Children's home run by Warrington Borough Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 1 SC037302 Registered provider: Warrington Borough 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 local authority service provides short breaks and outreach services to young people who are experiencing difficulties within their families. The service is part of the ‘Families First’ team, a team that provides intensive support to families in need of social care intervention.

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Information about this children’s home

The service provides short-break care for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The purpose of the service is to enable young people to remain living at home with their families.

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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: 13 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2018 Interim Not judged 08/11/2017 Interim Not judged 03/03/2017 Full Good 23/11/2016 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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)) 24/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record or retain evidence of what worked well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  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,

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Recommendations

paragraph 14.4)  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 4 the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies for the benefit of children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress by attending for short breaks in this home. There is significant evidence of change and improvement to young people’s lives due to the quality of care provided. One young person described how staff have helped her improve her relationships with family members at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a warm, nurturing environment for young people. Staff are skilled at building up a rapport with young people quickly, which means that positive relationships exist between young people and staff. Young people speak positively about the staff and the positive impact their support has had on their home circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s stays are well planned. Staff work collaboratively with social workers, parents and the young people to ensure that young people are well prepared for their stay. Young people’s stays are tailored to their individual needs, and staff put a lot of thought into ensuring that their stay is a positive experience. As a result, young people enjoy spending time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions are managed well. When young people are admitted in an emergency, staff ensure that they have all the relevant information about the young people before they are admitted, thus ensuring that they can meet their needs. Staff support young people to move on from the home when necessary, by continuing to offer outreach support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s views are central to their stay at the home. They choose their own bedroom, the decor of their bedroom, the food they eat and how they spend their time. Staff listen to young people’s views and, where appropriate, make changes to their care based on these views. For example, they consider young people’s preferences about the staff that they would want to work with them. This ensures that young people get the most out of their stays at the home and engage well with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents remain responsible for young people’s health and education when young people attend for overnight stays. When necessary, staff communicate well with parents and education professionals to ensure a consistent approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff undertake regular youth forums, which young people who attend the home for short breaks can participate in. These meetings include guest speakers who come and talk to young people about areas such as child sexual exploitation. These days include a mix of fun activities, such as craft activities, as well as the workshops on keeping safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 5 This innovative approach ensures that young people are educated about keeping safe, which helps to improve their resilience.

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

Staff know the young people well and act to ensure that they are safe when they come and stay for short breaks. Staff ensure that young people have safety plans in place. These contain clear written guidance for staff to follow to minimise any known risks or behaviours. Staff are clear about what actions to take to manage young people’s known risks. Staff need to ensure, however, that sibling groups have individual safety plans in place, which reflect their individual needs.

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

Staff do not always record in case notes that they have followed actions in young people’s safety plans when young people have presented under the influence of alcohol or substances. As a result, there is a limited record of what actions staff have taken to keep young people safe and whether they have followed young people’s safety plans.

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

There has been one missing-from-home incident since the last inspection. Staff followed the correct protocol by reporting the young person missing to the police. The recording of missing incidents, however, does not show that there was any manager’s evaluation of the incident. This limits the opportunity to identify any gaps in staff practice, or identify what worked well. Furthermore, it is not always clear from recording whether independent return interviews have been carried out.

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

There are very few incidents of challenging behaviour in the home. When young people do display challenging behaviour, staff manage this well by using de-escalation strategies effectively. Parents, professionals and young people spoke about the positive impact of attending the service on young people’s behaviour at home.

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

Staff carry out targeted and evidence-based work with young people and their families to effect change in family circumstances and to keep young people safe. Good examples were provided of work that staff had carried out with young people and their families on the impact of domestic violence.

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

Staff ensure that young people are aware of the fire procedures in the home by explaining these to them. Young people, however, are not routinely involved in fire evacuations. Staff need to ensure that young people understand the organisation’s policy about fire evacuations and act in accordance with this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a permanent and suitably qualified registered manager in post who ensures that the service is meeting its objectives as set out in the statement of purpose. The manager is child-centred in her approach and has a good understanding of the progress young people make through attending the home for short breaks. Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 6 The manager has successfully developed a stable, experienced and positive staff team. Because of this, staff are motivated in their roles and present as highly committed to ensuring that young people have the best possible experiences when they have their stays in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths, and presents as committed to the ongoing development of the home. She has made links with similar services in neighbouring local authorities to share ideas and good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a very supportive environment for staff to work in. Staff like working in the home and feel well supported in their roles by the manager and each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake a wide range of training, including mandatory training, to support them in their roles. Team meetings take place regularly and include guest speakers to ensure that staff are up to date with their knowledge of services in the area. This means that within the team there is a wealth of knowledge and experience. This is demonstrated in the high-quality work that staff carry out with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There were some shortfalls identified in the manager’s internal monitoring of practice and areas such as supervision and training. This is because she has been involved in other areas of work in the organisation. The organisation has taken steps to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring of the home lacks vigour. It does not identify areas for improvement or an evaluation of the impact of the care on young people’s progress. This does not assist the manager in the continuous improvement of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work well with external agencies, such as the child and adolescent mental health service and local authority social workers, to ensure a multi-agency approach and good outcomes for young people. Feedback from professionals was unanimously positive about how well staff communicate with them and the positive impact this service has on keeping young people at home with their families. This has been recognized within the council, with the team recently winning an excellence award for customer services.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC037302 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Warrington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Children’s Services Directorate, New Town House, Buttermarket Street, Warrington, Cheshire WA1 2NJ

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Inspector

Sarah Billett, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037302 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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