Children's Home run by Bristol City Council in Bristol

Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 1 SC034301 Registered provider: Bristol 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

This children’s home is operated by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural care needs.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 16 January 2018

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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: SC034301 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 31/05/2016 Full Inadequate 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 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

8: The Leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enable, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that –

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Requirement Due date

understands the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular; that placement plans document aims and targets for each young person, so that the progress they are making can be measured, documented and evidenced.

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 5, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of the support given to the young people, who have diverse and complex care needs, is very good. All the young people are making progress from their starting points. For some young people, this is the longest they have maintained a place in either Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 4 a foster home or a children’s home. This is due to the positive and trusting relationships that the staff build with the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff successfully engage with the young people who arrive at the home. Some young people are extremely distrusting of adults. Over time, the staff build meaningful and trusting relationships with the young people. The staff genuinely care for and nurture the young people, despite initially being continually pushed away and aggressively challenged by the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage and support the young people to attend school or college. Two of the young people successfully sat their GCSE examinations recently and are now attending college. The staff help the young people to understand the importance of gaining a work ethic to prepare them for adult life. One young person, as well as attending college, is working in a part-time job. Another young person has written application forms to try to find part-time work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is part of a ‘staying close’ project. Young people who have left the home to live independently continue to be supported by the staff member of their choice from the home. This support ensures that the young people have someone to turn to who can help them with emotional support and practical support, such as filling in forms and finding employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Healthcare needs of the young people are met. Specialist physical and emotional health services are obtained as necessary. The young people are encouraged, following an assessment of risk, to manage their own medication. This helps them to develop independence skills and earn trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into and out of the home are well managed. The young people are carefully matched. Prior to coming to the home, the manager meets the young person and, if possible, the young person visits the home, where any questions or concerns they may have can be addressed before they move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people enjoy a variety of activities. They enjoy and learn from going on holidays with the staff. Other activities available include swimming, going to the cinema and youth clubs in the community. The young people are supported to visit their friends and family, who are welcome to visit the home. Feedback from placing social workers is very positive. One placing social worker said: ‘My young person has done really well. She has settled well and is now confident enough to go independently to the shops, which she couldn’t manage before coming to the home.’

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

The home has effective safeguarding policies and procedures in place that the staff are confident to use. The young people say they feel safe and could name a member of staff they would speak with if they were concerned or worried. The manager has strong links with safeguarding professionals and the police if their involvement is necessary to ensure Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 5 the safety of a young person.

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

Incidents of young people going missing have reduced. The staff form positive trusting relationships with the young people. These relationships form the basis of the work undertaken alongside specialist agencies to support the young people to understand the dangers and risks associated with going missing.

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

The staff successfully support the young people to reduce self-harming behaviours. They have a comprehensive understanding of why young people may self-harm and associated triggers. The staff know the young people well. They are vigilant and notice any differences in a young person’s behaviour that means they are upset and may self- harm.

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

The young people are allowed to take appropriate risks which form part of growing up, and learn resilience. They are allowed to use mobile phones and stay out in the evenings with friends or family, as long as they agree to return at an agreed time. They learn how to keep themselves safe with the support of the staff, who use a sensible and flexible approach. Assessment of individual risks is undertaken using a signs-of-safety method of risk assessment. The strengths of a young person are the focus of the assessment, and how they can use these strengths, alongside the support from the staff, to keep themselves safe. Risk-taking behaviours by the young people are reduced.

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

Behaviour management is a strength of the home. The staff have high expectations of behaviour from the young people. Routines and boundaries are embedded in the home. The young people, who have complex individual support needs, respect these boundaries and routines, which run smoothly. The staff are skilled at de-escalating incidents and successfully manage any disagreements between the young people.

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

The young people are supported by the staff to learn from their mistakes and are praised for their achievements and positive behaviour. A restorative approach to behaviour management is used, rather than a punitive approach. If a young person breaks something during an incident, they are encouraged to reflect on what caused their anger and how they could do things differently next time. They are encouraged to offer to pay a small amount towards the damage, so that they learn that all actions have consequences.

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

The manager has submitted the application for registration and is waiting for her interview to become the registered manager. She is appropriately qualified for the role and is well respected by the staff and the young people. The staff report that since her appointment morale has improved in the home and she is a respected manager.

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

Monitoring of the progress of the young people is not always documented. The staff are clear about the progress the young people have made, and this is evident when speaking to professionals and the young people. Placement plans do not contain time- Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 6 focused objectives. The aims and targets of the plan are not documented. The formal monitoring of progress and independent living skills that have been achieved by the young people is not always recorded.

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

The manager and the staff work hard to ensure that the house provides a homely appearance. Any damage is quickly repaired. New front and back doors have just been fitted to replace the institutional type doors. Some parts of the home do retain an institutional appearance, such as the office. The office was relocated last year to a smaller room, but has recently been moved back to a larger room. This room that is now being used as an office was a snug room that the young people enjoyed using for quiet time. One young person said they were very disappointed that they are no longer able to use this room as a snug. It is not clear if the views of the young people were listened to when the decision to move the office was made.

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

The young people benefit from being cared for by a consistent and stable staff team. Many members of staff have worked at the home for a long time. The use of bank staff or agency staff is minimal as the staff cover absences. The staff are regularly supervised and have received training in a variety of topics to ensure that they have the necessary skills to support the young people effectively. Recent training includes attachment training, understanding autism spectrum disorder and how to support young people who self-harm.

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

The manager is a strong advocate for the young people and challenges other services effectively. Recently, she challenged education services effectively, as a young person did not have a specialist school place. As a result of the manager’s challenge, the young person now has a school place that meets their educational needs, and will begin next term.

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

The manager is aware of the strengths and areas for development in the home. She has devised a comprehensive development plan and workforce development plan that detail areas for improvement and how and when the improvements will be completed.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 7 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: SC034301 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, BRISTOL BS1 5TR

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant Hester Schofield

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Inspector(s)

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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