Children's Home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 1 SC066747 Registered provider: Sheffield 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

The home is owned and operated by a local authority. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children or young people who may have emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. The manager is currently in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager has a recognised qualification in leadership and management.

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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 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: 12 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/11/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the needs of young people admitted to the home must be able to be met, in addition to the needs of young people who are already in residence. Overall, the young people must have a positive experience. 28/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1) (a)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all identified aims and goals must be completed by undertaking direct work with the young people. This must be in line with all the areas set out in their care plans, which must be updated when plans for the young people’s futures change. The plans must also reflect the aims of the home’s statement of 28/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 4 purpose.

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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. 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) In particular, ensure that all areas in the home are decorated and furnished to a good standard. Repair or replace all fixtures and fittings that have been damaged.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph

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Recommendations

10.11) In particular, ensure that all staff complete training within the stipulated timescale. Training should cover behaviour management, the use of restraint, fire safety and first aid. A record should be kept of all training undertaken.  Those with a leadership and/or management role should be visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. Any registered manager employed in the home should have sufficient capacity to ensure that the quality standards are met for each child in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7) In particular, staff communication systems should be robust. This includes holding regular staff meetings to improve the quality of care delivered to the young people.

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improvement to be good

The young people have made variable progress while living at the home. They have built positive and trusting relationships with the staff. Aspects of the young people’s health have improved as they have attended check-ups and other essential health appointments. The staff constantly encourage the young people to engage in education, with mixed success. Some young people are not routinely attending education placements. Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 5 The young people present complex and challenging behaviours that reflect their traumatic early life experiences. The staff work tirelessly to manage the young people’s anger and emotions. The staff work collaboratively alongside a clinical psychologist and other professionals. Long-term work assists the young people to become emotionally stable and resilient. This work is ongoing and will take time before progress can be consistently observed.

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improvement to be good

Despite staff attempts to manage the very complex needs of young people, there have been serious incidents of aggression, violence and significant damage to the home. The mix of young people in the home is a further contributory factor. In addition, there have been changes in the staff team. Therefore, the daily life experiences of the young people have been unsettled and disorderly. These negative experiences have significantly reduced in the month prior to the inspection.

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improvement to be good

The individual care plans for the young people set out the support and care to be provided to each young person. However, some of the plans had information missing and some areas of direct work to be undertaken had not been completed. Some young people had not received the support and guidance required in specified areas. A young person did not have a clearly recorded plan for their future move. This was not conforming to the home’s statement of purpose.

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improvement to be good

The environment has been extensively damaged. The staff have responded quickly to repair damage. The home is clean and satisfactorily maintained. Some communal rooms and bedrooms are personalised. Work is planned to fully restore and personalise the living environment to a high standard. Parts of the home are still showing signs of wear and tear, including damage to the paintwork.

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improvement to be good

Organised social and leisure activities bring new and enjoyable experiences for the young people. These include going to the cinema, playing board games, playing crazy golf, going out for day trips, and socialising with friends. Carrying out age-appropriate activities improves social skills and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

The young people are routinely supported and involved in gaining independent life skills, appropriate to their age and understanding. A young person said: ‘I helped to cook tea last night. We all clean and keep our bedrooms tidy.’

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

The young people are safe. This is achieved through the staff knowing each young person well, being clear about their individual vulnerabilities and the specific risks posed. The staff also use clear strategies and actions which are set out in up-to-date written risk assessments. The young people’s risk-taking behaviour is reducing due to the implementation of clear rules, boundaries and strategies. This helps to keep young people safer. Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 6 When missing-from-home incidents occur, individual protocols are followed by the staff. Prompt action is taken to find the young people. The staff work closely with the police to promote keeping the young people safe from harm.

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

The staff promote positive behaviour. After a period of time when there have been a high number of significantly challenging incidents, the continued reinforcement of acceptable behaviour has started to take effect. The use of clear boundaries, redirection and diversion techniques has assisted in diffusing negative behaviour. In addition, a restorative approach further emphasises good, socially appropriate behaviour. The result of this is demonstrated in the low number of sanctions and physical interventions used against the young people.

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

A new manager is in post as the home has changed its purpose and function. She is currently in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager has a wealth of experience of working with children and young people. She holds a social work qualification and management qualification.

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

There have been changes to the staff team since the last inspection. The staff are experienced and skilled. They demonstrate an awareness of the needs of the young people in their care. However, it has taken time for the new staff team to be cohesive and provide consistent care and boundaries for the young people.

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

The staff have responded with support when the young people are in crisis and presenting challenging behaviour for a prolonged period. However, this approach has disrupted the regular communication between staff. For example, staff meetings have not been routinely taking place. This has had a negative impact on the team’s ability to introduce consistent care, boundaries and rules. The management team has recognised these shortfalls and made recent changes to address these deficits.

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

The requirement and recommendation made at the last inspection have not been actioned. There continues to be a shortfall in the matching process for the admission of young people to the home. The needs of new individuals conflict with the needs of other young people already living in the home. A staff member has not received the physical intervention training.

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

Collaborative working with professionals is taking place. These include social workers, the police and the support staff who deal with children who are sexually exploited. A professional said: ‘The staff come with a solution focus to care for [Name of young person]. I could not ask for more.’ The home has recruited a full-time psychologist and a speech and language therapist who start working at the home in October. The delay in their appointments has not helped in the full delivery of the home’s new statement of purpose.

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

Monitoring of the home includes the monthly independent regulation 44 visits and audits Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 7 undertaken by the manager and the senior team. Generally, the monitoring systems do detect most shortfalls in the service. Action has been taken to rectify crucial deficits.

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

Those staff interviewed during the inspection say that they work in a supportive environment. Their main strengths are that they are committed and child-centred in their approach to caring for the young people. The staff are working hard to develop a unified team. The staff receive regular formal supervision. This assists in maintaining positive morale and helps to focus on how to improve the quality of care.

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

Most of the staff hold a level 3 qualification to work with children and young people. The staff have undertaken mandatory training. However, there are shortfalls in some areas of staff training. Not all the staff are recorded as completing training in relation to fire safety, first aid and how to carry out physical interventions. This falls short of the home’s statement of purpose, which states that all staff will undertake this training .

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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: SC066747 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Debbie Foster: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 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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