Children's home run by Cornwall Council in Cornwall

Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 1 SC368934 Registered provider: Cornwall 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 home is registered to provide a short-break service for up to 21 children and young people who have learning difficulties and/or physical difficulties. The home is managed and owned by the 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 good

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good

The children‘s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/07/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 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 children‘s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children‘s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, ensure that referrals are made for those children and young people who are assessed to need advocacy and follow this up if there is a lack of provision. (Regulation 7(1)(a)(b)(c)) 03/12/2018

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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) and (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular:  ensure that any issues or incidents are thoroughly recorded and reviewed. If staff have an injury following an incident, ensure that this is followed up thoroughly.  ensure that fire and safety checks are completed within necessary timescales. 26/11/208

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy 29/10/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 4 (―the behaviour management policy‖) which sets out— how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‘s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. The registered person must ensure that— 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

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Requirement Due date

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 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. Paragraph (3) does not apply in relation to restraint that is planned or provided for as a matter of routine in the child‘s EHC plan or statement of special educational needs. (Regulation 35(1)(a)b)(2)(3)(i–viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(4)) Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 5

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Recommendations

 For children‘s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children‘s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‗institutional‘ impression. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy staying in this short-break home. The long-standing, caring staff group is committed to helping children have positive experiences and enjoy relationships during their time here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a variety of activities for children to enjoy. These include technology, cooking, various games, toys and outside play equipment. Children enjoy going out too; they often go on walks to local parks, beaches and woods, as well as trying more adventurous activities such as speed boating and cycling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children they look after extremely well and provide individualised care and support. All staff have received training to enable them to communicate effectively, by using different methods. When children reach their targets or have a positive experience, they love the praise and certificates they get from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and families who are new to the service experience well-planned introductions; this helps them to settle quickly. The manager and staff reassure and support children and families very well at this crucial time and gain their trust. Children and young people are encouraged to be as emotionally and physically independent as possible. Consequently, this helps them feel more confident and prepared for their futures. However, only one child has an independent advocate; the manager would like this service to be extended to other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers and parents have nothing but praise for the service. They say that the manager and staff communicate very well, provide strong advocacy for children and young people and have warm and welcoming relationships with them.

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

The manager and staff are confident in recognising any safeguarding and child protection issues. They do not hesitate to highlight and escalate concerns to the relevant professionals. This challenge has helped keep children and young people safe. The designated officer commented on the registered manager‘s ability to ‗work over and above‘ in exploring concerns, subsequently improving practice and procedures for the Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 6 future.

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

Children and young people‘s quality of life in their family homes has improved, because of the expert support and advice given to families by the staff team. Staff have helped children have routines and boundaries, which have significantly improved their emotional and physical health.

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

Medication arrangements are clear and practised. There have been a small number of errors, although these have not led to any children being harmed. The errors have been thoroughly investigated and subsequent learning has been put in place.

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

Since the previous inspection, as children and young people with more complex needs use the service, incidents have increased slightly. On occasion, the incidents have involved physical intervention, but only as a last resort. In some instances, records are not detailed enough and do not show that children‘s views have been sought. The manager also recognises that a more rigorous approach in managing injury to staff needs to be taken.

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

Some fire and safety checks are nearing their review date or just passed. However, the manager has scheduled these appointments to take place in the near future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team is strong and robust. Leaders and managers know children well and have an excellent understanding of their experiences in the home. They have high aspirations for children and help them progress in a variety of ways.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supervised and supported. Team meetings happen regularly, and staff are clear about what is expected of them. The team is not fully staffed and recruitment of new staff is a challenge, so the manager is continually advertising vacant posts. When new staff are appointed, managers take a thorough and careful approach to induction. They ensure that staff spend time getting to know children and young people before taking on extra responsibilities. Any performance issues, complaints or allegations are thoroughly investigated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are careful to ensure that children and young people who stay with each other are compatible. Sometimes this involves changing the dates of breaks, particularly when they accommodate children at shorter notice. Although confident in their manager‘s support if they do not consider a referral to be appropriate, managers are keen to find a solution for all children and young people who could benefit from the service. This means that managers will often step in to provide hands-on support. However, this solution-focused approach, when staffing vacancies exist, has had an impact on the quality and frequency of some management tasks. Examples of this include lack of oversight and audit in relation to health and safety checks and recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The building is not accessible to all children; it offers short breaks to and does not have a homely feel. The registered manager and deputy manager recognise the considerable Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 7 shortfalls of the environment and have worked hard to successfully identify a suitable property so that the service can relocate. The organisation has invested in this property and plans are in place to move in the near future.

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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: SC368934 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cornwall Council, Accounts Payable, PO Box 727, Truro TR1 9GP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tony Phillips-Jones

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Inspector

Sarah Canto, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC368934 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 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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