Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 1 Registered provider: City of Bradford Metropolitan District 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 home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people. It specialises in placements for children and young people who have experienced placement disruptions in mainstream homes.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 17 to 18 September 2019

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 13 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have positive relationships with the staff. The staff are approachable, patient and know the children well and consequently, children and young people feel safe to discuss any concerns with a trusted adult.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children and young people are making progress as a result of the support from staff at the home. They attend school full time and are in placements which are meeting their educational needs. Their plans are reviewed to capture the progress they are making in education. One young person has not engaged with the staff and is not in education. The staff have made great efforts to engage the young person and have facilitated education at home, but this has not been successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are able to take part in a range of activities, both in and out of the home. A music teacher comes in once a week so that the children and young people can learn to play the drum, guitar and ukulele. Children and young people are able to go to Explorers, Girl Guides and Cadets. This is providing the children and young people with the opportunity to learn new skills and make age-appropriate friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of the children and young people are a priority for staff. Health reviews take place within timescales and children attend their routine health appointments, leading to better overall health and well-being. One young person has refused to engage with health appointments despite the support and encouragement of staff. To resolve this, a specialist nurse attended the home to undertake a health review and was successful in engaging the young person. This means that any health needs are identified and any issues addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people also benefit from the support of a psychologist, speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist. This means that children and young people are helped with their emotional development and communication, and are encouraged to develop their life skills. The staff also benefit from the additional input and learn new strategies for responding to children’s and young people’s complex behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Records do not always provide sufficient detail to understand and analyse risk. This can lead to staff having a limited understanding of individual risk and can expose children and young people to the risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

A disclosure made by a child led to a police investigation which is ongoing. Staff did not follow police advice and these actions may have compromised the police investigation and left children vulnerable. However, the provider did have a rationale for its decision- making and staff have since implemented one-to-one supervision, which has minimised Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 4 ongoing risks.

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improvement to be good

Allegations against staff have not always been followed up in line with the home’s policy. Staff have not always reported concerns to the on-call manager when working outside of office hours. This led to a delay in the provider taking timely action to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people can access support from outside agencies, including child mental health services, to improve their overall mental health and emotional well-being. One child has been engaging with these services for a significant period of time, but staff have not received any assessment of their needs or information about their progress. This means that the risk assessments and plans cannot be updated appropriately, and their needs may not be met.

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improvement to be good

The overall behaviour of the children and young people has improved. Episodes of one young person going missing or being away without authorisation have reduced. There are no concerns that children and young people are at risk of sexual exploitation outside the home.

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

There have been two changes of manager since the last inspection. At the time of the inspection, the current acting manager had been in post formally for only two days and she has plans to apply to become the registered manager. Staff report that this has been a difficult period and has created inconsistency in managing the home, which was reflected in the acting manager’s lack of access to some records.

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

There have been staff shortages as a result of sickness and acting-up opportunities. These vacancies have been partly filled by casual and agency staff. This has led to inconsistencies in the care for children and young people. An agency staff member bought clothing for a child which was not appropriate for their age, culture or religion.

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

Supervision takes place but does not always address important practice-related issues. After an incident where procedure was not followed there was no evidence of this being discussed in supervision with the staff member. This hinders staff development and means that areas of poor practice are not addressed.

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

The recording systems in the home are not of a good enough standard. Recordings are often judgemental, making assumptions about children and young people. In some cases, they suggest children are not being honest when disclosing abuse. Records are inconsistent and inaccurate, which leaves gaps in essential information and events unclear. A serious incident involving a child was not recorded and there is no written record in shift handovers. This could have compromised the safety of the child and their ongoing well-being.

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

Leaders and managers do not have systems in place to evaluate and monitor the care received by children and young people. There are inconsistencies in written evidence to Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 5 demonstrate their decision-making. In addition, when incidents have occurred, there is a lack of management oversight. This means that any failure to follow correct procedures is not identified and dealt with. Notifications of serious events do not contain enough detail to accurately assess the concerns or understand how they are being addressed.

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

At the time of the inspection, the current manager has been in post for two days and she is working towards achieving the level 5 qualification. She is passionate and has aspirations for the children and young people as well as the staff team but does not have a good understanding of the inspection framework and associated guidance for inspection. She worked at the home prior to commencing the role of acting manager and she is well supported by the management, staff and the children and young people. One young person described her as ‘an amazing woman’. The acting manager has identified areas for improvement, which will enhance the care offered to children and young people at the home.

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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 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.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that staff are aware of all areas of the child’s mental health care and able to update their plans to ensure that 18/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 6 they have appropriate support.

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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—

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any disclosures from children are given due consideration by the staff team as well as being investigated fully. 18/10/2019

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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. 18/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(d)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that the manager and staff have a good understanding of the quality standards and other Ofsted frameworks relating to caring for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children’s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular that any temporary staff are knowledgeable about appropriate care based on a child’s age, cultural and religious needs. 18/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, for the registered manager to ensure that any notification contains an appropriate level of detail so that the events can be understood. 18/10/2019

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Recommendations

 Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  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 the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In addition, ensure that the manager has access to all

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Recommendations

records relating to children and any investigations. Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 8

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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: 1271666 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1HY

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Inspectors

Deb Duffy, social care inspector Parveen Hussain, social care regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: 1271666 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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