Children's home run by Oxfordshire County Council

Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 1 Registered provider: Oxfordshire 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

A local authority runs this home. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children. The statement of purpose for the home says that it provides a residential experience for children needing accommodation for a period of assessment. It also provides a service to children who need emergency, respite or short- term placements.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager in post since April 2018. The current manager has made an application to be registered with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 17 January 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/05/2017 Full Inadequate 16/02/2017 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 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

12.—The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph 1 requires the registered person to ensure— (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 any risk of harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i)) In particular, the registered person should only accept placements for children where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the child and the existing group of children. There should also be consideration of the staff‟s ability to meet children‟s individual and collective needs. 28/09/2018

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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— (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— (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, develop internal and external systems that are effective in identifying areas of shortfall, and ensure that the recording systems support these. 28/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 28/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 4 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; 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; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(b)(c)) Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 5

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improvement to be good

Children are not always well placed in this home. This is because, in some cases, insufficient attention is given to assessing the viability of the placement and the compatibility of children. In addition, assessments are not carried out to make sure that staff can meet individual children‟s needs or can manage their collective needs.

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improvement to be good

Although children only stay in the home on a short-term basis, most of them develop good relationships with some staff members. Children who have moved on from the home made positive comments about the staff and the support that staff have given to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff spend time with children daily and talk to them. Staff try to educate children about how some of the choices they make might put them in danger, but children do not always engage in this work.

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improvement to be good

Children have made some improvements in their education attendance and in their achievements at school during the period they have been staying in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff try to keep children busy during the day so that they learn new skills and have fun. Children do not always want to take part in the planned activities, and because some are frequently missing from care they miss out on many of these opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Children‟s health is assessed in a timely way and relevant health services are provided to them. Some children‟s health improves as a result of being cared for at the home but, despite staff encouraging them, other children do not attend their health appointments.

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improvement to be good

The work that is carried out with children and their families is a strength of the service. In some cases, work with children and their families to improve their relationships has been highly successful and children have moved back home. Where the work has not led to a return to family, staff help children to begin to come to terms with this. Staff provide helpful support to children to move on to another placement.

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improvement to be good

Staff sometimes use de-escalation techniques successfully and, on occasion, this has prevented a serious incident. However, children‟s risk assessments, behaviour management plans and daily strategies are not based on all known information about each child, and they are not all reviewed regularly enough. Consequently, staff do not have clear enough strategies and sufficient written guidance to ensure that they can Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 6 always promote children‟s well-being and safety. These shortfalls have potentially increased the children‟s vulnerability in the community because some of the children who are living in the home continue to frequently go missing and are believed to be involved in criminal activity. When children go missing staff do take the action that is needed to bring them back. When they are found, children are welcomed back home and are given the chance to talk to someone who is independent from the home about

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improvement to be good

The use of sanctions is rare; only two have been used since the last inspection. The records of these sanctions do not meet regulation. For example, one was incomplete so it was not clear whether the sanction had been effective.

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improvement to be good

The manager has built a good working relationship with the local authority designated officer. The manager and the staff consult with the designated officer and refer issues of concern to her in good time. The manager and the staff apply their safeguarding training effectively.

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good

The manager knows the children well and is passionate about improving their lives.

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good

The manager has begun to develop good working relationships with other professionals. One professional said: „They [the manager and staff] are on a journey but they are making positive steps.‟

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good

Monitoring arrangements are not thorough enough. The leadership and management team did not know about the shortfalls found during this inspection. The current electronic recording systems hinder the monitoring processes because important information is difficult to find.

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good

Staff recruitment processes minimise the risk of unsuitable people working with the children. The team members either have, or are taking, a relevant qualification in working with children. Staff keep their training up to date, have regular supervision and share the manager‟s passion for improving the lives of children.

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good

Not all requirements from the last inspection have been met. The quality of assessments carried out before a child is admitted still require improvement. Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 7

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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: 1229977 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant Catherine Partlett

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Inspector

Rosie Dancer, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1229977 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 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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