Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 1 SC034746 Registered provider: Kingston Upon Hull City 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 and runs this home. It provides care for young people whose plan is to live in a medium- to long-term residential setting. There is an acting manager in place who has applied to become registered. The provider is acting to appoint a permanent manager.

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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: 21 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/05/2018 Full Good 06/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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

In particular, the staff must all have completed training that covers:  substance misuse – interventions with young people  child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation  supporting young people that self-harm  the impact of attachment, trauma and neglect. The records of staff training must be kept up to date. 31/10/2019

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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 (5)) 31/06/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are caring and sensitive to the diverse needs of the young people. This is evident in the way that staff promote the young people’s individual care plans and lifestyles. For example, the young people can spend a lot of time with their relatives and go to work, and they are safe to explore transgender interests. The young people’s experiences are positive. They go out on trips with staff, plan holidays and personalise their bedrooms. They eat their favourite foods and benefit from the spacious and homely environment. The staff are committed to getting to know the young people and are attentive to their individual wishes and feelings. Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 4 The young people make progress, most of the time. When there are concerns, the staff are prompt to address these and support the young people to overcome barriers to their future development. The young people become more mature and their behaviour

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

improves while living at the home. They rate the home highly, especially the way that staff support them. The staff are proactive in promoting the young people’s education, training and employment. Good links with the local authority help to ensure that the young people have appropriate education provision, including support with the transition to college. When young people choose not to attend school, the staff are persistent in supporting them to re-engage. There is good support for young people preparing to move out of the home. Transition plans for new placements are well thought-out. The young people undertake individual like skills training to help them become more independent. There are plenty of opportunities for the young people to budget, shop, cook and do their laundry. The young people complete training courses to support them to obtain their own property to live in. The local authority has good ‘staying close’ arrangements that provide ongoing

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

support for the young people after they move out. The staff ensure that the young people are in good health and that their health improves. In particular, they have given one young person a lot of support to manage a specific health condition safely. The staff have shared detailed information with this young person’s new carers for consistency and continuity. The staff ensure that the young people receive support from specialist nurses about their weight and health. The young people benefit from direct work with the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and there is clinical advice regularly available for the staff.

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

The staff prioritise the safety of the young people. Child-centred care practice ensures that the individualised risk management meets the needs of each young person. The young people are involved in writing their own safety plans. This helps them to reflect on their own actions, promotes their responsibility and gives them a voice in decision- making about their care. The three young people who spoke to the inspectors said that they felt safe and that the staff listen to them. The young people are confident that staff will help them if they are worried about anything. The staff regularly review the young people’s safety plans. In doing so, they consider the views of their social workers, relatives and other agencies, such as CAMHS. This process includes the prompt sharing of any safeguarding concerns. The two social workers spoken to commented that the quality of partnership work is good and helps keep the

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

young people safe. The staff carefully consider the level of safeguards that are in place, while promoting age-appropriate risks and independence. Consequently, the young people learn to use public transport, one has a part-time job and they have appropriate levels of free time as long as they let staff know where they are. The careful matching process ensures that there is a minimal negative impact from the Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 5 young people living together. There is no bullying or conflict between the young people. The staff respond well to any inappropriate behaviour and help the young people develop their own strategies to make group-living successful. The young people are accepting of each other’s individuality and they feel comfortable exploring their identities. The staff understand the risks to the young people from their internet use. They acted promptly when one young person was subject to hate crime and have helped him to

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

reduce the chance of this happening again. The young people’s missing from home incidents are lower in number compared to where they were living before. The staff are determined to find the young people if they do go missing, by searching for them and contacting them and their relatives to try to locate them. The staff consistently follow the detailed risk management plans to keep the young people free from harm. The young people are always offered independent return home interviews to consider their reasons for going missing. The staff actively encourage the young people to behave well, and this includes using individualised incentives such as additional spending money towards a holiday. The young people say that this helps them to work towards their goals. The staff also give consequences for inappropriate or unsafe behaviour. When these have not been effective, they are reviewed and alternatives are used to help young people to make

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since February 2019 and she is suitably qualified and experienced. She ensures that the young people receive high standards of individualised care. She has moulded the staff into a cohesive team, with clear roles and responsibilities. Any staff errors are promptly addressed, both informally and through formal supervision. The staff feel supported and fulfil the home’s aims and objectives. Consequently, the young people experience stability and receive consistent, caring responses from the staff. The staff and manager want the best for the young people and take appropriate action to reduce any barriers to success. One social worker commented that the staff are very supportive and ‘bend over backwards’ to help the young people. There is a tracking system in place, which shows that the young people make progress across a range of outcomes, such as their safety, education and quality of relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and senior leaders agreed to reviewing this system to better demonstrate a young person’s journey from the point of admission. The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home and continues to make improvements. The new key-working teams and iCare plans are established, and these are helping to promote good outcomes for the young people. There are plans to address gaps in staff training and ensure that training records are up to date. Although there are gaps, as a team the staff are able to meet the needs of the young people. The quality of partnership work is good. Three social care professionals all commented positively on how the staff work closely with them and promote the local authority’s care plans for the young people. There are good working relationships with the virtual school Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 6 team and CAMHS. The manager actively involves the police and fire service to teach the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

young people how to be safe. Consequently, the young people receive good all-round support. A requirement was set at the last inspection about the quality of the written six-monthly reviews of the home. The manager is about to complete the next review. As this was not available at the time of this inspection, the requirement is carried over.

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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: SC034746 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston Upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston Upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, Yorkshire HU1 2AA

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Inspector(s)

Simon Morley, social care inspector Krista Hardy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034746 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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