Children's home run by City of Wolverhampton Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 1 SC378153 Registered provider: Wolverhampton City 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 short-break service provides care and accommodation for up to six children. The home provides care for children aged between 10 and 17, who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours. This home is owned by a local authority. The registered manager is suitably qualified.

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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: 19 December 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2018 Full Good 14/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/08/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 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

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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Recommendation

 Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months; also see regulation 13(2)(h) (the leadership and management standard). The registered person should undertake a review that Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 4 focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the Quality Standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress and develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff will go that extra mile to support children to attend health appointments, often outside of their planned stays. This extra help means that children’s health and welfare improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education and work closely with teachers. As a result, children do not miss out on vital learning and understand the importance of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager carefully plans children’s stays to help friendships to develop. This careful planning enables children to enjoy social activities together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to express their views through children’s meetings, key-work sessions and everyday interactions. These opportunities enable children to feel valued and listened to.

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

Managers carefully risk-assess each child’s stay so that children are appropriately placed together. This careful planning means that there are few incidents of children going missing from the home and physical restraint is rarely necessary.

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

Children are helped to engage in programmes of work that help them to increase their understanding of risk. This includes helping children to increase their awareness of the risks associated with knife crime, gangs, the internet and social media. For example, children have had the opportunity to attend a lecture to listen to a published author on the impact of knife crime.

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

Children have informed risk assessments and behaviour plans. However, on occasions the information can be confusing, inaccurate, or is missing vital information. This has the potential for staff to have inconsistent responses to children’s presenting risks. Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experience manager who is committed to providing the best possible service to the children attending the short-break provision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff, including agency and sessional workers, receive reflective supervision. However, the frequency of these meetings is not always in line with the organisation’s policy. As a result, some members of staff do not have regular supervision to enable them to reflect on their care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly reviews the home’s statement of purpose. However, the manager had forgotten to send the revised copy to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has several monitoring systems in place. The manager’s report on the quality of care does not show the impact the service has on improving children’s outcomes. This lack of analysis represents a missed opportunity for the manager to produce evidence that shows the difference the service makes in improving children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a variety of training opportunities to increase their knowledge. As a result, staff have the skills and knowledge to care for the children in a residential setting.

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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: SC378153 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wolverhampton City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, St. Peters Square, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 1SH

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC378153 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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