Children's Home run by East Riding of Yorkshire Council in East Riding of Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 1 SC035543 Registered provider: East Riding of Yorkshire 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. The home provides medium- to long-term care for up to six young people. The principle aim of this service is to prepare the children and young people for independence. Where appropriate, the staff support children and young people to return home or to foster care.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and has been in post since March 2017.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2019 Full Inadequate 07/08/2017 Full Good 28/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 3

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improvement to be good

Some of the young people gain skills and experiences which will equip them well for adult life. When the young people are reluctant to engage in life-skills work, the staff try hard to encourage and promote this. The staff support the young people to develop skills in managing their money, completing household chores and travelling independently. One young person has used these skills well and secured themselves a part-time job.

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improvement to be good

Health outcomes for the young people are mixed. Despite the efforts of staff and the input from specialist health services, some of the young people continue to engage in risk-taking behaviour which is harmful to their health, such as smoking and taking illegal substances. Other young people benefit from having improved physical and emotional health. This is because some young people access community-based activities and leisure facilities and engage in specialist therapy or mental health services.

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improvement to be good

The young people’s educational progress varies. One young person has made good progress with their studies. Young people have been supported by staff to re-engage with their education placements. The young people commented that this is going well. Since the last inspection, despite the staff’s efforts to promote the importance of education, for one young person their attendance and engagement remains inconsistent.

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improvement to be good

Those young people who were spoken to during the inspection provided positive feedback about their experiences of living in the home. Young people engage well with the staff and they enjoy spending time with them. The young people join in a range of activities, which helps them to learn how to spend their free time positively. The young people enjoy organised events, concerts, and theatre groups.

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improvement to be good

Temporary staff who are used regularly to work with the young people have not received up-to-date safeguarding training and other training, such as first aid. Consequently, this could lead to inconsistent safeguarding practice and it leaves staff without the skills to meet the needs of the young people.

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improvement to be good

The manager has failed to ensure that all of the staff are skilled, equipped and trained to respond to young people when they are in crisis. For example, some permanent staff and temporary staff have not received training in how to support young people who may be at risk of using ligatures. This is despite the manager identifying in one young person’s risk assessment that all staff will have first aid and ligature training as a means to reduce risk. Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 4 The manager has introduced a policy on how the young people will be monitored when they return home under the influence of substances or alcohol. Although there is some documentary evidence to demonstrate that staff work in line with this, these records were not easily accessible. The manager is undertaking further work around this to improve practice in this area.

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improvement to be good

Following a requirement made at the last inspection, young people’s individual risk management plans in regard to missing from home have improved. The manager now ensures that young people’s risk assessments identify where the staff should look for the young people when they go missing from home. The staff work in line with young people’s risk management plans and evidence their efforts to search for the young people.

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improvement to be good

The staff are aware of the young people’s needs, risks and vulnerabilities, as these are identified in the young people’s risk assessments. The manager ensures that these risk assessments are regularly reviewed. For some of the young people, certain risks are reducing through the staff helping them to make safer choices. For example, episodes of young people smoking in their bedrooms or going missing from home have reduced in number.

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improvement to be good

Following a requirement made at the last inspection, all staff have now revisited the home’s whistle-blowing procedures. Consequently, the staff know how to respond should they have any concerns regarding the care and support young people receive.

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improvement to be good

There is no use of physical intervention because the staff use their relationships to manage any incidents of challenging behaviour. Consequently, a requirement set at last inspection could not be tested.

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

The manager and deputy manager have made improvements to some areas of care practice. They are now working to ensure that the new systems are becoming embedded. Some areas of the management team’s monitoring require further development.

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

The management team has overlooked some areas which require further consideration to promote a homely environment for the young people. For example, the young people do not have access to all the areas in their home because the downstairs living spaces and kitchen are locked at 10.30pm. There is no rationale to support this measure in relation to the young people’s needs.

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

Supervision arrangements for the temporary staff are mixed. Although the manager has now introduced a system for supervising these particular staff, one member of this group has only received one supervision session in the last four years. The arrangements for the supervision of temporary staff are not specified in the workforce development plan as required. Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 5 Permanent staff receive regular supervision. Following a requirement made at the last monitoring visit, the supervisions now identify how any actions set for the staff have been addressed. The manager can now ensure that ongoing progress and development are made.

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

The manager has yet to embed a system to help him monitor staff training and development, to ensure that all members of his staff team are appropriately skilled and trained to undertake their roles.

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

One young person’s case record was poorly written and could not be read. This prevents the reader from gaining a full understanding of the young person’s experience relating to the incident.

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

A requirement was set at the last full inspection requesting a review of the management team’s monitoring. This report on this review is due to be submitted in April 2019. Shortfalls in the reflection on and evaluation of safeguarding issues were highlighted in the independent visitor’s report, and have now been addressed by the manager. The impact of this cannot be assessed until the visitor submits the next report.

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

There have been no complaints since last inspection. Consequently, a requirement around ensuring that complaint records include the children’s and young people’s views cannot be evaluated.

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

Good communication links with social workers, health professionals and education staff ensure that there is good multi-agency planning for the children and young people. Professionals are complimentary about the care and support that the children and young people receive in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 6

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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 in the given timescales.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff, including temporary staff, receive up-to-date training in safeguarding, ligature training and first aid. 31/05/2019

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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

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. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that a management monitoring review report is written which provides an accurate picture of how the home has been operating during the review period. This should include an evaluation of any safeguarding issues.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all physical interventions are recorded in the restraint documentation and promptly monitor the interventions to ensure that they are safe and proportionate. The registered manager’s oversight should be included within required timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that complaint records include the children’s and young people’s views. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected; children can access all appropriate 31/05/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 7 areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) Ensure that the independent person’s report provides clear details of any incidents that relate to the safeguarding arrangements for children and young people. The report should provide a clear evaluation of the home’s safeguarding practice. The independent person must provide their opinion as to

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Requirement Due date

whether children are effectively safeguarded in this home and whether the conduct of the home promotes children’s well- being. (Regulation 44(4)(a)(b)) 31/05/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: – detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); – detail the processes and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33(4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) This is with particular regard to identifying the: supervision arrangements for temporary staff, and the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve

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Recommendations

any core training.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 8

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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: SC035543 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Room AF97, Goole Council Offices, Church Street, Goole, East Yorkshire DN14 5BG

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Inspectors

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Janine Shortman-Thomas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC035543 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 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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