Children's Home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 1 Registered provider: Coventry 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

A local authority operates this home. It is registered to provide care for up to four young people who have social and/or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since September 2018. The registered manager holds a level 5 award in the Leadership and Management of Residential Childcare.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 February 2019

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: none

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 2

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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 registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(b)) 12/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home if full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d)) 12/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 35 (3) (a)(vii)) 12/04/2019

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 No children‟s home will be able to meet, on its own, all of a child‟s needs. It is crucial that the home works in close partnership with all those who play a role in protecting and caring for the child, but particularly the child‟s local authority and statutory social worker. The registered person and the staff of the home cannot force a relevant person to engage or work productively with them and the regulation does not require this. The registered person should evidence what they have done to achieve engagement, including any actions taken to escalate concerns. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 11, paragraph 2.3)  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as

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Recommendations

possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 3 education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child‟s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children‟s needs are met). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person must ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to respond to the health needs of children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 34, paragraph 7.12) This is with specific reference to ensuring that staff are competent in administering medication.  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events

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Recommendations

are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home‟s staff in response to the event. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home was registered in September 2018. Since registration, one young person has lived at the home. Another young person came to live in the home during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people are unable to visit prior to moving in, child-friendly guides that include pictures of the staff help young people to become familiar with the home before they arrive. The registered manager and staff work hard to create a well-kept, homely environment that helps young people to quickly settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The development of trusting relationships which take a child-centred approach has helped the first young person to feel secure and to manage his behaviour more positively. The young person‟s social worker told the inspector, „Their resilience and sheer determination means that they don‟t give up on him.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked well with teachers to maintain the young person‟s school placement through supporting a reduced timetable. The young person‟s teacher told the inspector, „They had really sat down and thought about how they could support the school.‟ However, insufficient planning by staff means that the time the young person spends at the home during the school day lacks structure. This is a missed opportunity to maximise the young person‟s learning opportunities and to ensure that he is ready for a full-time school placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Encouragement from staff has helped the young person to continue with established hobbies and to try new experiences. Consequently, the young person has learned to swim and has made friends at a local youth club. This has helped to increase his confidence and self-esteem. Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 4 The young person has benefited from working with staff to develop his own independence goals and is now better at managing his own money and has begun to save. This positive progress helps to ensure that the young person has the skills that he will require in adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the young person to stay in touch with people who are significant to him. The young person‟s previous carer told the inspector that she has good relationships with staff and is confident in the care provided by the home.

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

The young person told the inspector that he likes the company of staff and he feels safe and happy living at the home.

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

Staff know the risks posed to the young person and routinely involve him in developing plans to help increase his safety. Direct work with staff has improved the young person‟s awareness in areas such as road safety, internet safety, discrimination and stranger danger. A specialist agency has helped the young person understand the dangers of child sexual exploitation and becoming involved in gangs.

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

Staff understand the policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding and benefit from a range of training to support their understanding of how to keep young people safe. Staff speak confidently about how to report safeguarding concerns and are aware of the risks posed to young people including those from social media, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.

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

Staff are skilled in using de-escalation and only use physical intervention when it is necessary.

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

A kindness chart and the use of incentives encourage the young person to behave well. When consequences are necessary, staff use a restorative approach to encourage the young person to reflect on his behaviour and how to put things right. For example, when the young person made holes in his bedroom wall, he chose to help staff repair the damage. However, records of consequences do not show any evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures used by staff to help the young person to better manage his emotions.

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

Morale is high, and staff enjoy their work. A member of staff told the inspector, „I always leave work smiling.‟ Managers encourage staff to review their practice during supervision and have recently introduced reflective journals. Individualised professional development plans set out how staff are being supported to develop their skills and knowledge.

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

The registered manager has been quick to put in place monitoring charts to help the young person and staff understand the progress he is making and where further attention is needed. This helps the young person to make steady progress. Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 5 Managers have established systems for the safe handling of medication and staff keep clear records. However, managers have not assessed staff competency in administering medication as set out in the organisation‟s policy. This means it is unclear if staff are sufficiently skilled in this area.

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

Managers and staff have good professional relationships with teachers, health professionals and the police. However, the registered manager has delayed escalating concerns about the young person‟s contact plan to the local authority. An opportunity to consult health professionals about how the home is managing a risk of self-harm was also missed. Delays in communicating with other professionals may mean that young people do not receive prompt access to the support and services they need.

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

The registered manager has not ensured that staff are recruited safely. For one member of staff, there were considerable gaps in their employment history. For another member of staff, managers had not checked the reasons why they had left previous employment with vulnerable adults or children. This increases the risk of young people being cared for by unsuitable adults.

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

The designated officer told the inspector that managers contact them for advice and guidance where needed. However, notifications to Ofsted about significant incidents are not sent in the required timescales. Omissions in notifying leave the regulator without essential information about the service.

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

The registered manager has reviewed the statement of purpose for the home. However, the regulator was not provided with a copy.

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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: 1278806 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coventry City Council, Council House, Earl Street, Coventry CV1 5RR

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Inspector

Alison Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1278806 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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