Children's Home run by Nottinghamshire YMCA in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 1 SC444681 Registered provider: Nottinghamshire YMCA

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a local charitable organisation. It provides care for up to three children and young people who are experiencing emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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: 11 December 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2018 Full Outstanding 24/10/2017 Full Outstanding 13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided and supported to make choices about nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  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 registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that

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Recommendations

the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care sets out the steps local authorities and their partners should take to prevent children from going missing and to protect them when they do go missing. Children’s homes should have regard to the relevant aspects of this guidance. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.25)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all their staff have been adequately trained in the principles of restraint and any restraint techniques appropriate to the needs of the children the home is set up to care for as defined in the home’s Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.57) Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. With specific reference to self-harm and suicide training. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer

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Recommendations

to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process: Children’s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children’s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came in to effect in January and April 2014. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home has a very settled group of young people. There have been no new young people admitted to the home since the last full inspection. Young people enjoy medium- to long-term care, with support provided by a staff team that knows their needs very well. This provides the foundation for young people to develop and progress. Young people are positive about staff. They describe warm and trusting relationships. Staff are positive role models, who teach young people how to develop healthy relationships. Education is a priority in this home. Young people attend education provision which meets their individual needs, and mainstream schools. Some young people progress to achieve their individual potential. However, some young people have not attended education within a school. In this case, managers do not always ensure that there is effective challenge to the local authority when young people are not in full-time

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

education. Young people are generally in good health. They receive primary healthcare, including routine health appointments. Staff refer specialist health needs to relevant agencies. However, staff do not always encourage healthy diets and daily activities to support good health. This does promote long-term good health. Staff work with partner agencies effectively. They understand their role of working with the wider multi-agency team of professionals. Multi-disciplinary work ensures that young people have their needs assessed, monitored and reviewed. Young people benefit from an assessed package of education to develop strong independent living skills. Staff teach and assess these skills throughout the placements. Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 5 This means that young people leave the home with the skills and knowledge essential for successful independence.

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

Safeguarding practice is good. Professionals confirm that young people become increasingly safe because of the care and support from the staff team. Young people say that they feel safe and staff teach them to keep themselves safe. Behaviour management is a strength of this home. Excellent communication means that young people can express their feelings. Staff have sound skills in de-escalation. There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. This reflects excellent work in supporting young people to self-regulate their emotions and behaviours. Young people rarely go missing from this home. Managers and staff have clarity about the actions to be taken if a young person is missing. However, on one occasion the on- call manager failed to follow appropriate procedures. This caused a delay in locating the young person. Disciplinary action was taken as result of this omission. The registered manager ensures that local authorities conduct return home interviews.

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

However, records of these interviews are not obtained. This means that staff cannot fully understand the reasons for young people going missing from the home. A programme of safeguarding training has enabled staff to have a broad knowledge of relevant safeguarding risks. Staff seek advice and guidance about child-specific risks. However, the staff team requires self-harm and suicide prevention training. This would provide a more detailed understanding of recognising and managing potential risks to young people. The home has an up-to-date locality risk assessment. The registered manager has consulted with stakeholders and relevant agencies. However, the feedback is very limited. It fails to outline the known risk factors within the wider community and strategies to manage risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership and management arrangements for this home are very good. The registered manager is suitably qualified and a highly experienced manager. She manages two children’s homes which are in close proximity to each other. She is supported by a skilled and knowledgeable assistant manager. This ensures the effective management of both homes, and promotes improved outcomes for each young person. The registered manager is respected by her staff team and the young people. They commend her on her hard work to maintain high standards. She has been fully supported by the committed team. Staff receive regular supervision, appraisals, relevant training and inductions. Staff say that they always have the support of managers and the wider staff team. This is especially important for the new team members. Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 6 There are a range of quality assurance mechanisms in place. The manager’s review of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

quality of care is informative and sent to Ofsted every six months. Partnership work with placing authorities is very positive. Social workers, independent reviewing officers, education providers and the police commend the work of this home. They confirm improved outcomes for young people. This inspection identified some shortfalls. The registered manager understands what actions are required to address areas of weakness.

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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: SC444681 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nottinghamshire YMCA

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: YMCA, 4 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 4FG

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Inspector

Amanda Ellis, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC444681 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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