Children's Home run by Norfolk County Council in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 1 SC463902 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to four children who have experienced trauma that has left them vulnerable. These children have specific needs, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2013.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 17 to 18 December 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 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2019 Full Good 19/09/2017 Full Outstanding 24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 2

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(xi)) 20/01/2020

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, repair the broken window restrictors, garage door, damaged walls and window frames. 20/01/2020

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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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 20/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes 20/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 3 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). (Regulation 46 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, include risks related to accessing the home’s roof and risks related to the criminal exploitation of children.

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Recommendations

 Any home using monitoring equipment should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with Regulation 24. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a good home. Experienced and knowledgeable staff provide the children with considered and compassionate care. Outreach support is provided to children who have left the home. This enables those children to retain a sense of belonging and remain connected to people who have played an important part in their lives. Maintaining contact helps the children who have left the home to successfully navigate their new- found independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s engagement in education. Staff promote children’s attendance and provide opportunities for children to receive tutoring at the home. When children refuse to attend education, the staff work collaboratively with relevant professionals to try to re-engage the child. This prevents the children from missing out on learning and promotes their educational attainment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a range of opportunities for children to engage in. However, due to the ages of some of the children, these opportunities are not always taken up. Children have been camping and have attended firework displays and Halloween events in the local community. They have been taken to a Pride celebration and the staff have supported children’s exploration of their sexual orientation and gender expression exceptionally well. This enables the children to gain acceptance and seek the information that they need without fear of judgement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Specialist help is provided to children who require therapeutic support. One child who was resistant to therapy now engages regularly. A social worker said, ‘Prior to living at this home, he did not have a school. He was not engaging in therapy and he had multiple placements. He has maintained this placement for a long period despite a lot of challenges and pushing back from him. The staff have committed to him and he senses Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 4 that.’ This specialist help and support help to improve children’s sense of well-being and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Practice is underpinned by theoretical approaches that are understood by the whole team. Staff have attended training and use a particular model in their work with children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviours. This approach helps the children to reduce risk and take accountability.

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

There are well-coordinated responses to children who go missing from care. The staff follow the children’s protocols. The staff work effectively with the police to promote the children’s safe return home. There is a concern for some children as their whereabouts and activities when missing are not always known. Some children are thought to be involved in criminal exploitation. Currently, the staff are working with a number of external professionals to address these concerns.

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

The staff have proactive and effective working relationships with other professionals and agencies. External professionals consistently said that the staff’s ability to work collaboratively with others is a distinct strength of the home. This ensures that the needs of the children are continually reviewed and worked towards.

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

The staff are not risk-averse. They assess risk well and consider the consequences. This enables the children to take measured risks that result in benefits to their development and understanding.

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

Restraint is infrequent. However, when necessary, it is used proportionately. On occasion, children have displayed difficult and destructive behaviours that have led to significant damage to the home. The staff have not always been able to de-escalate these behaviours effectively. This has led to police intervention. The staff have missed opportunities to set boundaries to contain difficult behaviours.

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

The location risk assessment does not assess in sufficient detail the risks posed by the local and immediate area. The potential risks relating to the criminal exploitation of children and strangers accessing the site are not fully considered. Some children are at high risk of criminal exploitation. The location risk assessment fails to fully address these issues. Children have accessed the home’s roof. However, there is no information in the location risk assessment about this. This leaves staff without clear guidance on how to respond to such risks.

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

Door alarms are in use throughout the day and night and are activated when children enter or exit their bedrooms. Although these are in place to protect the children, there is no policy to determine the use of monitoring and no review of whether the monitoring remains proportionate and required. Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has the appropriate skills and experience to run the home effectively. She challenges other professionals tenaciously when she believes that children’s needs are not being met. The manager has an ambitious vision for the home and high expectations of the care that the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff spoke highly of the manager and said that they feel fully supported by her. Supervision is child-focused and drives professional development. Additional clinical supervision has enhanced staff’s practice, which improves the way that the staff work with the children. All staff have received an annual appraisal.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training opportunities are good. Opportunities to learn exceed the organisation’s mandatory training requirements. This ensures that staff meet the specific needs of the children for whom they are responsible. The staff work collaboratively and are well established. This provides children with consistency and stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has sustained a great deal of damage. Despite the manager’s frequent requests for the damage to be repaired, issues related to the wider organisation have led to significant delays in the repairs being carried out. This detracts from a homely feel and has compromised safeguards. A bedroom window had a broken restrictor. There have been issues at the home involving children getting out of their windows to access the roof. Therefore, this foreseeable risk was insufficiently managed and responded to. Repair works are now underway. However, the delay to complete these works is not good enough.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Mostly, the manager assesses new admissions to the home thoroughly. However, one child, who was at high risk, was admitted when another child was in a period of unsettlement. The manager raised concerns with senior management about the placement. However, despite these concerns and the potential impact that the admission could have on the children who were already living at the home, the admission was accepted. Within four days, the placement broke down due to behaviours that required police involvement and charges were made against two children. This poor matching compromised the safety of all of the children.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC463902 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Norfolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Lianne Bradford, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC463902 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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