Children's home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 1 Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent 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

The home supports young people aged between 10 and 17 years old. The home offers care and accommodation for up to two young people. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 September 2018

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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: 31 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

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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

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)) 30/09/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from good-quality care that enables them to make good progress in many aspects of their lives. There have been notable improvements in the outcomes for young people, relating to their safety, school attendance and attainment. This is because of a consistency of care that allows young people to grow in an environment that offers stability and enables them to develop in line with their age and ability. One young person told the inspector, ‘Everything’s good, I like the home, I get on well with staff, so I am happy.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person has moved into the placement since the last inspection. The manager understands the importance of matching and effective planning during the admission process, which helps to ensure that the young person’s needs and preferences are met from the outset. This has led to the young person settling quickly into the home’s routine, making good attachments with the staff team and showing commitment to the placement to achieve their goals. Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 3 Young people are registered with a range of healthcare practitioners and personalised healthcare plans are in place. Young people attend their routine health appointments with good support and encouragement from staff. Staff have regular consultations with the authority’s clinical team, which supports the staff to understand and respond appropriately to young people’s emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Suitable schooling arrangements are now in place for all young people. These are tailored to their needs and consider their previous educational circumstances. There is regular information sharing between the staff and teachers. One education professional told the inspector, ‘The home work with us incredibly well, it is a fantastic relationship, they advocate for the young people really well and can be like a dog with a bone to get services for them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people are supported to maintain contact with their families. Staff support contact by ensuring that transport is available and that any restrictions to contact are adhered to. One parent told the inspector, ‘I always find the staff to be polite and friendly and I get on with them all.’

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

The quality of the relationships between young people and the staff is particularly good. Staff form strong and trusting relationships with the young people so that young people can discuss issues openly and can be helped to understand how their behaviour may impact on their safety.

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

Staff have a thorough understanding of young people’s needs and vulnerabilities, and implement the risk management plans sufficiently. Risk assessments are reviewed regularly in response to any emerging needs. Staff use the knowledge and skills of other professionals, such as the psychologists within the clinical team, to understand more about managing risk-taking behaviours. Consequently, staff have a greater understanding of how to keep young people safe.

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

Staff respond to young people’s behaviours in a positive way. They use a reward system based on age and interests, which ensures that young people engage in the system. Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques, which means that the use of restraint and the use of sanctions are kept to a minimum. However, the manager is not reviewing the number of rewards given. For example, some young people will receive a higher number of rewards in comparison to other young people.

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

Staff understand what action to take to promote young people’s safety if they go missing from the home. Partnership working with the police and safeguarding agencies helps to ensure that young people are safe. Staff will go and look for young people and, in line with protocols, share information with the police at an early stage. Consequently, there is a coordinated response which ensures that young people are at risk of harm for the shortest time possible. Staff always ensure that young people are offered an independent return interview. This helps to inform and develop future care practice, to Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 4 reduce the risk of young people feeling the need to go missing from home again.

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

The management of health and safety is good and helps to keep young people and staff safe. Equipment and installations are serviced as required. When problems are identified, prompt remedial action is taken. Fire safety tests are carried out as required and young people and staff take part in regular fire drills.

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

Young people are protected by the organisation’s recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of the young people by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong and child-focused manager in post. She is qualified up to Bachelor of Education honours and is enrolled on the diploma qualification in leadership, health and social care at level 5.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff retention is good and morale is high, with staff reporting that they feel well supported by the manager and her deputy. All the staff are qualified in their roles and training records show that staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training courses to develop their knowledge, skills and professional practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they find supervision helpful and supportive. Performance management systems help to challenge staff practice to maintain high standards of care. Annual appraisals are used well to ensure that staff are provided with appropriate development opportunities

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work closely with a range of partner agencies, including the police, schools and social workers, and challenge others appropriately. One social worker told the inspector, ‘The staff work hard to make sure [the name of the young person] gets the services he needs.’ One parent told the inspector, ‘Staff speak to me regularly and always keep me informed with what is going on.’ This partnership approach ensures that all stakeholders are working together to ensure that young people’s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has responded positively to the requirement made at the last full inspection. The home’s documents, such as the statement of purpose, have been reviewed and updated and all staff are now qualified in their roles.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 5 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: 1259118 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of Stoke-on-Trent, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 1HH

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1259118 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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