Children's home run by Suffolk County Council in Ipswich

Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 1 SC038761 Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to six children aged between eight and 17. Children placed at the home will usually have some form of social, emotional or behavioural difficulty and may have suffered from severe trauma. The home can also accommodate children who have additional needs when these have been properly assessed, such as autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, self-harming behaviours, substance misuse issues and mental health needs. The manager has been registered for this home since July 2019.

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 good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/07/2018 Full Good 02/08/2017 Full Good 29/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 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—

p.3

Requirement Due date

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—

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(d)) 31/03/2020

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children well and provide good individualised care. This helps the children to make progress while they are living at the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have very good relationships with the staff. A placing social worker spoke about how much their child enjoys living at the home and how good his relationships with the staff are. The quality of these relationships helps the children to feel cared for.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress in their education, which will improve their chances in later life. The manager and staff work with other agencies to try and get the children the right education placements. A representative of the virtual school said that the manager and staff advocate strongly for children and that getting education for children is one of the strengths of the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to the children and act on their views so that they can be involved in the plans and decisions about their lives. This includes views about seeing family members, religion and beliefs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to prepare for living more independently. There is a flat in the home and living in it has helped one child to prepare well for his move on from the home next Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 4 year. His social worker said that he has done really well and is ready for the move.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

If children are not ready for independence, staff help them to take a step back and get to a place where they are more able to move on again. By responding to children’s individual needs and working at their pace, staff reduce the risks of children feeling that they have failed, and support them to move forwards at a pace that they can manage.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to take part in community activities which will boost their self- confidence and give them opportunities to enjoy themselves. These include taking part in football, rugby and karate. Staff also provide children with enjoyable family-like activities at the home to help them form appropriate relationships and build positive memories of their time there.

p.4

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

Staff understand, identify and manage risks well. They link the children’s risk assessments with the home’s location risk assessment. In this way, they help to make the children safer in general and in the area of the home.

p.4

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

Staff respond appropriately when children go missing from the home, which helps to protect them. They also support children who self-harm. A social worker said that it is really good that her child can speak to staff about self-harm, because he trusts them.

p.4

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

There have been times when one child has become violent and targeted another child. The manager and staff have recognised the potential impact of this on the victim. They have taken firm action to deal with this and recently it has stopped. The manager understands the importance of continuing to monitor this.

p.4

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

The staff have good relationships with the children. This helps staff to work well with the children to manage their behaviour effectively. The staff use restorative work to help the children to understand the impact of their behaviour.

p.4

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

The manager and staff have good relationships with the local police and youth justice service. Representatives from both these services spoke about how well the staff work with them and support the children. These effective relationships help to make sure that children get the support that they need and are not criminalised unnecessarily.

p.4

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

The manager and staff are good at identifying possible safeguarding matters and working with other agencies. They make sure that safeguarding referrals are made when necessary, which helps to protect children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 5 The manager knows the children very well and understands their needs and the progress that they are making. Managers and staff care about the children and want them to do well.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He uses an effective quality assurance process. Through this, he has identified areas of development and taken action to address them. This helps to keep the standard of care for children at a good level.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have good working relationships with other agencies. They advocate for children when needed to make sure that they get good care and the support that they need. Outside agencies spoke positively about the manager and staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff promote children’s identity and individuality. They listen to children’s views on these subjects and support them to choose how they live their lives. This helps the children to develop their sense of identity.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the last inspection, a requirement was made about making sure that there are enough staff working at the home. The manager and senior managers have been working to address this. There has been an increase in staff. However, despite these efforts, there are still not enough staff to cover all the shifts at the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The existing staff team is highly committed and is working additional hours to make sure that the children have consistent care from people they know. However, working these additional hours for extended periods places stress on individual staff and the team as a whole. Managers know that this is something that they need to continue to try and address.

p.5

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.5

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: SC038761 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX

p.6

Inspector

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038761 7 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.6

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.7

Inspector

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

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7