are required to sign all risk assessments, but a number of them have not been signed to demonstrate that staff have read and understand them.

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

The home uses door alarms on bedroom doors to monitor children. Permission is sought from placing authorities for their use. However, there is a blanket policy on their use rather than it being based on the needs of individual children. There is no immediate impact for children from this shortfall.

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

There have been no going missing from home episodes and there is an overall reduction in the number of physical interventions used in the home. The use of sanctions is kept to a minimum. However, on two separate occasions, staff did not allow a child to have a dessert after their main meal. It is unclear from the records how this was restorative in nature or helpful to the children affected.

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

The registered manager resigned in March 2018 to take up a more senior post within the organisation. A new manager is in post and has submitted an application to register with Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 8 Ofsted.

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

The manager‟s monitoring of records is not yet good enough. For example, the manager is not always reviewing the physical intervention records within agreed timescales or signing them off. The storage of medication is satisfactory. However, medication stored is not always clearly accounted for and staff do not record when medication has been disposed of. Staff files kept in the home lack sufficient detail to demonstrate when references were verified and which staff were involved. These shortfalls are not currently impacting on children.

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

The home generally operates in line with its statement of purpose. However, HMCI have not had a revised statement of purpose that includes details of the new manager and staff. Ten of the staff have worked at the home for 10 months or less. Most staff are inexperienced and unqualified. Previously, a recommendation was made to ensure that a workforce development plan was in place. This piece of work has been started but is yet to be finished. The current training records make it difficult to see what training needs have been identified. Furthermore, at the time of the inspection, only five staff have a first aid qualification.

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

Records of supervision show that staff are not receiving supervision at the frequency stated in the home‟s statement of purpose. Given the number of new staff who are working through their competencies, regular supervision and support are key to their development.

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

A recommendation to improve the quality of the environment has not been met. Although the staff sleep-in room is now free of clutter, parts of the home are looking worn. There has been some damage to the home, including broken bedroom furniture and paint peeling in the shower room. Furthermore, the wallpaper in the lounge has a small section that has been torn. Parts of the home look uncared for. The manager did take remedial action to address some issues, including covering a manhole that had been covered with flags.

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

The manager is appropriately notifying HMCI of any serious concerns in relation to children. The manager told the inspectors that he has completed the six-monthly review of the quality of care. However, this was not available to view at the home and HMCI have not had a copy of the report.

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

A continued strength of the home is its partnership working. Feedback from placing authorities was very positive about the quality of care that children receive. However, more needs to be done to build a strong in-house staff team whose members are suitably qualified and experienced. Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 9

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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: SC008488 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Tape Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST10 1BB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Karen Mitchell-Mellor

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Inspectors

Michelle Bacon: social care inspector Paul Robinson: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC008488 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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