Children's home run by Blackpool Borough Council in Blackpool

Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 1 SC033432 Registered provider: Blackpool Borough 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 is a local authority children‟s home. The home provides a stable family environment for local children who are unable to live with their birth families for a variety of reasons. It is registered to care for six young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has managed the home since January 2017. However, she has a long history with the home, having managed it for six years up to April 2016.

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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

Date of last inspection: 24 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – that staff 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; that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(b)) Specifically, impact risk assessments for potential new placements should fully consider the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children and that, following placement, risk assessments should include all known risks together with strategies to manage these. 07/09/2018

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a) 07/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which - include the information and documents in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)) 07/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 4

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Recommendations

 Ensure that expectations of standards of behaviour are high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.11) In particular, sanctions should be appropriate and restorative in nature.  Ensure that the registered person actively seeks independent scrutiny of the home and makes best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. This includes anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from receiving consistent care from a stable and experienced team of staff. This enables young people to develop trusting relationships with staff without fearing that the staff will be leaving soon. Positive relationships between staff and young people were evident during the inspection. One young person said, „Staff do a lot for the kids who live here. We all eat together. It helps it feel like a family.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people are attending school. Significant improvements are evident in relation to their attendance and progress since moving here. One young person has been able to re-integrate into mainstream school, thus improving her likelihood of success in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people move into the home in a planned way. They can visit the home and sometimes stay overnight before they move in. However, young people do not always move on from the home in such a positive manner. Some young people have had to move because of a serious incident. Others have been unable to return due to concerns about their own safety or the safety of others. This leaves young people feeling cautious about investing in relationships in their next placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular key-working sessions focus on helping young people to make good choices. These sessions also provide them with the opportunity to raise any issues they may have on an individual basis. Some very positive and constructive key working is evident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make age-appropriate progress in developing their independence skills. Staff encourage young people to keep their bedrooms tidy and do their own washing. Some are starting to learn about budgeting and do their own shopping and cooking. Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 5 Staff are alert to the need for young people to develop these skills, but they are also sensitive not to place too much pressure on young people at times of difficulty.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to pursue their own interests. Staff arranged for one young person who displays an interest in cooking to attend a cookery course at the local college. Staff make the most of such opportunities. This helps to build young people‟s self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support a range of contact arrangements, such as inviting family members and friends to share a meal in the home. Staff also support contact in the community. However, this sometimes presents extra difficulties, due to young people living close to their families.

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improvement to be good

The quality of risk assessments require improvement. Impact risk assessments do not demonstrate whether potential new placements will fit into the home without impacting negatively on current residents. Indeed, some poor placement decisions have impacted negatively on young people already living in the home. Young people have been negatively influenced by others, and this has led to young people making complaints about the impact that this has had on them.

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improvement to be good

In addition, risk assessments that are completed following the placement of young people at the home are of variable quality and are completed using different formats. This is confusing and has resulted in some issues being overlooked. Although the manager and staff are able to identify the risks to young people and show that they take appropriate action to reduce these risks, the documents do not rigorously support this.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management is not always effective. Staff successfully de-escalate many incidents in the home due to the positive relationships that they have with young people. One young person commented, „Staff are trying to help me with my temper and listen to me about what helps me calm down.‟ However, staff have also needed to call the police to the home to assist with the negative behaviour of young people on several occasions. During these incidents, staff and other young people have been assaulted and property has been damaged. This has sometimes culminated in the arrest of young people.

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improvement to be good

Staff often use sanctions to manage poor behaviour. However, these do not always relate to the original incident and are not restorative in nature. An example of such a sanction is the removal of a young person‟s television after a period of missing from home. The manager has identified this issue, and several discussions have taken place in staff meetings, but this practice currently remains ongoing.

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improvement to be good

Young people go missing from the home. There have been increasing concerns for some young people since they came to live at the home, as they feel compelled to spend time with their family and friends, who live locally. Staff keep good records of their actions when young people are missing. They spend time searching for young people and trying Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 6 to contact them through their family and friends. They do not give up until they find the young person. Staff request independent return interviews. Strategy meetings involving other safeguarding bodies take place when concerns are escalating.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She knows the young people and the staff team well. She is enthusiastic and passionate about improving outcomes for young people. She is well respected by the staff and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal, although records supporting this are not up to date. Staff feel well supported. Recently, when staff were experiencing frequent challenging behaviour from young people, including physical assault, the manager made arrangements for them to receive psychological support. Staff are appreciative of this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The vast majority of staff have the necessary minimum level 3 qualification for working with children and young people. Staff receive appropriate training to enable them to be alert to indicators of concern and to be best able to respond to young people. Recent training includes radicalisation and handling medication. The home has a child exploitation and online protection (CEOP) ambassador, who ensures that staff are kept up to date with relevant knowledge and research.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This inspection identified shortfalls in the effectiveness of manager‟s auditing and monitoring. This includes: a failure to evaluate reports; out-of-date monitoring reports; missing documents; and a failure to identify and address inconsistencies in case records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Action has been taken to address four of the five requirements from the last full inspection of the home. However, the requirement relating to risk assessments is repeated at this inspection. Although action has been taken to improve these, they are not yet sufficiently detailed. Hence, this requirement has been repeated to ensure that this issue is addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with other professionals involved with the home. One commented, „I have a good relationship with the home and speak regularly with the manager. Staff are very proactive.‟

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 7 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: SC033432 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Building, PO Box 50, Blackpool FY1 1NF

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Inspectors

Mandy Williams, social care inspector Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC033432 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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