Children's Home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 1 SC065067 Registered provider: Salford City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a local authority. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2012.

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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: 5 December 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: SC065067 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2017 Full Good 09/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2016 Full Outstanding 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 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

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—

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Requirement Due date

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 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

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Requirement Due date

have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 03/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (―case records‖) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. Case records must be kept— 03/12/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 4 if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child‘s death; in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child‘s date of birth; securely in the children‘s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 Children‘s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (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). In particular, ensure that copies of the annual health and safety certificates are kept in the home. Furthermore, ensure that the health and safety and fire risk assessments are updated.  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‗Guide

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Recommendations

to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home‘s manager. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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 steady progress in their development. The stability, clear boundaries and consistency of care help young people to prepare for their moves back to family or semi-independent living. Most young people maintain positive contact with the home once they have moved on. This demonstrates that young people establish some very important attachments while living at the home. One young person wrote: ‗Thank you for everything you all have done for Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 5 me. You all have helped me be the person I am today. I will miss you all.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The well-established and experienced staff team builds open and honest relationships with the young people. Frequent key-work sessions enable young people to talk about their thoughts and feelings. This helps them to build emotional resilience and to gain a more positive self-view.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people‘s needs are well understood by staff. Staff work effectively with a range of professionals to ensure that young people get the right help and support. A professional commented, ‗STARLAC consult with the staff… they are heavily involved. The staff team are really good there… they have turned young people around.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a healthy environment where their physical, emotional and psychological health is well promoted. Some young people smoke cigarettes and misuse drugs and alcohol. These are behaviours that the young people had before moving into the home. Specialist support and advice are available to educate young people on the potentially negative impact of this on their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people have a history of poor engagement in education. Staff work closely with educational professionals and promote the importance of education with the young people. Despite this, one young person is without an educational placement. They are having a few hours tuition in the week, but there is little structure in the remainder of their week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family contact is very well supported. Staff work proactively with family members to promote safe and meaningful contact. Parents and friends are made welcome at the home. This ensures that young people are helped to maintain important attachments.

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

Young people spoken to said that they feel safe and secure and like living at the home. Bullying is appropriately addressed, and records show what action has been taken to promote better relationships between young people.

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

Young people who go missing are mostly protected in line with agreed individual protocols. Staff attempt to maintain phone contact with those young people who are unsupervised in the community, and staff search for them if they fail to return on time. The staff work effectively with the local police and social workers to manage any concerns. This promotes young people‘s welfare and safety.

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

Staff are aware of the risks associated with young people. Individual behaviour management plans and risk assessments guide staff in how to respond to young people‘s risk-taking behaviours. However, the central health and safety risk assessment document and the home‘s fire safety risk assessment have not been updated as required. This means that guidance to staff regarding risk management within these areas could be outdated. Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 6 At times, boundaries can be tested by young people, particularly as they adapt to new structures and routines. There is a strong emphasis on promoting positive behaviour, with the use of rewards and praise. The use of sanctions and physical intervention to manage young people‘s behaviour is kept to a minimum. There have only been five physical interventions since February 2017.

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

It is evident that physical intervention is only used as a last resort and to prevent serious harm. However, on two occasions, a young person was physically restrained on the ground and the records of these incidents are brief and make it difficult to see how the young person ended up on the ground. This hinders the effective monitoring of these incidents. A recommendation was made at the last inspection in relation to the recording of all incidents of control and discipline. This is not met, and a requirement has been raised at this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has been registered since 2012. The manager and her deputy were not present at this inspection. The service manager and senior support workers assisted with the inspection. Two of the four recommendations made at the last inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff spoken to during the inspection demonstrated a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Effective support and supervision make the staff feel valued and highly respected. Staff are enthusiastic, caring and committed to delivering good- quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff are suitably qualified. They have access to training opportunities, but the lack of a workforce development plan makes it difficult to see what training has been updated or what training needs have been identified for individual staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is strong. Social workers spoken to confirm that there is effective communication between them and the home. However, more needs to be done to improve young people‘s records. For example, one young person‘s care plan was not on file. Furthermore, information in relation to young people‘s health and education is not up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home environment is furnished to a high standard. The manager has created a very warm and welcoming home. Young people can personalise their bedrooms to reflect their own styles and tastes. Health and safety checks are routinely undertaken to promote young people‘s welfare and safety. However, the annual gas safety and portable appliance testing certificates could not be located.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home operates in line with its statement of purpose. Managers have a good understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for development. They make good use of monitoring activities to ensure that the home maintains a good standard of care. Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 7

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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: SC065067 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Salford City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5DA

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Inspector

Michelle Bacon: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC065067 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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