Children's Home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 1 SC033723 Registered provider: Leeds 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 this home. The home provides short-term to medium-term care for up to four children or young people, offering stable preparation to return to a family setting or move on into independence. The experienced and appropriately qualified manager was registered in November 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 requires improvement to be 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: SC033723 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/01/2017 Full Good 14/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 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, the 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(vi) and (vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to:  ensuring that risk assessments provide staff with clear action to take when risk occurs.  including multi-agency input in risk assessments when it is appropriate.  following the local authority’s safeguarding procedures immediately when allegations are made. 01/08/2018

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Recommendations

 Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, fire records should detail the individual staff who are taking part in the fire drill. This is to ensure that the provider can be certain that all the staff know how to evacuate the children and young people safely in the Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 4 event of a fire.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people like to participate in activities with the staff, such as dancing, swimming and taking trips to theme parks. These activities help to build strong relationships between the staff and the young people. The young people get to try new activities, which also helps the young people to spend their leisure time positively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people maintain a good sense of identity because they are supported to maintain strong links with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people make good educational progress. The staff team members work hard to help the young people to attend school and help them to transition to new educational provisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people’s attendance at health appointments varies. The staff team members help the young people to understand the importance of attending medical appointments. The staff team members seek specialist assistance when necessary to help the young people overcome their fear about engaging with medical professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people’s emotional health is well supported. The registered manager works closely with therapeutic social workers to address the young people’s complex emotional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people learn a range of skills, such as swimming, how to clean their teeth and how to maintain good personal hygiene. As a result, the young people gain confidence and become more independent.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not have clear directions how to manage risks to the young people. Risk assessments do not give the staff clear actions that they must take if risk occurs. Risk assessments lack input from other professionals. This reduces the oversight of risk management.

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improvement to be good

When safeguarding allegations are made, the home’s safeguarding policy is not always followed. There has been a delay in sharing safeguarding issues with other professionals.

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improvement to be good

Regular fire drills take place. The recordings of these are inconsistent and some records do not identify the staff involved. Consequently, it is not clear that all staff are regularly taking part in a fire drill with the young people and know how to get the young people out in an emergency. The staff team members follow the missing from home protocol. The staff go looking for Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 5 the young people when they go missing and work closely with the police to find the young people quickly.

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improvement to be good

The young people complete work which is tailored to their needs. The young people learn how to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff feel well supported by the registered manager and the deputy manager. The staff feel valued as team members and the staff are enthusiastic about their work. The staff receive regular supervision, which helps the staff to reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s monitoring of the young people’s progress is good. This allows the registered manager to promote the young people’s strengths and identify effectively areas for further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the deputy manager ensure that the staff team members complete mandatory training. The registered manager and the deputy manager also promote additional training around issues the young people may encounter, such as substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The young people receive good support from a range of professionals. The registered manager works in partnership with other services, such as therapeutic social workers, psychologists and teachers.

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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: SC033723 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Merrion House, 7th Floor West, 110 Merrion Way, Leeds LS2 8BB

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033723 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 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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