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

Inspection report children’s home: 2484441 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. The home offers care and accommodation for up to two young people. A local authority operates the home. The home only supports children from the local authority’s area. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 December 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2484441 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

This is the home’s first inspection since registration Inspection report children’s home: 2484441 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(viii)) 13/01/2019

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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. 1)(2)(a)(i)) 13/01/2019

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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; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)) 13/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2484441 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since its registration in August 2018. Since this time, two young people have been admitted into the home. Young people have personalised care plans that staff keep under review. These plans take account of the full range of young people’s needs and help to identify their daily support needs. Young people’s healthcare needs are appropriately met. All young people attend medical appointments and health checks. All staff are trained in first aid and in the administration of medicines. This training is supported by managers having a system for the safe handling, administration, storage, disposal and recording of medication. Staff attempt to engage young people in attending school. However, their efforts are not always successful, and this means that young people begin to lack the motivation to engage in any learning. This leaves young people without the opportunity to thrive

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

educationally. Staff maintain regular communication with social workers and family members and support young people to visit their family. This enables young people to sustain their important relationships, and to keep connections with people who are important to them. On one occasion, the manager did not complete a detailed assessment of the matching of one new young person against the one existing young person in placement. This led to a period of disruption in the home.

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

Young people confirm that they feel safe and settled living in the home. Physical interventions are proportionate to the young person’s behaviour and completed by trained staff. The manager has good monitoring systems in place to help the staff to learn from these incidents and to identify patterns and triggers. However, despite these good systems, young people’s risk assessments do not address changes in their behaviour. This means that staff are working with assessments that do not reflect the accurate status of the young person’s behavioural needs. The manager ensures that staff comply with locally agreed protocols for young people who might go missing from the home. When young people do go missing, staff liaise with the police and complete detailed records of the actions taken. Young people have access to an independent person to speak to on their return home. This helps to consider any information that may help to protect the young person from going missing

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

again in the future. Young people live in a safe environment. A range of health and safety checks are completed to assess whether there are any hazards which could pose a risk. Young Inspection report children’s home: 2484441 5 people and staff take part in regular fire drills to ensure that they know how to safely evacuate the home in case of an emergency. The home’s procedures for vetting and recruiting staff are thorough. This helps to make sure that only suitable adults work there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since August 2018 and holds a degree in social work. Staff are regularly supervised to ensure that they are supported in fulfilling their roles and that their performance is monitored by the manager. External clinical supervision with a qualified psychologist provides supplementary support to the manager. A culture of therapeutic support equips staff to recognise and manage the emotional impact of their work and supports staff resilience. There are good arrangements in place for the development and training of staff. New staff complete an induction and progress towards completing the level 3 diploma in residential childcare. All staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training to develop their knowledge skills and professional practice. This ensures that staff keep their skills and knowledge up to date and are competent in looking after young people. The manager and staff work closely with parents, professionals and other agencies. This

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

helps to provide a consistent approach to young people’s care.

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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: 2484441 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: 2484441 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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