Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council

Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 1 Registered provider: Derbyshire County 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 home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It has recently opened in registered temporary accommodation while a new home is built. The registered manager, staff and young people moved from the original setting.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 2

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)(viii)(ix)(x)) 30/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. 30/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 3 (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)) 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— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other.

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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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 30/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 4 home’s statement of purpose.

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Recommendations

 All children’s case records must be kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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improvement to be good

For a period of approximately three months, staff have not been able to manage young people’s behaviour well or ensure that they have stable, healthy routines. This means that staff have struggled to meet the needs of young people. They say that they continue to try and support the young people but feel that this is getting harder.

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improvement to be good

The home had previously been relatively settled. However, in recent months the staff have not been able to intervene effectively to address a marked deterioration in young people’s experience at the home. The behaviour of young people has been risky and challenging, particularly during the night. Unhealthy routines are affecting young people’s education and general well-being. Staff are demoralised but continue to work hard to maintain positive and nurturing relationships with young people.

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improvement to be good

Despite the efforts of staff to make the environment homely, repeated damage means that the home is not currently a nurturing or welcoming environment. For example, empty food containers and other items are on bedroom floors. Empty food and drink containers have also been thrown into the garden. Pictures have been removed and broken. Cigarette stubs are visible at the front of the house.

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improvement to be good

Most young people are currently not achieving good attendance at school or college. In some cases, this is because they are not settling at night and are too tired for education the next day. One young person has been withdrawn from school to prevent a permanent exclusion and to focus on his emotional health. However, this has caused an escalation of disruptive and challenging behaviour. Staff try to engage young people in some schoolwork or educational-type activities such as baking, but there has been limited engagement from young people. Young people generally go to bed with no plan for the next day. This does not inspire them to get up early and ready for the day’s activities. One young person wants to start an apprenticeship, but this has been slow to set up.

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improvement to be good

Unsettled behaviour means that important emotional health assessments have been delayed. These could be critical tools in helping young people recover from traumatic Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 5 events in their lives. Young people do, generally, attend other healthcare appointments such as the dentist and doctor.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the young people very well. A number of young people have previously been settled and have made good progress at the home. Staff speak positively about young people. Young people recognise and value their strong relationships with staff. Although demoralised, staff are committed. They have been through challenging periods previously and maintain their determination to support young people into more settled patterns of behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers say that challenging behaviour has been persistent in recent months, particularly at night time. The current mix of young people, each with a complex range of behaviours, has created a very challenging group dynamic. Strategies to manage group behaviours have not been effective. Young people have not been provided with a consistent sense of security and safety because there has been a lack of adult control. As a result, senior managers are actively reviewing the suitability of some placements.

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improvement to be good

In addition to a placement review, managers are also consulting with therapeutic specialists to support young people to improve their behaviour. Despite this, the staff report that, for some young people, the placement has not been successful.

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improvement to be good

Risk-taking behaviour has been frequent. Risk-taking behaviours have included:

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improvement to be good

 climbing on the roof  smoking in the house, including their bedrooms  damaging property  regularly setting off the fire alarms. This means that young people do not always evacuate when the alarm sounds.

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improvement to be good

Senior managers have instigated an action plan to address particular risks to young people. This is likely to involve some young people being moved to alternative provision.

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improvement to be good

Young people say that they do not get on well with each other. There have been incidents of bullying and assaults. One young person said that personal items have been damaged or broken by other young people. Staff continue to use restorative approaches to mend relationships. However, because these have not so far been effective, it has been necessary to review the suitability of some placements.

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improvement to be good

Young people rarely go missing from this home and most no longer use illegal substances. This is an indication that the recent marked decline in behaviour has not undermined previous progress made by young people. Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 6

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

The recent very challenging period has had an impact on the quality of leadership and management. Although qualified and experienced, the registered manager and staff team have not been able to maintain the stability of the home. Strategies designed to improve behaviours and support young people to invest in their home have been ineffective.

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

Staff are often supporting young people through to the early hours of the morning. Because the focus has been on managing challenging behaviours, staff have not been able to ensure that the home is clean and well presented. In addition, a number of records have not been kept up to date. Staff morale has dipped.

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

Regular meetings have occurred between professionals to discuss the concerns. Senior managers have now intervened to address the home’s instability. A concrete and meaningful plan has now been implemented. This includes a review of placement suitability to address the dynamics between the young people. Additional staff have been provided. These actions are likely to enable managers to restore previous levels of stability, rebuild relationships between staff and young people, and improve the appearance of the home.

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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: 2506082 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Offices, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

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Inspector(s)

Joanne Vyas, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2506082 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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