Children's home run by Oxfordshire County Council

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 1 SC033896 Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children‟s home is registered to accommodate up to six children. The home is registered to care for children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 8 August 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 26 September 2018

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the full inspection in September 2018, four requirements and two recommendations were made. Insufficient progress in response to one of these requirements results in this being escalated to a compliance notice.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leadership and management arrangements fall short of reasonable expectations. Senior leaders have failed to recognise the support needs of the manager, who is fairly new in post. This, along with the manager‟s periods of absence from the home while undertaking other tasks delegated to him by senior leaders, has resulted in staff feeling overwhelmed and unsupported, and has led to omissions in the manager undertaking the responsibilities expected of him.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Insufficient monitoring arrangements have prevented the manager from having a robust Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 2 overview of the quality of the service and its impact on children‟s lives. Supervision of staff is infrequent and does not explore the strategies used by staff for managing children‟s behaviour. This lack of relevant reflection and discussion in supervision has not been identified through the monitoring system used and consequently the poor quality of the supervision process for staff has not been identified. This restricts the capacity of staff to improve their practice and offer better quality care to children. This shortfall was identified at the last inspection and a requirement was made. This has now been escalated to a compliance notice.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Records demonstrated that the consequences used in response to children‟s behaviour are not effecting the required changes. One child, over a period of four weeks, repeatedly received the same consequence for his behaviour. The lack of monitoring on the part of the manager meant that this shortfall was not identified and consequently there has been no improvement in the child‟s behaviour.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Managers do not fully assess and evaluate the impact of known risks prior to children moving into the home. As a result, children are affected by the risk-taking and negative behaviours of other children, compromising their safety and well-being. One poor-quality impact assessment resulted in a child being placed whose influence on other children has negatively impacted on their behaviour and health.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are not always adequately informed about how to keep children safe. Risk assessments do not contain all the information about children‟s behaviours and the known serious risks to their safety and well-being and do not provide adequate guidance to staff about how keep children safe.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff do not always recognise or consider the effect of intimidating behaviour between children. Staff have not always proactively supported children to consider the consequences of their behaviour on others.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children are not always encouraged and supported to develop interests and hobbies. This has resulted in children becoming restless and engaging in negative behaviours. Managers and staff failed to respond to one child‟s request for help in identifying and becoming part of a children‟s football team.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children continue to live in a warm and homely environment. The house is nicely decorated and furnished, and children generally take pride in their surroundings. Bedrooms are personalised and reflect the preferences of each child.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children make some progress in many areas and their successes are celebrated. Small achievements are acknowledged, and outcomes are measured in terms of their significance to each child.

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Recent inspection history

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2018 Full Good 14/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/09/2016 Full Good

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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 enjoyment and achievement standard The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— develop the child‟s interests and hobbies; participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child‟s interests and preferences; and that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child‟s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(b)) 29/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard 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; 29/03/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 4 help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand 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 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f)(h))* 29/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 29/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— 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— the effectiveness and any consequences of the use 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. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)) 29/03/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 5 * This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home‟s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child‟s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  Those with a leadership and/or management role should be visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. Any registered manager employed in the home should have sufficient capacity to ensure that the Quality Standards are met for each child in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 52, paragraph 10.7)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are

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Recommendations

satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child‟s assessed needs as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The Statement of Purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 56, paragraph 11.7)

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 6 children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND

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Inspector

Jacqueline Georghiou, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC033896 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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