Children's Home run by Blackpool Borough Council in Blackpool

Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 1 SC033611 Registered provider: Blackpool 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 children’s home is operated by a local authority. It provides short-break care for disabled children. Up to seven children and young people can attend at any one time. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 29 children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has managed the home for almost three years.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 November 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 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: 13 December 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2018 Full Outstanding 13/12/2017 Full Outstanding 21/02/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 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

Ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(c)) 20/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s home is a homely environment that meets the needs of children and that it complies with relevant health and safety legislation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that the log cabin floor is repaired, enabling children to access this area of the home.  Ensure that each child’s day to day health and well-being needs are met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3) In particular, ensure that the child’s short break plan contains details of their daily routine and medication needs without the need to cross reference to other documents in the home.  Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

In particular, staff should access training on children’s mental health and self- injurious behaviour.  Ensure that best use is made of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  Ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13) Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from attending for short breaks at this child-centred service. It makes a positive difference to their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Referrals receive careful consideration, ensuring that the service is appropriate. Detailed information informs the decision-making process. This includes staff visiting the child at home, so that they can get to know the child and learn more about their circumstances. This is followed by a series of tea-time visits to the home, so that the child becomes comfortable with their surroundings, prior to proceeding to an overnight stay. Children keep a box of their personal possessions at the home, so that staff can place these in their rooms prior to their stay. These familiar things help children settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a helpful child-friendly guide to the home prior to their stay. Similarly, parents receive a helpful ‘parents’ guide’, making it clear what the home expects from them and what the service has to offer in return. Thus, everyone is clear about their responsibilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have an in-depth understanding of each child’s needs. Children benefit from highly individualised care, ensuring that their needs are met. This makes visits to the service a happy, safe and enjoyable experience. Children benefit from short break plans, outlining their needs, routines and likes and dislikes. However, sometimes this involves having to cross reference with other documents in the home, which can make things more complicated than they need to be.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming and well resourced. There is plenty of room for children to play both inside and outside of the home. They have access to a sensory room, electronic tablets, a trampoline, swing and a sensory garden. However, unfortunately the log cabin that houses the ball pool is currently not accessible, due to the flooring being unstable. This has been the situation for approaching 12 months. In a recent consultation exercise with the children, this was raised by them as an area for improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to make their own choices about what activities they wish to engage in. For some, this means repeating the same short list of activities, but others are eager to broaden their horizons and try new activities in the local community. These include trips to the park, a walk on the promenade or a ride on a tram. The home has recently purchased an accessible vehicle, making trips further afield possible. Some children were able to enjoy a short break to a caravan park over the summer. As a result, improvements are evident in children’s social skills, self-confidence and independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A range of communication aids help facilitate communication with children who are non- verbal. These include electronic communication devices and a picture exchange Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 5 communication system. Staff also skilfully interpret children’s body language.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication with children’s parents is good. They receive regular updates about their child’s progress, and staff contact them if they are at all concerned about the child during their stay. Parents receive encouragement to contribute to the development of the service and they receive a seasonal newsletter to update them about developments in the home. A recent consultation exercise with parents has resulted in very positive feedback. One parent commented, ‘This service is a life line for us as a family. They give us the break that we desperately need.’

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

Staff ensure that the home is a safe and supportive environment for children to stay in. Staff have a thorough understanding of children’s complex health needs and vulnerabilities. Good staffing ratios mean that there is always someone on hand to promote children’s safety.

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

Risk assessments and behaviour support plans help to ensure that children are kept safe. Staff provide support when children become upset and their behaviour becomes unsafe. However, staff can de-escalate most incidents of challenging behaviour, diverting the child to another activity. Staff record all incidents that involve a physical intervention, although these are rare. The registered manager reviews these records to see whether there are learning points and whether any amendments to support plans are needed.

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

Staff are alert to safeguarding concerns and refer issues promptly. One social worker commented, ‘I know that safeguarding is always at the forefront of their minds.’ Effective partnership working with social workers and schools enhances children’s safety.

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

Staff engage in activities with children to help them learn how to keep themselves safe. It was anti-bullying week at the time of the inspection. Staff were promoting ‘odd sock day’, encouraging children to celebrate their individuality. Staff had purchased numerous pairs of socks for this occasion and completed a display in the home. Such interactive activities help children learn and remember.

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

Regular health and safety checks in the home ensure that it is a safe place to stay. High importance is given to ensuring that children are prepared for and able to evacuate the home in the event of an emergency. Staff have produced an interactive booklet about fire drills, which includes a press button which replicates the sound of the fire alarm. Children enjoy playing with the booklet and it ensures that they are familiar with the sound of the alarm. This also helps to reduce their anxiety when the alarm does sound. A pictorial evacuation plan has also been developed. Staff ensure that children regularly take part in a fire drill and practise occasional evacuations in night-time conditions, to ensure that everyone can leave the home safely, if need be.

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

A limited amount of staff recruitment has been necessary since the last inspection, as the staff team is very stable. However, all new staff are subject to a rigorous vetting Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 6 procedure, ensuring that only suitable individuals work in the home. Some staff have worked in the home for many years and know the children extremely well. This helps them pick up any subtle changes in children’s behaviour, and they alert other professionals if necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She worked in the home prior to her appointment as manager, so knows the staff and children well. She is passionate about improving the life chances for the children who use the service. However, for a period of three months, earlier this year, she was also responsible for managing another residential provision for the local authority. These additional demands had an impact on the completion of managerial tasks at this setting. She is still catching up with the auditing of records, and several issues, which she would have identified by routine auditing, have been picked up at this inspection. These include a medication recording error and a discrepancy between the fire drill log and the actual evacuation record. Similarly, the manager’s absence has resulted in a delay in making safeguarding notifications to Ofsted, hindering Ofsted’s ability to review whether appropriate action

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

has been taken. Recommendations are made to ensure that these matters are prioritised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior staff in the home are similarly well qualified and experienced. They were able to ensure that the routine of the home was not disrupted when the manager was not present. However, gaps in their formal supervision were evident during this period, although this is now rectified. While staff have benefited from an annual performance appraisal, the registered manager has not had an appraisal for over two years. This appears to have been overlooked due to frequent changes in senior management at the council. Appraisal provides an important opportunity for an individual to reflect on their practice and consider personal targets for the year ahead.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a visible, approachable and motivational leader. She empowers and encourages her staff. Staff routinely take on an additional responsibility, reflecting their skills and interests. This keeps staff motivated and ensures that things are done.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a range of core training, giving them a sound skill set. However, due to the changing needs of children attending the service, staff would benefit from training in the management of self-injurious behaviour and children’s mental health. This would give them a better understanding of these matters and how best to approach them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the service’s strengths and areas for improvement. She has a dynamic development plan and has recently completed a consultation exercise with staff and parents to seek their views about how to improve the service. The two recommendations resulting from the last inspection have both been actioned. She is a reflective and proactive manager. Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 7 The manager and staff have good working relationships with young people’s families and other professionals. However, they will challenge other professionals when they need to. Social workers and parents spoken to during the inspection were very positive about the commitment of staff and the positive difference the service makes to children. The manager and staff are frequently described as ‘going the extra mile’.

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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: SC033611 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Building, PO Box 50, Blackpool FY1 1NF

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Inspector

Mandy Williams, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033611 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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