Children's home run by Harmony Children’s Services

Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 1 SC461450 Registered provider: Harmony Children’s Services

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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 is privately owned and run. It can provide accommodation for up to three children or young people who have a range of needs. The home has three single bedrooms to accommodate children and young people, irrespective of gender, from age five to 17 years old. The home offers medium- to long-term care, respite and short- break placements. The manager has been registered since August 2018.

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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: 27 November 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/11/2018 Full Good 21/11/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 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, the 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)) 21/07/2019

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to removing the smell of sour milk from the stairs and ensuring that children’s bedrooms are kept to a good standard and do not present health and safety or hygiene risks. 21/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19(1))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that sanctions are proportionate, and that any sanctions are regularly reviewed by management for their effectiveness. 21/07/2019

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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— 21/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 4 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that children’s and young people’s risk assessments and risk management plans reflect the current risks and provide staff with clear instruction on what to do when risks occur. In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(a)(b)(c)) 21/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager receiving supervision in line with company policy. 21/07/2019

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improvement to be good

The quality of the relationships between the children and young people and the staff vary. Not all the children and young people are making good progress because the staff’s attempts to engage with the children and young people are not always successful. As a result, some of the children and young people do not work with the staff in Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 5 completing much-needed one-to-one work to address their complex needs and risks.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people do not experience a consistently high standard of home environment. Despite being cleaned, the stair carpet and walls on the staircase are producing a strong odour after numerous pints of milk have been poured on them. The cleanliness of children’s and young people’s bedrooms is not consistently monitored. Dirty food plates, bowls and cups, empty pop bottles, and sweet and chocolate wrappers raise hygiene issues. The clothes and rubbish covering the floor make it hard to walk safely.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people attend all routine health appointments. Specialist professionals are supporting the children’s and young people’s emotional well-being. When the children and young people have other specific health needs, there is a delay in seeking specialist advice. The efforts of the staff to advise the children and young people around making healthy lifestyle choices are not always successful. Consequently, there is a detrimental impact on the children’s and young people’s health.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people make good progress with their education. The children and young people who are leaving school are successful in securing college places. Other children and young people who have not been in school for a long time progress from having personal tutors to being in full-time school placements.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people enjoy a range of activities, such as personal singing lessons, holidays, swimming, fishing, laser quest, cinema and trampolining. This helps the children and young people to broaden their life experiences.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people are experiencing a time of transition and change. Consequently, there has been a recent increase in the level of challenging behaviour exhibited by the children and young people. The staff’s efforts to redirect challenging behaviour are not always successful. When the challenging behaviour occurs, it impacts negatively on other children and young people. A recent incident of challenging behaviour resulted in damage to the home and police involvement, leading to an arrest. This experience is likely to have had a negative impact on children’s and young people’s emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

The rewards and sanctions in place for the children and young people are not consistently effective. The staff are not regularly enforcing boundaries. The staff are powerless at times to stop the children and young people from potentially putting themselves at risk.

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improvement to be good

The individual plans for when the children and young people go missing from the home do not provide clear instructions for staff to follow. This results in an inconsistent approach to missing episodes. Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 6 The children’s and young people’s individual risk assessments and plans do not always reflect the children’s and young people’s current risks. Consequently, the staff are left without clear instructions to follow, leading to inconsistency in risk management.

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improvement to be good

The staff feel confident about reporting safeguarding concerns. The training the staff receive helps them to understand procedures for reporting any worries they have about the children’s and young people’s safety.

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

The registered manager is committed to helping the children and young people to achieve. The registered manager wishes to make improvements to the service, but feels hindered in achieving her goals because she is not supported by senior managers. The registered manager reported that there was a lack of supervision from senior managers during a recent turbulent time in the home. As a result, the registered manager is feeling ‘unsupported’, ‘not valued’ and ‘vulnerable’.

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

The staff all feel well supported by the registered manager. The staff receive regular supervision, where they reflect on the children’s and young people’s needs and the running of the home.

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

The registered manager is aware of the strengths of the service. However, the registered manager’s monitoring systems do not always identify where developments are needed, particularly in relation to the children’s and young people’s progress, plans and risk assessments. As a result, this leaves issues for the children and young people unaddressed and the staff unclear about their role.

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

Communication with other professionals varies. Some professionals reported very good communication by phone, letter and email. In relation to some concerns around the children’s and young people’s health and behaviour, there has been a delay in sharing information with other professionals. There has also been a lack of challenge to other professionals to make sure that the children and young people receive the support they need. Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 7

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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: SC461450 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Harmony Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Grants, 11 Park Place, Leeds, Yorkshire LS1 2RX

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC461450 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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