Children's Home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 1 SC414347 Registered provider: Coventry City Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates this home. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who have social and emotional needs.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since December 2011. The registered manager holds a social work qualification and a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development certificate in management.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children‟s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 25 February 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/08/2018 Full Good 17/01/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 3

p.2

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.

p.3

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(h) 12/10/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to safe handling of medicines and first aid training. 12/10/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 12/10/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(c)) 12/10/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 30/09/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 4

p.3

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. Children‟s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child‟s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child‟s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child‟s welfare. All

p.4

Recommendations

decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child‟s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The term „equivalent‟ as used in the regulations in relation to qualifications will be a judgement for the registered person based on whether the content of any qualifications held by the individual closely corresponds with the qualifications set out in regulation 28(2)(c) (for managers) or regulation 32(4) (for those in a care role). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.13)

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home‟s records as „living documents‟ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  Staff should be 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 children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 5

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care and support from committed staff who work well with other professionals to make sure that each child makes good progress.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children‟s education and help each child to sustain good school attendance. One child who has recently come to live at the home has been supported to continue to attend her existing school. Staff ensure that she is taken to and picked up from school each day despite there being a distance. This has helped her to maintain important connections and friendships during a time of change. Encouragement from staff and good communication between staff and teachers have helped a child to increase his school attendance and helped him to prepare for sitting his mock exams.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to make progress with their physical health and emotional well-being. The strengthening of relationships between one child and staff is helping him to express himself more easily. As a result, incidents have reduced, and he is more content with his care in the home. Staff work well with the child and adolescent mental health service. Children attend their appointments, and staff actively seek advice about how they can adapt their practice to meet children‟s individual needs.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain existing hobbies including going horse-riding and playing football. One child has recently started going for swimming lessons and has adopted a horse. Another child has had the opportunity to take part in an outward- bound activity holiday with support from the staff. These varied activities enable children to pursue hobbies and interests and at the same time build up their confidence.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop the skills they will need for adult life. Children are helped to open a bank account and are encouraged to save up their pocket money. As part of the daily routines of the household, children are encouraged to keep their bedrooms tidy and to take part in household chores.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff try hard to ensure that the developmental, cultural and linguistic needs of children are met. For example, weekly plans are translated into Italian for one child whose first language is not English. Consultation with children has ensured that favourite dishes, such as cow belly and snails have been added to the menu.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming, clean and tidy environment. Unicorn accessories and a Chelsea football club plaque have been chosen by children to personalise their home. However, despite not being used, unsightly switches to isolate the power to children‟s bedrooms were not removed from the first-floor corridor when the home was refurbished. In addition, a key is needed for the front door, and bushes to the front and rear of the home are becoming overgrown. Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 6

p.5

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

Positive relationships continue to develop between the staff and the children. One child told the inspector, „I watch and can see they care.‟

p.6

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

Children are invited to contribute to meetings about their care. Visits to the home by an advocacy service offer children an opportunity to raise concerns to someone independent of the home.

p.6

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Staff have a good relationship with the police, and information is regularly shared. This helps staff to remain vigilant to the risks posed to children in the immediate area and across the city.

p.6

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

Staff have received training to help them understand their safeguarding responsibilities and are aware of the risks posed to children by the internet, child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation. Direct work with children by staff about these topics raises the children‟s awareness to potential risks and to how to keep themselves safe.

p.6

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

Children‟s behaviour support plans and risk assessments are tailored to their individual needs. Individual incentive schemes encourage children to behave well. For one child, incidents are now rare.

p.6

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

Prior to this inspection, managers recognised that they needed to strengthen the day-to- day oversight of behaviour management practice. Consequently, managers have spent considerable time reviewing records and reflecting with staff on their practice. This is helping the staff team to develop a more consistent approach to behaviour management. However, shortfalls in practice remain. For example, on one occasion a child was not offered a debrief following a physical intervention. On another occasion, a manager did not have a debrief following a physical intervention. This means that managers do not have the full range of information needed to inform learning from significant incidents.

p.6

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

The registered manager has addressed previous shortfalls in safer recruitment practice.

p.6

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

The registered manager and the deputy manager have been away from work for a significant period since the last inspection. As an interim arrangement, an experienced deputy manager from within the organisation has managed the home. The registered manager has recently returned to her post.

p.6

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

Staff told the inspector that they feel supported during the absence of the permanent management team. All staff have had the opportunity of an annual appraisal, and staff have received training in childhood attachment. However, staff, including those within their probationary period, have not had regular one-to-one supervision as set out in the home‟s workforce development plan. In addition, two staff have not received training in Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 7 the safe handling of medicines, and three staff have not received up-to-date training in first aid. Shortfalls in staff support mean that essential opportunities for staff to discuss their professional skills and address developmental needs have been missed.

p.6

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

Reduced management capacity has resulted in shortfalls in the management oversight of the service. Prior to her absence, the registered manager had completed a review of the quality of care. However, this was not sent to the regulator. Managers have not acted to ensure that children are routinely encouraged to reflect on and contribute to their care plans. Despite there being a significant number of physical restraints for one child, managers have not carried out a detailed review of this to determine whether there are any patterns and trends that need to be considered in terms of staff practice. In addition, staff recording is not always complete, managers do not ensure that medication is discarded in a timely manner and there is no written guidance setting out the reasons why staff lock the kitchen during the evening. These shortfalls have an impact on the development of the service.

p.7

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

The registered manager has not yet confirmed whether her qualifications are equivalent to those required by current regulation.

p.7

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.

p.7

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: SC414347 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coventry City Council, Council House, Earl Street, Coventry CV1 5RR

p.8

Inspector

Alison Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC414347 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9