Children's home run by Northamptonshire County Council in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 1 SC374180 Registered provider: Northamptonshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by Northamptonshire County Council. It is a residential home for young people who have autism spectrum disorders and moderate to severe learning disabilities, whose behavioural difficulties are such that they are unable to live with their own or a substitute family. The registered manager was registered with Ofsted on 13 February 2019.

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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: 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: SC374180 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/04/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/07/2017 Full Good 19/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/09/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(vii) and (viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children are to have access to toys in the home that are not locked away. 09/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 staff— 09/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 4 protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect.

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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— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and

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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

In particular, when safeguarding concerns arise, these are reported and properly investigated and the appropriate action is taken to ensure the safety and well-being of children. 09/08/2019

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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— 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, risk assessments for children need to be clear and up to date. The assessment should identify the relevant risk and the actions that should be taken to meet and/or reduce the risks. 09/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 5 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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Requirement Due date

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

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(h)) 09/08/2019

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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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(f)) 09/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 09/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 6

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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improvement to be good

The home is not always a nurturing environment for children who have complex disabilities. The staff team members are significantly divided in how they believe children’s needs should be met. Subsequently, there is inconsistency in the care that children are receiving on a day-to-day basis.

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improvement to be good

There is disagreement between some staff members and the manager. Some staff refuse to embrace the new ideas that the manager is trying to implement despite these ideas being in the best interest of children. The views of some staff are entrenched and inflexible. Working practices of some staff fail to take account of current approaches and research about how to meet the needs of children with autism spectrum disorder. This impacts on the quality of care and emotional support being offered to children.

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improvement to be good

Notwithstanding these shortfalls, improvements in the home have been made. All children are in education and making progress. Children are now able to participate in activities and to pursue their interests. This enriches their lives and offers children the stimulation that they require. This is a strength of the home.

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improvement to be good

Some parts of the home have also been improved with children’s bedrooms now being personalised. However, toys continue to be locked away so that children cannot freely access them.

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improvement to be good

The views of children are now being sought. This allow children’s wishes and feelings to be known by the staff. Better engagement and communication with children also allow children to make more choices and to have more autonomy. An independent reviewing officer said that, ‘[Children] have responded extremely positively to the new communication system that has been put in place. Their views are now known because they are being helped to expresses themselves. They are also doing new things and engaging in lots of activities, which they really enjoyed.’

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

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improvement to be good

The home requires improvement because managers have not always identified and implemented robust safeguarding practices. Although this shortfall has not resulted in any child being harmed, it had the potential to do so.

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improvement to be good

There is poor recording by staff of a potentially serious safeguarding incident. A lack of clarity in staff accounts has further hindered management evaluation of the issue. Such poor recording makes it difficult to learn any lessons and to rectify any mistakes that might have been made. This area of practice requires significant improvement.

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improvement to be good

The provider has failed to follow the correct procedures following allegations about the conduct of a staff member towards a child. The failure to fully adhere to correct procedures increases the risk that unacceptable practice could go unchallenged.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not yet of a good standard. Information contained in them is not always relevant and they do not provide enough guidance about how risks should be minimised or managed.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention in the home is rarely used. This demonstrates that staff have been able to build positive relationships with children.

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

The new manager has worked hard to make necessary changes in the home. He is a dedicated individual who has a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding children with disabilities. His approach is child-centred and he expects high standards of care for children. His steadfast approach and tenacity are to be highly commended. However, good practice is not yet embedded at the home. While numerous positive changes have been made, more needs to be done.

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

The manager accepts the deficits that have been identified during the inspection. He, along with the senior management team, has strong, child-focused ideas and is fully committed to improving standards.

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

Some staff have not supported or embraced the changes that the manager has made. Several staff report feeling very unhappy at work. Staff morale is poor. Staff do not feel supported by the manager and hold very negative views about him. Staff are resistant to the improvements that the manager is trying to bring about. Senior managers have not sufficiently addressed this resistance to the new manager. As a result, the negative views of staff have become entrenched.

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

Other staff report feeling well supported by the manager. They are excited by and receptive to the improvements that he has made. However, these staff report that the ongoing opposition to the manager from other staff impacts them negatively.

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

Systems to monitor children’s progress are not robust or fully embedded into practice. As Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 8 a result, managers do not have a comprehensive oversight of the quality of care provided to children. This requires improvement so that any gaps in practice can be fully addressed and standards improved.

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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: SC374180 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northamptonshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 1ED

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Inspector

Davinia Lawton: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC374180 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 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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