Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 1 SC472977 Registered provider: Bradford Metropolitan District Council

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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 provides care and accommodation for up to 15 children and/or young people who have learning disabilities. Children and young people use this service for permanent and shared-care placements. The service also provides short-term care to children and young people who are undergoing assessments by a Behavioural Evaluation Support Team (BEST).

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Information about this children’s home

There are two managers registered at this setting. They were registered in October 2013 and May 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 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 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: 20 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/05/2016 Full Good 03/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that all staff are trained in and understand how to administer emergency medication in line with children’s and young people’s plans. 29/03/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Specifically, that the staff continue to develop and use alternative communication systems with young people as identified in their plans. Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 4  Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons which may include services, individuals (including parents), agencies, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

52, paragraph 10.3) In particular, ensure that there is better communication with parents when interventions have ended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children and young people have lived in the home for a long time, enabling them to develop a sense of permanence and security. Their relationships with the staff are strong as they have ‘grown up’ under their care. One young person calls her key worker her ‘Valley View mum’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Wherever possible, children and young people are introduced to their key workers and visit their new home in advance. When this is not possible, the manager ensures that a planning meeting is held that captures the relevant information. This allows staff to support the child or young person in such a way as to minimise their distress and anxiety about the change in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people access a wide range of activities and community resources, such as swimming, trampolining and music sessions. They enjoy holidays with the staff, and for some this is their first experience of a holiday. These opportunities help to enhance children’s and young people’s self-esteem and they grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff collect photos of these events for the children and young people. However, they do not present them in a way that will help the children and young people to reflect on and understand their history, in line with their understanding and communication needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Through close collaboration with school and parents and carers, the service has been effective in helping to improve children’s and young people’s outcomes. Realistic and achievable goals are set for the children and young people which reflect their small but significant progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers and family members are positive in their feedback about the services provided. One parent said that the staff were ‘truly amazing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people who are non-verbal are regularly encouraged to make choices, particularly around activities and meals. The staff use a range of alternative communication systems including Makaton, in which they have now all received training. However, these systems need to be further embedded into staff practice to ensure that the children and young people can communicate fully at all times. Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 5 The setting also provides an assessment service to children and young people by the BEST. A six-week period of assessment and observation results in the development of personalised strategies and positive behaviour support plans for use by parents and all those working with the child or young person. Some of these children and young people continue to receive support from the community support team. This enables families to continue to implement the strategies learned at BEST in the family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

BEST works effectively and holistically with a range of agencies, including schools, social care and health, to identify a child’s or young person’s complex needs. Successful interventions result in improvements to children’s and young people’s behaviours, eating and sleeping patterns and allows families to feel supported, more relaxed and able to cope.

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

The children and young people frequently exhibit challenging behaviour because of their complex needs. Children and young people have clear individual therapeutic support plans that outline strategies for the staff team to manage their behaviour. The staff also use their knowledge to identify and manage triggers for children’s and young people’s anxiety.

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

The whole staff team is currently undertaking Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy (PACE) training to help them manage behaviour in an increasingly positive way. This is noticeable in the reduction of physical interventions. The staff in BEST have not had to manage extreme behaviour through physical intervention in the past four months. This is a result of staff’s developing understanding of the children’s and young people’s attachment needs, which has led to staff managing situations differently. When physical intervention is used it is done to protect the individual or others and is recorded in line with regulations.

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

The children and young people are kept safe by appropriate security mechanisms, high levels of supervision and monitoring systems agreed by the family and social workers as necessary. Families feel confident that their children are safe.

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

The staff allow young people to take managed risks to develop their independence. For example, one young person walks to the shop with staff following at a discreet distance. This has helped the young person to build confidence and is a positive step towards independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provision has two registered managers who were registered in 2013 and 2017. They both have considerable experience in working with children and young people with complex needs. The assessment service is managed on a day-to-day basis by an experienced member of staff, overseen by the registered managers. Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 6 The two services are well managed and the management team has a clear understanding of the strengths as well as the areas that require further development. In particular, the BEST is in the process of developing its assessment reports to become more analytical, which they envisage will help in raising the professional profile of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which provides them with an opportunity to reflect on the impact of working with children and young people with such complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff generally benefit from regular and varied training opportunities, which provide them with the necessary skills to care for children and young people to a good standard. Training is tailored to the needs of the children and young people at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Medication is, in the main, administered safely. However, some staff lack knowledge and training about how to administer the life-saving medication needed for one young person. This could have serious consequences for this young person’s health.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team understands the plans for the children and young people well. Its members actively monitor the progress of the children and young people and work effectively with other agencies to ensure that services are in place to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff also build close and positive relationships with parents and carers. However, in the assessment service, parental expectations could be managed better by improved communication between the staff and parents in cases where no ongoing intervention is to be offered.

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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: SC472977 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bradford Metropolitan District Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sir Henry Mitchell House, 4 Manchester Road, Bradford BD5 0QL

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Balvinder Gill and Victoria Bolton

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Inspectors

Janet Black, social care inspector Jan Edwards, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC472977 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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