Children's home run by Warrington Borough Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 1 SC447930 Registered provider: Warrington Borough 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

This children’s home is operated by a local authority. It is registered for two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural problems. There were two young people living in the home at the time of the inspection. The young people were spoken with uring the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post who has applied to be registered with Ofsted

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/06/2018 Full Inadequate 23/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 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 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(iv)) 03/07/2019

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

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(h)) 03/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. 03/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 4 (Regulation 23 (1)(2)(c)) The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) 03/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)) 03/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 03/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and 03/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 5 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)) 03/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1)(3)) 03/07/2019

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The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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children are effectively safeguarded; and

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the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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The independent person’s report may recommend actions that 03/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 6 the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5)

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improvement to be good

Staff provide nurturing care and, as a result, young people have positive relationships with staff in the home. Inspectors observed positive relationships between the young people and staff during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Young people are making progress in school, and both have good attendance. Staff support the young people to improve their health. There is evidence that staff work with a wide range of health professionals, to promote young people’s progress in this area. Staff are proactive in ensuring that young people have access to specialist health appointments when required. However, inspectors noted gaps in the record-keeping and administration of medication.

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improvement to be good

The quality of the young people’s experience of the home on a day-to-day basis is varied. Young people enjoy activities with staff and various trips out to places of interest. Young people also access activities in the local community, and staff are proactive at encouraging young people to develop friendships. However, poor matching of young people has had a negative impact on the young people’s experiences in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff manage transitions well. Young people who have moved into the home received a planned move. This involved visits to the home and was carried out over a number of weeks.

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improvement to be good

Young people are encouraged to develop their independence skills. One young person enjoys baking. This young person also works on a voluntary basis in a local sensory centre. This experience is increasing her responsibility and will develop her understanding of equality and diversity issues.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that young people have contact with family members. Staff understand that it is important to promote these relationships for the young people. One young person is completing a few household chores, so she can buy some special birthday presents for her sister. Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 7

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the young people’s known risks. Staff take appropriate action when young people place themselves in situations of risk by going missing or self-harming. One young person’s self-harming episodes have reduced.

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improvement to be good

However, staff are not always able to prevent young people from harming each about other. Due to poor matching, one young person has been hit, spat on and goaded by another young person in the home. Neighbours have complained on a couple of occasions about the noise levels in the home. On one occasion, a neighbour contacted the police, who then visited the home. Staff acknowledge that the noise levels upset the other young person in the home.

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improvement to be good

There has been a low level of restraint used since the last inspection, but the recording of this is poor. Recording of restraint lacks sufficient information to establish whether staff’s practice was appropriate or not. The manager had not identified discrepancies in the recording of one restraint and does not always evaluate or sign restraint records.

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improvement to be good

Staff are all trained in team teach, which is the model that they are expected to use to manage challenging behaviour. Staff try to de-escalate behaviour, but this is not always effective. Staff try to promote positive behaviour through the use of rewards, behaviour charts and instant rewards. There are, however, gaps in management oversight of sanctions and rewards given.

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improvement to be good

The organisation does not always follow safe recruitment processes. One new staff member’s recruitment file was found to have only one reference, which had not been verified. This does not demonstrate how the organisation ensures safer recruitment.

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improvement to be good

Staff are all up to date with safeguarding training and, as such, understand their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff spoken to during the inspection also demonstrated their knowledge of safeguarding processes.

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

There has been some instability in leadership and management over the last year. There is a new manager in post who has applied to be registered with Ofsted. She has been in post for five months at the time of the inspection.

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

Managers do not make child-centred decisions about young people coming to live in the home, which should include giving careful consideration to the needs of other young people living in the home, as stated in the home’s statement of purpose.

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

One young person has made three complaints about the behaviour of the other young person in the home. Recording of these does not demonstrate that they have been responded to robustly by the manager or that the young person is listened to. Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 8 The home is staffed by an experienced, stable and committed staff team that provides a consistent and nurturing approach to young people. Bank staff are used when required, and the rota reflects accurate staffing levels. However, the manager does not record the actual hours she is working in the home.

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

Staff said that they feel well supported by the manager. Despite this, there are gaps noted in the supervision frequency for staff, and the recording of these sessions is poor. This limits staff learning and progress.

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

The manager has not received a suitable induction into her role; she could not provide any evidence of induction or any probation review. Furthermore, she could only provide evidence of one supervision since she has been in post.

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

Regulation 44 reports are of inconsistent quality and do not support the manager to identify areas of improvement in the home. This hinders the monitoring role and therefore has a negative impact on the development of the home.

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

The home has good relationships with professionals to support young people’s progress. Professionals spoken to were complimentary about the way that staff communicate with them about 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: SC447930 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Children’s Services Directorate, New Town House, Buttermarket Street, Warrington, Cheshire WA1 2NJ

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Inspectors

Sarah Billett, social care inspector Jenny Brady, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC447930 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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