Children's home run by Calderdale Council in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 1 SC034953 Registered provider: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to five children or young people aged 12 to 18 years. Care is provided for children and young people who need a stable placement until they can achieve independence or until their 18th birthday. The home also accommodates children and young people who are in the process of being reunited with their families or carers. The manager is new in post and is not yet registered with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/07/2019 Full Inadequate 04/12/2018 Full Outstanding 17/10/2017 Full Outstanding 09/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 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, 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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 6(2)(a)) In particular, ensure that all staff are trained in all listed therapy models and they use them consistently in their practice and in line with the statement of purpose. 31/1/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2)) 15/11/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2)(b)) In particular, ensure that regular fire drills take place and a record is kept of the children and staff who have taken part. 15/11/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; 15/11/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 4 a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

p.3

Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, and due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10) In particular, the staff should ensure that children’s plans are written in a format that is appropriate to the age and understanding of each child.  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15) In particular, develop and evidence structured activities for children to enable them to maintain a positive daily routine when they are not in education.

p.4

improvement to be good

The children’s experience of care is improving, and some children are starting to make progress in areas where they previously were not. The improvements to care and progress are very new, and the sustainability of the changes cannot be fully evidenced at this inspection. The staff are continually working on strengthening their relationships with the children. The staff are building connections with each child so that they can support them through challenges and help the children to make continuous progress. The children enjoy spending time with the staff and the children are motivated to join in outings with them. During the summer, the children have enjoyed a range of activities, such as a holiday where they experienced a water obstacle course, go-karting and jet-skiing. Some of the children have good attendance at school. Other children do not have good attendance, or they are excluded from education. The staff are starting to explore the

p.4

improvement to be good

Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 5 reasons why there are barriers to some children’s education. Some children’s daily routine is affected negatively by the nonattendance at school. New daily activity planners are in place to provide structure to the children’s day. The activity planners are new and the effectiveness cannot yet be monitored. Some children have accessed medical appointments for the first time with staff support. The staff make ongoing efforts to motivate other children to obtain medical attention. The attempts made by staff are not always successful. Some of the children’s substance misuse is reducing. The children benefit from accessing specialist services to improve their physical and emotional well-being. The staff help the children to build positive relationships with their families, creating good support networks for when the children leave this home. The creation of photograph memory books is providing the children with praise for their

p.5

improvement to be good

achievements and it provides them with positive memories of special times here. The children’s opinions are regularly sought, and the children influence the running of the home. The children’s daily recordings and plans are not always written in a way that the children can understand.

p.5

improvement to be good

The steps taken to improve the safety for children are having a positive impact. It is too soon to fully assess the sustainability of the changes. The number of missing from home incidents for one child has recently decreased because of external influences, and for another child the number of missing incidents has increased. When the children go missing from home, the staff work closely with the police to search for the children. The staff have used activities over the summer period to positively influence a reduction in incidents, though improvements have not been sustained. The children’s risk assessments are regularly updated providing staff with clear actions to manage risk. The staff use positive techniques to redirect challenging behaviour and physical intervention is not used. Individualised work sessions are carried out with the children after significant incidents to educate them about dangers and to help reduce

p.5

improvement to be good

future risks. The staff regularly update their knowledge of safeguarding practice. Recently, the staff have completed training courses around safeguarding. The training is helping the staff to identify the signs of risk to the children. The staff’s learning is now being embedded into practice. Fire alarm test recordings do not evidence how frequently the children are involved in fire practices. Consequently, any issues that the children have with evacuating the premises could be missed, potentially delaying their escape time. Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 6

p.5

good

The manager is still very new in post and has been off work due to unforeseen circumstances. The manager is developing good relationships with the children and her staff team. The manager is well supported by a new responsible individual. The responsible individual and the manager are ambitious to improve the quality of care and embed the new changes into staff practice. The manager and the responsible individual are developing a strong oversight of the service, which is giving them a sound understanding of the strengths of the service and areas for development. The manager recognises that there are still improvements to be made to the delivery of care. She is improving the staff practice through supervisions and reflective team meetings. There are three models of therapeutic practice detailed in the statement of purpose. Staff are not trained to deliver all three therapeutic models. This lack of training results

p.6

good

in the models of therapeutic practice not being consistently used when working with the children. Notification of significant events is inconsistent. The inconsistency hinders the regulatory body in monitoring safeguarding practice. The manager’s review of the premises does not demonstrate fully the information that the manager receives from other services. Consequently, some risks in the local area that could affect the children are not fully addressed in the review. The staff team feels well supported by the registered manager. The staff receive regular supervision which is helping them to improve the way that they care for the children and it is providing time to address any practice issues. The manager is improving the quality of the relationships with other professionals. The improved communication with other services, such as schools, is ensuring that the children receive the support that they need.

p.6

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.6

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 Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 7 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: SC034953 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Calderdale School Effectiveness Service, 2nd Floor, Westgate House, Westgate, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 1PS

p.8

Inspector

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034953 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