Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 1 SC033127 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire 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 local authority has registered this home to provide care and accommodation for up to 11 children and young people who have learning and physical disabilities. The home is split into three smaller homes. The Bungalow provides long-term care for children and young people. Rainbow and Starlight both provide short-break services. Starlight supports children and young people who have additional complex health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2010.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/03/2018 Full Outstanding 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/09/2016 Full Outstanding 21/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 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 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 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all concerns about a child’s welfare and safety are communicated appropriately with the local authority and the home’s manager, and that any necessary action is taken in a timely manner to keep children safe. 31/03/2019

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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 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— Use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) and (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there are suitable arrangements in place for the management oversight of any concerns that staff have about children, ensure that an accurate system is in place for tracking staff training and improve the level of consultation with children’s social workers about the quality of care and management of the home. 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 31/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people enjoy a warm and caring environment. The staff are very attentive. They spend a lot of time engaging with the children and young people. The staff are respectful of and sensitive to the children and young people’s diverse needs. The staff know them well and provide a good level of individualised care. Consequently, the children and young people are happy and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff make the physical environment as homely as possible. This is particularly the case in the Bungalow and in Starlight, but less so in Rainbow, as some children and young people struggle to accept having pictures on the walls. All the children and young people can personalise their bedrooms based on their individual needs, wishes and feelings. The staff ensure that the bedrooms are already prepared for the children and young people arriving for short breaks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are good listeners and promote the children and young people’s wishes and feelings. The staff promote interaction by using signs, symbols and other non-verbal as well as verbal communication methods. Consequently, the staff maintain an inclusive environment in which all the children and young people are heard. The likes and dislikes of individual children and young people are well known. This influences the way staff develop individual care plans, and the range of activities and meals that the children and young people enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children and young people enjoy a range of activities. This includes their individual requests such as joining a local Sea Cadet group and going on holiday abroad. One young person, living temporarily in Starlight on a full-time basis, frequently spends time with friends in the Bungalow. This helps to alleviate the impact of seeing other children and young people come and go on their short breaks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children and young people go to school. When there are any exclusions, the staff promote homework. The manager ensures that concerns about educational placements are raised with partner agencies so that children and young people get the right level of support at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are individualised targets in place for all the children and young people. These are focused on their specific needs, such as social skills, personal hygiene, diet, sleep, health and independence. The staff promote the children and young people’s ability to achieve these targets. This ensures that all the children and young people make at least good progress, and in some cases excellent progress. The children and young people in the Bungalow benefit from having new facilities to do their own laundry. Consequently, the children and young people develop their confidence, improve their self-esteem and are prepared for the transition to adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is an excellent level of partnership work with local health services. Staff receive specialised training and provide skilled and competent care to children and young people Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 5 with complex health needs. This has a significant positive impact on the quality of life for these children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents consistently provide positive feedback about the home, the flexible and supportive staff, good communication, the safe environment and that their children are happy.

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

The children and young people benefit from a safe and secure environment. The staff provide stable and consistent care, with a good level of structure and routines. This helps the children and young people feel safe, trust the staff and experience the predictability that they need.

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

The manager knows all the children and young people well. She matches the children and young people based on their individual vulnerabilities and risks. As a result, the children and young people receiving short breaks at the same time are suitably compatible. When a child or young person is a risk to others, or themselves, there are good staffing levels, which provide the required level of supervision.

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

The staff are calm and patient and respond well to challenging behaviour. They are confident in using de-escalation strategies. This reduces the need for physical intervention. When it is used, this is as a last resort to keep children and young people safe. Staff practice is appropriate and there is good oversight from the manager so that children and young people’s welfare is prioritised.

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

Children and young person do not go missing from this home. If there was such an incident, the staff know their responsibilities and the correct procedures to follow.

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

The staff are good at managing the risks to the children and young people. For example, the risks of self-harm, exploitation and poor health have reduced since the time of admission. At the same time, age-appropriate risks are promoted. This means that the children and young people can do things like using the kitchen and enjoy going out into the community in a safe way.

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

There is generally good practice in sharing concerns about the children and young people’s welfare with partner agencies. One occasion came to light during the inspection where there was a breakdown in communication. This had not been picked up in the management monitoring of practice. This potentially puts vulnerable children and young people with limited communication skills at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has significant knowledge, experience and skills linked to working with disabled children and young people. She expects high standards of care and has a proven track record in providing good and outstanding outcomes for children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 6 The staff are passionate and experienced. They work well together, they enjoy their work, their morale is high and there is low staff turnover. Consequently, the children and young people receive care from a stable and cohesive staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that there are comprehensive and successful partnerships with a variety of other agencies, such as health services, the children’s disability social work team and schools. This secures for the children and young people the best all-round care. The staff receive regular supervision and undertake a broad range of training. The majority of staff are qualified, and the others are working towards the recommended qualification. Individually, and as a team, the staff have the skills and knowledge to provide the children and young people with high standards of care. There are different systems which the manager uses for checking whether staff training is up to date. As a result, some staff may miss out on the training they require. The manager has monitoring systems to review and assess the children and young people’s experiences and progress. In-house care plans and background information

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

about children and young people facilitate the staff in meeting a range of diverse needs. The manager knows the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She has an open management style and is responsive to suggestions for improvement. The staff find her approachable and supportive. She has created an ‘independence room’ since the last inspection to promote the children and young people’s life skills. She is in the process of improving the children and young people’s memory books, which are a colourful and photographic journey of their time at the home. Internal reviews of the quality of care do not acknowledge or include the feedback from social workers and parents. This compromises the efforts the manager makes to continually improve the home.

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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: SC033127 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Child Care Management Team, Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire DN35 8LN

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Inspectors

Simon Morley, social care inspector Matthew Reed, Her Majesty’s inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033127 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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