Children's Home run by South West Childcare Services in Plymouth

Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 1 Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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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 children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 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: 30 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 2

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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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to arrangements being in place for children who go missing to have an independent return home interview upon their return.

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Requirement Due date

It is also in relation to liaising with medical professionals to arrange a timely review of children’s medication and to discuss if children are refusing to take their medication.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 3 designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to redecorating parts of the home that are worn and upgrading the garden to provide a pleasant and functional space for children to enjoy.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)(i)(ii)) 12: The protection of children standard

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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— that staff—

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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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are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to learning lessons from previous serious incidents and ensuring that a detailed safeguarding log is maintained in the home and is available for inspection.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v)(vi) and (vii)) 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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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—

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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 4 approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to providing social workers and parents who have retained parental responsibility with regular written information about how children are doing.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 13: The leadership and management standard

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the local authority provides an opportunity for children and young people to have independent return home interviews when they have been missing. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care.

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Recommendations

Children missing from home agreed protocols with local authorities should be reviewed regularly and be scrutinised by the local safeguarding children’s board Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 5 (LSCB) when the above is not happening. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraphs 9.23–9.32)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress living in this home. They are benefiting from a range of positive experiences, such as pursuing hobbies and seeing their families more regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s ethos is one that models itself on family life and avoids institutional approaches. For example, rather than using incentives and sanctions, children are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour and are helped to understand the impact that any negative behaviour may have on people they care for as well as their own futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good consideration and careful planning are given to how children are moved into the home. Good attention is also given to how they can be supported to make a success of their lives after they leave the children’s home, including forging healthy and positive relationships within their family network.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is well supported and the manager advocates strongly on their behalf. Where necessary, specialist support is sourced, including access to independent resources and this benefits children, their families and staff alike. The manager was advised of the importance of liaising with health professionals to clarify any anomalies around the administration of prescribed medication to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment of the home mostly presents as homely, comfortable and attractive. However, the garden is neglected and bare and some paintwork within the house is in need of cleaning or repainting.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection in January, two serious safeguarding incidents have occurred in the home. The manager and staff acted swiftly to protect children. They have reflected on these incidents and it is hoped that their learning will improve practices to keep children protected from further risk of harm. A detailed audit trail evidencing action taken in respect of both incidents was not easily accessible for inspectors to examine during the inspection. It is imperative that the manager addresses this shortfall by maintaining a comprehensive chronological log of all safeguarding incidents in the home.

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improvement to be good

There have been some incidents of children going missing from the home. Independent return home interviews have not always been carried out. Furthermore, when they have, information has not been shared with the home. This has meant that any learning that could help staff to keep children safer has been lost. Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 6 The safety and well-being of both children have improved since living in this children’s home. The manager is a strong advocate for children to have opportunities and experiences in keeping with their peers. Care plans and risk assessments are well written. There have been no physical restraints or police involvement and children have not raised any complaints since the last inspection.

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

The registered manager is child- and people-focused. She is aware that some of her other management skills require improvement, namely the organisation of important records and keeping up to date with administrative tasks, such as ensuring that Ofsted receives a copy of the independent visitor’s report each month. During this inspection, it was also identified that while verbal communication with social workers and families is good, written information to parents who have retained parental responsibility requires improvement.

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

The retention of staff is a further area that requires improvement. There has been a 50% change in the staff since the last inspection six months ago. The impact of this has not been too significant on children as they also have changed during this period. However, going forward, it is important for the company to identify how it can retain an experienced, skilled and qualified staff complement.

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

The manager has a wide range of experience of working with children and has nearly completed her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. The staff team feels well supported through supervision, team meetings and training and its members enjoy their work with children.

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

The manager is caring and child-centred. She is intuitive and has strong emotional intelligence. She clearly wants to do the best for the children in her care and is very considered in how she can help them to be successful young adults after they leave the children’s home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 7 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: 1254740 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, 46 Durnford Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 3QN

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Inspectors

Norma Welsby, social care inspector Michelle Oxley, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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