Children's home run by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in Walsall

Inspection report children’s home: SC036551 1 SC036551 Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. It provides long-term care and accommodation for up to four young people with complex needs. The current manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2007 and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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: 12 November 2018

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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: SC036551 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2018 Full Good 01/11/2017 Full Good 17/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC036551 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 order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children. 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 (2)(5)) 14/06/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from warm and supportive relationships with staff. Staff are patient, caring and sensitive to young people’s needs. This helps young people to make progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one young person has moved into the home. Good oversight by the registered manager made sure that the young person’s move was well planned. This helped the young person to feel reassured and comfortable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy the time that they spend with staff and develop positive relationships with them. They engage in activities with staff, who work hard to ensure that young people can pursue their individual interests such as playing pool. Young people also get involved in voluntary work. One young person regularly volunteers at a cat protection charity. Consequently, improvements in young people’s confidence and self-esteem are evident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people have a history of poor school attendance. Consequently, they have found it difficult to engage in education. Despite this, staff have worked hard with young people, teachers and virtual school staff to understand and overcome the individual barriers affecting engagement with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress in developing their independence skills. Staff have developed ‘my journey’ folders, which document and evaluate young people’s progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC036551 4 The manager and staff know the importance to young people of maintaining family relationships and welcome young people’s families into the home. Staff effectively support young people to spend time with their family and friends which is safe and positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to express their views on all aspects of the home through monthly meetings with staff. Since the last inspection, staff have made sure that young people can now see how their views are addressed. This helps young people to feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are diligent in making sure that young people live in a well-maintained, clean and welcoming home.

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

Staff understand young people’s vulnerabilities and the risks that some behaviours may pose to their welfare and safety. Good levels of supervision and support, alongside good- quality risk assessments, are used by staff to protect young people and to minimise the risk of harm.

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

Young people feel safe and secure in the home. This is because staff work consistently with young people to assist them to make positive choices and this works well. Staff continue to benefit from regular consultations with psychologists from the child and adolescent mental health services. These consultations support staff to develop effective strategies to address young people’s presenting behaviour.

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

Staff are trained in physical restraint and despite some challenging behaviour there have been no restraints since the last inspection. This demonstrates the staff’s commitment to supporting young people to manage their own behaviours to good effect.

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

The risks of child exploitation and of children going missing from the home have reduced significantly since the last inspection. When young people go missing from the home, staff respond promptly, in keeping with agreed protocols. Close working relationships with partners, such as the police, help to ensure that young people stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Committed managers and staff help young people to make good progress in all areas of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable staff team provides consistent care to young people. Staff receive regular supervision and annual performance appraisals, which support their development. Staff are complimentary about their managers and the support that they receive from them. All staff are qualified to a level 3 diploma in residential childcare. Training opportunities, in addition to mandatory training, are good. This helps to ensure that staff are knowledgeable and skilled in meeting young people’s needs. Furthermore, staff are Inspection report children’s home: SC036551 5 supported to develop their practice over time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the running of the home. This ensures that she has a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. However, the internal quality of care review does not take into consideration the views of family members, social workers and other professionals. This means that the manager is unable to effectively assess how other people perceive the quality of care at the home and the impact of this care on young people. Furthermore, this limits the capacity of the manager to act on feedback about the service to help the home to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Arrangements for working in partnership with others, including parents, social workers, the police and health professionals, are largely positive. The registered manager seeks advice and support from the team around the young person and advocates for young people when it is necessary to secure the support and service that they need.

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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: SC036551 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, Civic Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall WS1 1TP

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Inspector

Anne Daly: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC036551 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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