Children's Home run by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Bolton

Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 1 SC040723 Registered provider: Bolton Metropolitan 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 is a local authority children‟s home that is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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: 18 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/09/2018 Full Good 19/10/2017 Full Good 06/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 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 registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(4)(b)(c)) 28/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 28/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in schedule 4; and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b) Schedule 4 (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, make sure that copies of staff rosters are accurate and clearly reflect the actual hours worked. 28/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children‟s home at least once a month. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1)(7)(a)) 28/09/2019

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Recommendations

 For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress from their individual starting points. There are individualised plans in place. These plans show that staff have a good understanding of the young people‟s needs and how to manage these. However, these plans are not always updated. A requirement has been made to reflect this shortfall. Staff provide consistent care to the young people. This helps the young people feel secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have good relationships with young people‟s social workers. They also work well with other agencies to ensure that all the young people‟s needs are met. Young people‟s families are very positive about the care that staff provide to the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend school and employment. They are supported to attend, and staff are proud of their achievements. Young people are in good health. However, some young people use cannabis. There are multi-agency plans in place to address this. Staff work with the young people to educate them about cannabis use.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prepare young people for their futures. Staff support young people to budget and cook. This is helping them learn new skills for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to what young people say. The young people have meetings and they talk about what they would like to happen. Staff record the suggestions, and respond to them. For example, young people asked staff to change the name of the sanctions book. Staff listened and responded appropriately. The name of the book was subsequently changed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to have contact with their families in line with their individual plans. This means that the young people maintain relationships with their families.

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

Staff know the risks in respect of the young people. There are clear plans in place that address risks and behaviour management. This means that staff know what to do. This helps young people feel safe.

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

Staff know what to do when young people go missing. Staff follow the procedures in place and understand the young people‟s individual risk management plans. Staff use a colour coding system to assess risks. This helps staff differentiate risks for the young people. This means that risk can be clearly identified and monitored.

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

Staff manage behaviour well. The young people have behaviour management plans. Staff follow these plans. This means that young people receive consistent care.

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

Staff use restraint only as a last resort. There has been one incident since the last Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 5 inspection. This was managed well and included the young person‟s view. The manager had evaluated the effectiveness of the measure used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post and she is supported by a competent deputy manager. They are focused on the young people‟s individual needs. They have a clear understanding of the progress that the young people make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they enjoy working at the home and that morale is good. Staff are very positive about the new manager and the significant impact that she has had on the improvements and stability in the home. The staff have regular team meetings, and these are helpful and informative.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are not receiving supervision and appraisals in line with the home‟s statement of purpose. A requirement has been made to reflect this shortfall. This is a repeat requirement from the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff rosters in the home do not always include the name of the staff member who worked on shift, or the actual hours that they worked. In addition, managers have not included in the roster the exact hours that they have worked. A requirement is made to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good relationships with other agencies to ensure that young people receive appropriate levels of support and guidance. Staff also work well with young people‟s social workers and family members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regulation 44 reports are not sent to Ofsted as required by regulation. Also, these reports are often sent late to the home. This means that the manager cannot always use these reports to make improvements to 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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 6 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: SC040723 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Victoria Square, PO Box 29, Bolton BL1 1RU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bernadette Brown

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Inspector

Catherine Fargin, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC040723 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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