Children's home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Staffordshire Moorlands

Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 1 SC043697 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited

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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 is a private children’s home registered for up to seven children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home offers education on site at a registered school.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Full Good 13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 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— that staff—

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 28/02/2020

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 28/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 4 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(2)(f)(h)) Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child); serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

and receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 28/02/2020

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Recommendations

 Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 5  Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13) In particular, key-working sessions should be planned and in accordance

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improvement to be good

Children spoken to during the inspection said that they have good relationships with staff and feel cared for. Children confirmed that they spend time individually with staff and feel listened to. This has led to children forming some positive attachments to staff. One child said, ‘The house is really good and I like how the staff respect us.’

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, two children have left the home. Notice was served by the provider on one placement. A foster placement had been identified for the child, but due to the foster carer’s ill health the move was not able to go ahead as planned. This led to a deterioration in the child’s behaviour, following a period of stability and good progress. One child has successfully moved to a foster placement and another child is preparing for a move back to their family.

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improvement to be good

Staff work proactively with schools and education professionals and where possible children are supported to reintegrate back into mainstream education. All the children are making good progress from their initial starting points.

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improvement to be good

Staff meet regularly with the onsite clinical team to discuss children’s presenting needs. This provides the staff with the opportunity to address any areas of concern relating to the children’s emotional well-being. As a result, one child has felt emotionally safe with the staff to disclose previous life events. This has led to specific therapeutic support being sourced and put in place for the child.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from the routine and boundaries that staff establish within the home. However, the majority of key-work sessions with children are not planned or measured for their impact on children’s identified areas of need. The manager is aware of this and plans to address this shortfall. Some children have been affected by the high staff turnover and lack of managerial presence. This has led to an increase in physical interventions and incidents for some children.

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improvement to be good

Children are given the opportunity to enjoy a range of community-based activities, such as Scouts, Brownies, gymnastics and swimming. This provides them with the opportunity to improve their social interactions and make friends. Children are fully supported to see their family members. Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 6

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improvement to be good

There have been a number of safeguarding incidents, and in some instances, staff have not followed children’s individual risk-management plans. For example, a child went missing from the home for three hours before staff realised he was missing. On another occasion, a child was able to inappropriately touch another child due to the lack of supervision by staff.

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improvement to be good

A child made an allegation about a member of staff. However, managers did not arrange for this incident to be fully investigated. Instead, a senior member of staff and the member of staff who the child made the allegation about spoke to the child. The registered manager agreed that the manner in which this was dealt with was inappropriate.

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improvement to be good

Overall, there is effective liaison with other agencies when staff are concerned about the safety and welfare of children. The local authority designated officer reports that staff have appropriately sought and taken advice. However, on one occasion a child was found to have taken inappropriate images of themselves on their tablet device. The images were deleted by staff and an incident report emailed to the child’s social worker. However, there was no follow-up in relation to this concern, to inform care practice with the child going forward.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been a total of 231 incidents of physical intervention for six children. However, in recent months there is a downward trend in the reduction of physical interventions. That said, the physical intervention records show that some children have been subject to prolonged physical intervention. The record for one incident shows that a child was held on the landing for one hour and 15 minutes. This was not challenged by managers. As part of the home’s ongoing development, managers should continually review the measures of physical intervention to identify any patterns or trends and help staff to improve their own practice.

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improvement to be good

A review of the home’s recruitment records shows that there are appropriate recruitment processes in place to ensure that children are not exposed to adults who might harm them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The leadership and management of the home are not yet good. The registered manager was off work for a number of months, which had an impact on the stability of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have not received regular supervision and new members of staff are not being afforded supervision at the frequency expected by the organisation. This leaves staff without the opportunity to reflect on their practice or improve their competence to care for children effectively. Staff report that, at times, they have felt unsupported and that morale has been low. Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 7 There have been significant changes in the staff team. Out of 16 members of staff, 14 have started working at the home since the last inspection. Shortfalls in the rota have meant that staff have worked additional hours and there has been a reliance on agency staff. This has led to a situation where children with substantial emotional and behavioural needs were looked after by staff who were not well established in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Including the manager and her two deputies, only eight staff are qualified. There are gaps in staff training within those areas most relevant to the needs of resident children. For example, the home’s records show that only six staff have received training in working with children who display sexualised behaviours and only four staff have completed attachment and developmental trauma training. A recommendation was made at the last inspection in relation to staff training. A requirement under regulation 13 has been raised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Most of the recommendations made at the last inspection have been addressed. For example, the hall and landing carpets have been replaced and the registered manager is receiving regular supervision. In addition, the registered manager has sought clarification on who should and will undertake the missing from home interviews. A recommendation in relation to the use of ‘time-out’ as a consequence is repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Professionals report that there is good communication between them and the home. Placing social workers are kept up to date and provided with weekly reports on children’s progress. One social worker commented, ‘It has been a really positive placement and been a transformation for [Name of child]’.

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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: SC043697 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Tape Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST10 1BB

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Inspectors

Michelle Bacon: social care inspector Pauline Yates: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC043697 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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