Children's Home run by Bristol City Council in Bristol

Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 1 SC034184 Registered provider: Bristol 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

This children’s home is registered to provide long-term care and accommodation for up to five young people. The home is operated by a local authority.

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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: 28 February 2017

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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

28/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 18/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 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

The care planning standard is that children receive well planned care from the home and have a positive experience of the admission and transition process.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (2)(b)(ii)) This is in particular reference for the need to ensure that each child has a placement plan that contains clear aims and objectives that are regularly reviewed and document progress. 17/09/2018

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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 promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(b)(g)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that monitoring and review systems are used to inform the quality of care and that a development plan is undertaken that documents the improvements that the home needs to make. 17/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. In particular, that all young people leave the home with a memory book containing a documented history of their time at their home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 3 3.27)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person recently left the home and has successfully moved on to a supported living arrangement. The staff from the home continue to support him. He is benefiting from this consistent support from people known and trusted to him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff understand the importance of the young people regularly attending education and achieving qualifications. One young person who previously refused to engage in education has now agreed, and is motivated, to start school at the start of the new term. Another young person has been supported effectively by the staff to explore vocational college courses. He has successfully completed an application process and will begin an engineering course at the start of the new term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people, the staff and the manager have worked hard to improve the appearance of the home. As a result, the home now offers a homely and well-decorated appearance. Any damage is quickly repaired. The young people are fully involved in choosing colours and furnishings for the home. A new front door is now in place, replacing a door that had an institutional appearance. The young people are enjoying growing vegetables in the well-kept gardens.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The healthcare needs of the young people are fully met. Each young person has an individualised ‘healthcare passport’ that documents all their healthcare needs and how these will be met. The young people are registered with appropriate healthcare professionals, such as dentists and opticians. The staff understand the importance of understanding the life stories of the young people and obtain the relevant emotional health support if necessary. The staff plan to create memory books for each young person containing photographs and stories about their time at the home to take with them when they leave, as this has not previously been in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff spoken with are able to demonstrate their knowledge of the young people’s care needs and how these are best met. Care plans are currently being developed by the manager. They contain all the necessary information but do not document measurable outcomes so that the progress of the young people can be clearly understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of positively channelling the young people’s energy. One young person has successfully been supported and encouraged to regularly attend a gym and has recently learned to swim. Another young person has been supported to purchase a bicycle that they are regularly using to visit their family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are successfully supporting the young people to visit their families and build positive relationships with them. One young person is now visiting family members that Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 4 they have not seen for some time. Another is being supported to rebuild relationships with their family that had broken down. Family and friends are invited to visit the young person in their home for meals and become fully involved in the young person’s life. This is helping to give the young people a sense of belonging and security.

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

The manager and the staff manage safeguarding incidents effectively. The young people report that they feel safe and are confident that the staff will keep them safe. The young people could name a member of staff they would speak to if they felt unsafe or worried.

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

The manager is successfully changing the culture of behaviour management in the home. The young people are now benefiting from a less punitive approach by the staff, who now understand that unacceptable behaviour is sometimes the only way that a young person knows how to communicate feelings of shame and distress. The behaviour of the young people is improved as a result of this change in approach by the staff.

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

Incidents of the young people going missing and engaging in risk-taking behaviour are reduced. The staff and manager have good relationships with safeguarding professionals and the police. This ensures that if there are any incidents, the young people receive appropriate support.

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

The staff are carefully recruited to ensure that they are suitable people to be working with young people. Thorough checks are undertaken and new staff are not able to start working at the home until all the checks are received and have been verified.

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

The young people and the staff know what to do if there is a fire in the home. Health and safety is well managed. Risk assessments are comprehensive and detail comprehensive strategies of how all identified risks associated with individual young people are to be safely managed.

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

The manager was appointed three months ago. She has submitted her application for registration to Ofsted and this is currently being processed. The manager has made a positive impact in the time she has managed the home. She is providing strong leadership and direction for the staff. She demonstrates an ambitious vision for the home and high aspirations for the young people.

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

The manager understands the home’s strengths and areas that need to be improved. She is taking action through individual staff development plans where staff practice is not of an acceptable standard. However, a formal development plan for the home is not yet in place.

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

The young people benefit from being cared for by a stable and consistent staff team. The staff are developing their skills through a comprehensive training plan and regular supervision from the manager and deputy managers. Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 5 The young people’s views are fully included in all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home. The young people report that they have chosen the colours and furnishings in the home, their choice of activities and how and where they would feel most comfortable meeting their families. During the inspection, one young person was enjoying helping the staff to paint the lounge.

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

The quality of care is monitored and improved through a comprehensive system of monitoring. An independent visitor undertakes monthly visits to the home and raises actions to be met by the manager for the following month.

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

The manager is matching the young people who live at the home effectively. She is refusing referrals for young people where she has assessed that the complex care needs of a prospective young person will not be compatible with the existing young people.

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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: SC034184 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034184 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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