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

Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 1 SC472449 Registered provider: North Lincolnshire Council 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 and accommodation for up to six children and young people. The manager has been registered since 9 September 2013.

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2018 Full Good 14/12/2016 Full Outstanding 23/05/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/02/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should promote appropriate behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies and restorative practice. 15/03/2019

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) In particular, staff should undertake room searches and checks on young people’s mobile phones when appropriate to protect 15/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 3 the young people and others from harm.

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Recommendation

 Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19) In particular, staff should ensure that the recording of direct work sessions fully reflects the content of these sessions and the views of the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people in this home present with a variety of complex needs, which the staff are managing well. The staff persist in building positive and warm relationships with the young people, despite frequent rejection from them. As a result, the young people are showing signs that they are developing a sense of trust in the staff. The staff continuously promote the importance of education and establish close working relationships with education providers. Not all the young people are making progress in education, but the staff understand the barriers they face. The staff continually seek educational providers and activities that will engage the young people and improve their outcomes. Some young people have been successfully reintroduced to school. The staff team is encouraging young people to eat a healthy diet and to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Some young people attend the local gym and have appropriately lost

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

weight. Their health outcomes are improving as a result. The staff have a good understanding of the impact that the young people’s early experiences have had on their lives. They use this knowledge well, enabling them to provide a supportive response to the young people. They encourage the young people to engage with therapeutic help, while understanding that some young people are not always ready for this. When young people show signs of wanting to engage, staff source appropriate support as soon as possible. The staff are delivering regular direct work with the young people, on a range of topics designed to help and protect them. However, the recording of these sessions is brief and does not fully reflect the views of the young people. This dilutes the impact that this work could have on the young people. The young people contribute to the running of the home through regular consultation sessions with the staff. The young people have access to an independent advocate to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

ensure that they can raise any areas of concern about their care.

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

Some young people are extremely vulnerable, but the safeguarding practice of the staff Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 4 enhances the protection of these young people. Their risks are well understood and are clearly documented. The staff are proactive in following the young people’s plans to reduce these risks. The staff are not undertaking sufficiently frequent searches of the bedrooms of some young people, who have a history of hiding potentially dangerous objects in their rooms. This could result in other young people or staff being put at risk. There is also insufficient monitoring of young people’s social media and mobile phone use to enable the staff to protect young people more comprehensively from inappropriate contacts online. Extremely close partnership working with social workers and the police ensures that there is a well-coordinated response when young people go missing. The staff are fully

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

aware of the plans for the young people if they go missing, and follow the procedures in place. Young people are offered return home interviews to provide them with the opportunity to discuss any concerns. The staff promote positive behaviour through the provision of clear behavioural expectations and the appropriate use of sanctions and consequences. These sanctions are frequently financial but are not proving effective in deterring the young people from inappropriate behaviour. There are not enough opportunities for the young people to learn to take responsibility for their actions or make reparation to those affected. All of the staff have undertaken training about child sexual and criminal exploitation. As a result, they are alert to the behaviour that young people at risk may present. They ensure prompt referral to specialist agencies and focus their direct work on teaching the young people how to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been registered since 2013 and has a great deal of experience in leading a residential home. The manager is ably supported in this by two experienced deputy managers. The manager makes child-centred decisions about young people coming to live in the home. Whenever possible, admissions take place in a planned way with pre-placement risk assessments helping to ensure that a young person’s needs are carefully matched to the existing residents. This increases the likelihood of a smooth transition and positive experience for young people in the home. Care planning documents comprehensively identify the needs and vulnerabilities of the young people. The manager and staff team deliver care in a cohesive way which helps the young people to understand the expectations on them. Progress, however small, is noted and rewarded. This is reducing the number of incidents of challenging and risk- taking behaviour for some young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team provides a supportive environment for the staff through regular supervision, appraisal and team meetings. Their leadership is enabling the staff to care effectively for a group of very vulnerable young people with a wide range of challenging needs. Monitoring activities are effective and provide the manager with an overview of the Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 5 quality of the care and progress of young people. The young people’s care is enhanced by the good-quality professional relationships between the staff and other agencies. The manager challenges others effectively to obtain the right services for the young people.

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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: SC472449 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pittwood House, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe DN16 1AB

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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC472449 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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