Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 1 SC477428 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire 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 and runs this home. It provides long-term care for young people who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has been in post since September 2017. She is registered, and prior to this was registered to manage a different children‟s home.

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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 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: 4 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2017 Full Good 07/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/06/2016 Full Outstanding 17/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 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

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff provide personalised care that meets each child‟s needs, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, taking account of the child‟s background (Regulation 6 (2) (b) (iv)). In particular, use aims and objectives from education and health care plans to inform care practice. 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, 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. (Regulation 12 (2) (a) (i)). In particular, ensure that risk assessments are up to date and include all known risks. 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (3)(b) (4) and (5)) 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1) (a)) 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 30/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 4

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 60, paragraphs 13.3 and 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people make considerable strides in their development. The manager‟s careful matching process means that the young people live well with each other. The staff have created a warm, loving and nurturing environment in which the young people feel safe and happy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress for each young person is individual, and this is recognised by the staff and other professionals. For example, the sensory lifestyle promoted for one young person has reduced her anxiety and self-injurious behaviour, improved the quality of family contact and increased her communication, and she enjoys going out into the community more frequently. Consequently, she has been discharged from the child and adolescent mental health service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people enjoy a range of activities in and outside of the home. The manager has made significant improvements to the garden and the inside of the home, giving the young people a much homelier place in which to live. The sensory area in the summerhouse is popular, and the young people like riding their bikes around the garden. Young people regularly go swimming and to a local disco, and they enjoy shopping, trips out, weekends away and holidays abroad. The manager and staff are committed to giving them the best experiences they can. Staff have produced individualised memory books full of photographs of the young people‟s achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The voice of the young people is strong. They can verbally communicate their wishes and feelings and use alternative communication systems. Staff respect their views, and along with the manager are strong advocates for the young people. There are regular visits from social workers and an independent advocate. Appropriate multi-agency best- interest meetings take place when there are concerns about an individual young person‟s capacity to make decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Proactive planning with social and medical professionals safeguards the young people‟s health and ensures that their complex needs are met effectively. Parents feel that their children are well looked after and wish that they could stay at the home when they Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 5 become adults. Social-work professionals frequently comment about how well staff understand the individual young people and promote their diverse needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote family contact and the manager ensures that resources are in place to support this. For example, she arranged the use of transport and additional staff to help a young person attend a family wedding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that all young people have a high attendance at school. Tracking their progress is hampered by the omission of relevant documents that should be kept in the home. For example, not all young people have up-to-date school reports, personal education plans and education and health care plans. This undermines the efforts of the manager and staff to ensure that the young people receive the best all-round support.

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

The young people are safe. They have strong and trusting relationships with staff and experience a predictable environment and responses from staff. This helps reduce any anxiety caused by their health conditions and promotes a calm and relaxed environment. Staff pay close attention to the emotional well-being of the young people through careful care planning and implementation of individualised care plans.

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

High staffing levels, mainly one-to-one staffing, allow for close supervision of the young people. The building is safe and secure from unwanted intrusion. Staff also recognise the importance of promoting the young people‟s independence to improve their future opportunities and life chances. As well as making choices and completing household chores, other activities such as independent use of public transport are considered if it is safe to do so. The views of the whole staff team and other agencies are ascertained to assess risk in a balanced way.

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

The young people receive good levels of support from staff members when in the community, reducing their exposure to risks outside of the home. Staff are very mindful that the young people benefit from community inclusion and provide the young people with frequent opportunities for social and leisure activities.

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

Risks are generally managed well. Up-to-date risk assessments address factors that may be a risk to the young people‟s safety and well-being. There was one exception to this. Although in this case the concerns were shared within the team, the absence of a written risk assessment undermines the care planning, assessment and review process. The manager acknowledged this and agreed to update the written risk assessment for this young person.

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

Staff use de-escalation techniques in response to any challenging behaviour. The proactive way that the young people‟s individual needs are promoted means that such incidents are rare. Consequently, the use of physical intervention is very limited and it is used only as a last resort. Sanctions are also infrequent. Instead, there is far greater use of rewards and praise to encourage good behaviour. Staff ensure that these are timely and are appropriate to the understanding of the young people. Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced, and she was previously registered with Ofsted at another home. She is committed to improving the lives of young people and has made significant improvements since becoming the manager of this home a year ago.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

She has firmly established her leadership and has high aspirations for young people. Under her management, the staff have developed into a cohesive staff team, and they are motivated to support young people to achieve their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and receive regular supervision. They are inspired by the manager‟s child-centred practice, which has invigorated them to reflect on and improve their practice. Supervision notes are not always recorded in a timely manner and shared with staff. Although there is a positive impact from supervision in addressing any practice issues, incomplete recording could jeopardise this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake specific training about autism and sensory needs and there is regular guidance and support from partner agencies. Consequently, staff understand the diverse needs of young people and provide high-quality individualised care. One member of staff has not yet achieved the relevant qualification within the required timescale. The manager is aware of this and she is taking steps to ensure that this is completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systematic arrangements for monitoring the standards of practice and management of the home. This includes coming into work unannounced at the weekends. This gives her a good oversight of the day-to-day care of young people. She follows up recommendations raised as a result of independent monitoring and has addressed three of the five recommendations from the last inspection. The remaining two recommendations about personal education plans and internal review of the home are carried forward as requirements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager‟s last internal review of the home did not evidence how consultation with young people and stakeholders is taken account of. This is an administrative issue and does not impact on young people as the manager ensures that regular consultation does take account of their views, and she is a strong advocate for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with the parents of young people, other social-work professionals and local services to secure good all-round support for each young person. She will challenge appropriately when necessary, such as ensuring that young people receive the best possible care when they transition to adult services. In one case, she made sure that all the required aids and adaptions were in place before a young person moved out into his new 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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 7 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: SC477428 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Child Care Management Team, Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire DN35 8LN

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Inspector

Simon Morley, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC477428 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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