Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 1 SC013143 Registered provider: Barnardo‟s

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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 accommodate up to six children who have a learning and/or physical disability. The service is delivered and managed by a national charitable organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2014.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/05/2017 Full Good 14/11/2016 Full Good 13/04/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/11/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 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 care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s 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)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, make sure that placements for children are only made when the registered person has fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. 14/12/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that each child‟s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staffing levels detailed in children‟s care plans are maintained in practice. 14/12/2018

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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 to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all risk assessments and plans in 14/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 4 relation to children are relevant and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, review the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) and make sure that young people‟s privacy is not unnecessarily compromised. 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out— the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent. Before implementing, or making an amendment which the registered person considers to be substantive to the missing child policy, the registered person must— consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person; and have regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. (Regulation 34 (a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, test the effectiveness of the arrangements for night-time evacuation. 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(d)) 14/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 5 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to 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, review the effectiveness of the current monitoring systems and make sure that stakeholders‟ views are used to inform the development of the service. 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff, regardless of their employment status, keep their training up to date and receive good-quality supervision at the frequency required by the organisation. 14/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations, including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that records are accurately maintained.

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improvement to be good

The planning for children to come to live in the home is not informed by well-thought- through compatibility risk assessments. This risks instability and disruption to the young person moving into the home and the young people already there. However, there is a Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 6 warm welcome for young people when they move in and, generally, they settle into life in the home well. For example, an external professional said that the child she works with had „come on in leaps and bounds‟.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, the staffing for one young person was noted to be insufficient. This young person requires two members of staff to be supervising them in the community but went out for the evening with just one staff member.

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improvement to be good

Children build up good relationships with staff and spend good-quality time with them. Staff are skilled in using the communication systems each child knows and understands. Children understand how to make their views known. Children also benefit from the services of an independent visitor who is a very good and active advocate for them.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, some young people have moved to the local school. This was following a successful challenge from the registered manager. The move has been positive for the children because they now spend less time travelling and more time getting to know their community. The young people have settled well in school and are making good progress in their learning.

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improvement to be good

Young people make progress in developing their skills, for example in taking care of their personal hygiene such as learning to use the toilet, cleaning their teeth or using cutlery effectively at dinnertime. Staff make sure that young people‟s achievements are celebrated and this in turn supports them to continue to make progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff helped young people who have since moved on from the home to understand why they were moving and where to. Young people have had successful moves into their new accommodation because of this work.

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improvement to be good

Young people‟s routine and more complex health needs are catered for effectively and they receive the medicines they need at the right time.

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improvement to be good

Young people keep in contact with their families and other people important to them because staff help to support this to happen.

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improvement to be good

Information about and plans for individual young people are not kept up to date. For example, in one case a risk assessment and individual behaviour management plan had not been reviewed or updated for a considerable amount of time. This led to new risks not being planned for. In another case, the care plans were relevant to their respite arrangement and not this home. This meant that some information was either out of date or no longer relevant.

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improvement to be good

There was a failure to risk assess and obtain permission for a staff member to share a bedroom with a young person while they were on the summer holiday. This had the Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 7 potential to put the young person at risk and the member of staff in a compromising position.

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improvement to be good

Some areas of the premises are fitted with CCTV. At the time of the inspection, this was being used in respect of four young people. There was no clear rationale as to why it was being used in some of the cases. This may compromise young people‟s privacy unnecessarily.

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improvement to be good

The „missing policy‟ does not take into account the specific needs and vulnerabilities of the young people the home caters for. There are no individual risk assessments and no guidance for staff, for example about when to call the police if they notice a young person is missing.

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improvement to be good

The one safeguarding issue since the last inspection was not dealt with in line with the organisation‟s expectations. This was recognised and used as a learning point. The designated officer for safeguarding in the local authority was satisfied with the eventual outcome of the case.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements for the health and safety of the staff and young people are well considered. However, a fire evacuation has not taken place during the night, so it is not known whether the staffing levels would allow staff to help all young people to safety should an evacuation be necessary.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not recruited in line with regulations. Specifically, the reasons why an applicant has gaps in their employment histories are not recorded and reasons for their leaving previous roles working with vulnerable people are not routinely requested.

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improvement to be good

It is clear that young people are relaxed and safe with staff. Young people have clear routines and boundaries in their lives, both at school and at home. As a result, some young people‟s anxieties have decreased.

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

Important areas of shortfall identified at the last inspection have not been addressed. For example, staff training and development remain an area of shortfall, as does the frequency at which staff, including the manager, receive good-quality supervision.

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

There have been additional areas of shortfall develop since the last inspection and the monitoring systems have been ineffective in identifying many of these. Additionally, the views of all relevant stakeholders have not been used to inform the monitoring and development of the home.

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

The quality of some case records is poor. In additional to the failure to update important risk management documents, there were examples of a young person‟s name being incorrectly recorded on another young person‟s record. The manager and staff have good working relationships with other professionals and parents and a good track record of successfully challenging other services that are not Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 8 effective. The manager and staff are committed to, and passionate about, their work with the children. A parent commented about her child‟s experience: „Staff are brilliant. I know he is in good hands. I trust them [the staff] 100%… He [her son] has come into his own.‟

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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: SC013143 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 13A Silver Fox Way, Cobalt Business Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE27 0QJ

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Inspector

Rosie Dancer, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC013143 10 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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