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

Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 1 SC063978 Registered provider: Bradford Metropolitan District 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 owns and 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 May 2017. She is currently undertaking a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 February 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 18 October 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/11/2016 Full Good 02/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that pathway plans are in place to identify the accommodation and support needed for young people in order to move on effectively from the home. 30/4/2019

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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—

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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)(2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children live in a ‘safe, calm and inviting environment’, as stated in the statement of purpose, and that all the staff receive training around ligatures and criminal exploitation. 30/04/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 4 The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 29/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that staff receive regular supervision and engage in team meetings and training on an ongoing basis. 29/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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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 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(5)) 29/03/2019

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Recommendations

 No more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night at the home should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17) Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 5

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improvement to be good

The home was closed for a short period between July and September 2018. Children living at the home were moved on to placements that could meet their challenging needs. Staff were supported to undertake training around resilience, assessing risk, and de-escalation techniques, to help them develop the skills they need to care for the complex needs of children they look after.

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improvement to be good

On re-opening, careful consideration to matching children’s and young people’s needs was given to ensure that the new placements created the right group dynamics for children and young people. The children and young people settled well, as a result, and have benefited from a period of stability. Their emotional well-being has improved, and one young person has stopped self-harming. Staff have built up trusting relationships with the children and young people, who are able to share their worries and concerns with the staff.

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improvement to be good

However, the two most recent admissions were made in quick succession. These placements have had a detrimental impact on all of the other children and young people. The home no longer presents as one of stability and calm and the staff are struggling to contain the behaviour of some of the children and young people. The home is sustaining significant damage to the walls and furnishings. The furniture in some children’s and young people’s bedrooms is damaged and the communal television is also broken. The management is addressing the damage noted at the time of the inspection and has improved the environment in the home through redecoration, homely furnishings and refurbishment of the bathrooms, although these negative behaviours are ongoing. The current situation is not providing the children and young people with a ‘calm, safe and inviting environment’ in which to live, as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose.

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improvement to be good

Prior to the recent period of instability, children and young people were engaging in their education plans and making some progress. However, more recently this has been disrupted and attendance and participation in education have significantly reduced. The staff have worked closely with the virtual school, teachers and social workers to re- engage children and young people in their studies and to secure suitable tuition. The staff have taken steps to support the children and young people to help them feel comfortable with this. For example, a member of staff stayed with a young person at a setting until they felt confident enough to stay alone.

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improvement to be good

The staff offer the children and young people a variety of constructive experiences inside and outside of the home, for example swimming, baking and music sessions. One young person is attending cadets. This is helping to improve their self-esteem and engage them in positive activities.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people are supported by the staff to maintain their friendship Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 6 groups in the community. Staff ensure that children and young people have regular contact with their families and people who are important to them. Some children and young people have improved their family relationships since coming to live in the home.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people are given the opportunity to contribute their views through house meetings. They are also provided with independent advocates to support them in making their wishes and feelings known.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people have individual behaviour support plans that outline strategies for the staff team to manage their behaviour in a positive way. Key-work sessions are held with children and young people with a view to assisting them in reflecting on their behaviour. The staff continue to work with the children and young around the issues that are currently presenting in the home.

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improvement to be good

Despite the current level of challenging behaviours, the children and young people have built sufficiently strong relationships with staff to confide in them about their feelings and concerns. The staff understand and respond to the children’s and young people’s triggers for negative behaviour. When situations cannot be de-escalated, the staff use physical intervention in line with regulations. The records provide a good reflection of the incidents and they are reviewed by the manager.

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improvement to be good

Since the re-opening, the children and young people have rarely been missing from the home. On the occasions that this has occurred, the response from the staff has been well coordinated, in accordance with children’s and young people’s individual plans. These plans are formulated in partnership with the police. The manager has sought independent return home interviews to ensure that the children and young people are able to voice any worries.

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improvement to be good

Only two members of staff have received ligature training despite an identified risk for one young person. The staff also lack adequate insight and understanding about the risk posed to children and young people from criminal exploitation, more specifically about county lines. This could leave children and young people open to exploitation and at risk of harm if staff are unable to spot the signs and take appropriate action. The management has requested training in this area to increase the skills of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Admissions to the home are agreed by the registered manager and follow policy, in that they are presented to a panel of managers prior to approval. The registered manager undertakes pre-placement assessments to ensure that any new admissions do not disrupt the dynamics at the home. While some of the challenging behaviours could not have been pre-empted, the quick succession of recent placements has not enabled the staff to maintain stability in the home. This has led to significant disruption for all of the children and young people in the home. The management has reflected on this and is Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 7 pursuing an alternative placement that is more suited for a young person’s complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are a number of shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home which compromise the quality of the care for the children and young people. The manager has not maintained full and accurate information about the performance of the home since the last inspection, as required by the regulator. The recommendations raised at the last inspection have not been met. Supervision is still not consistently provided, with some staff only having received sporadic supervision over several months. Consequently, staff are not receiving the support and guidance to be effective in their role and staff performance is not managed in a timely and responsive way. This has been escalated to a requirement at this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all young people have up-to-date pathway and transition plans. The management has attempted to chase this with the social workers, but has not been successful. Managers have not escalated their concerns about out-of-date plans within the local authority, despite this being raised at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring systems are not effective. The staff are not always able to access the data needed. This prevents the management team from having effective oversight of care practice and staff development within the home. For example, information around room searches could not be found and the Annexe A was not up to date and only provided information since the home reopened in September 2018. It took considerable time for the information prior to this to be collated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are gaps in staff knowledge and not all staff are up to date with the required training. There is low attendance at staff team meetings. This does not demonstrate commitment, promote professional development or improve the quality of care for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are no effective systems for staff and management to consult with parents and other professionals about their experiences relating to the home. There is no feedback from the children and young people included in the six-monthly review. This compromises the ability of the manager to review the quality of care for the children and young people fully and to further develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management team has recognised the need for increased staffing levels due to the disruption and challenges faced by the staff. Three waking night staff are currently being deployed nightly. However, two out of the three are from an agency. This results in the children and young people being cared for by unfamiliar people, with whom they do not have established relationships.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 8 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: SC063978 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 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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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC063978 10 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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