Children's Home run by Trafford Borough Council in Trafford

Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 1 SC032475 Registered provider: Trafford Borough Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home offers care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The registered manager has been in post since March 2007.

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 requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2018 Full Outstanding 19/12/2017 Full Good 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/12/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 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 registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31/03/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) 31/03/2020

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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 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; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(f)(h)) 31/10/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 4

p.3

Recommendations

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

p.4

Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline, and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and

p.4

Recommendations

comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 48, paragraphs 9.59 and 9.60)

p.4

Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 5

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are cared for in a warm and nurturing environment. They receive a good quality of care from a skilled and stable staff team. As a result, young people make good progress while at the home.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are at the centre of decision-making. Staff have a good understanding of the home’s model of care. This approach is embedded in the day-to-day practice of the home. As a result, young people have positive experiences of care and their well-being is promoted.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Once young people have left the home staff continue to offer support and guidance. One family member told the inspector, ‘We would have gone under if it wasn’t for the staff here. They have helped my brother so much.’ This willingness to offer continuing care when young people have moved to independence is a key strength of the home. It promotes the importance of lasting relationships for young people who have been in residential care.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are actively encouraged to participate in education. There are good links with virtual school teams and education providers to make sure that young people are receiving the education that meets their needs. Young people are supported to attend education. However, there is no private space at the home for young people to study. This is a potential barrier to young people’s progress.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to participate in activities. The inspector met a young person and staff returning from a morning run in preparation for a race they have entered together. Support of this nature means that young people are encouraged to be active while strengthening relationships with the adults who are caring for them.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend health services locally. Specialist physical and emotional health provision is also accessed when required. As a result, young people are supported to develop and maintain good physical and mental health.

p.5

improvement to be good

Practice in relation to the identification, assessment and management of risk is inconsistent. There are some examples of good practice between the home, the complex safeguarding team and the police to reduce risks in relation to exploitation of young people. In contrast, one young person had no risk assessments completed. The registered manager informed the inspector that no risks had been identified. As a result, there were no formal plans in place to adequately monitor and review his safety.

p.5

improvement to be good

The location risk assessment for the home states that individual risk assessments will be completed before any young person travels into the city centre by themselves. These Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 6 assessments are not taking place. This means that a clear rationale for decision-making that promotes young people’s steps to independence is not in place.

p.5

improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used infrequently. Although numbers of restraints remain low there has been an increase in the period since the last inspection. Some aspects of the recording of restraints is good. There is a clear analysis of events leading up to the restraint and details of efforts to de-escalate the crisis situation to avoid physical intervention.

p.6

improvement to be good

The recording of the restraints themselves lacks sufficient description to enable an adequate evaluation of the intervention. A number of the management reviews post- incident have been completed by the responsible individual due to the involvement of the registered manager in the intervention. These reviews are not evaluative. No work has been undertaken to look at any emerging trends or patterns. Young people are not offered access to independent advocacy after an incident of restraint. As a result, opportunities to improve practice or identify possible safeguarding concerns have been missed.

p.6

improvement to be good

Case recording is minimal. Recording does not demonstrate how actions taken by staff have helped to progress young people’s care plans or how care practice enhances the quality of care that young people receive. It was a recommendation of the last inspection that young people’s progress should be reviewed though more detailed key- work sessions. This recommendation is not met.

p.6

improvement to be good

Case records lack key local authority documents needed to plan and deliver young people’s care. Care plans, delegated authority records and voluntary agreements to accommodate young people were all missing from young people’s records. The registered manager was unable to explain the legal status of one young person on his admission to the home. The required documents to confirm the home’s authorisation to care for the young person were not on his case records. Lack of documentation has not been identified and escalated by the registered manager.

p.6

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

The leadership and management of the home lack rigour. The registered manager does not have adequate systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of care provided. As a result, the management team does not have information available to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the home or to drive continuous improvement.

p.6

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

Reports resulting from the independent person’s visits to the home contain inaccurate information. These inaccuracies are repeated from month to month within the reports. These errors relate to core functions such as management oversight, case recording and staff training. As a result, those professionals who are external to the home are being provided with an inaccurate and overly optimistic picture of the systems in place to ensure that the home is functioning to a high standard.

p.6

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

There is a lack of challenge from the registered manager and the responsible individual Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 7 to the information provided in the independent person’s reports. The registered manager told the inspector he did not know this was expected of him. There is little evidence of input from the responsible individual. As a result of the lack of robust internal or external challenge, the registered manager is not receiving adequate support to improve his leadership of the home.

p.6

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

The statement of purpose for the home has been reviewed and updated by the registered manager. However, the registered manager has not ensured that the statement of purpose has been provided to Ofsted.

p.7

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

The registered manager advocates on behalf of young people when considering new admissions to the home. This takes into consideration the needs of young people already in placement and those potential newcomers. There continue to be incidences of senior managers in the local authority overruling the views of the manager. As a result young people’s positive experiences and progress in the home are put at risk.

p.7

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

The home benefits from a stable, experienced, and suitably qualified staff team. There have been no new members of staff recruited since the last inspection. The majority of staff have been in place for a number of years. This means that staff know each other well and work constructively together as a team. Staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals of their performance. This supports them to reflect on their role and the contribution they are making to the care of young people.

p.7

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

There is no comprehensive system in place to monitor staff training. As a result the registered manager does not have sufficient information to address staff development on a team or individual level. For example, oversight of the required annual training of staff in respect of physical intervention is ad hoc. This means that staff are not undertaking training within required timescales. Two young people in the home are unaccompanied asylum seekers. Staff have not received training to understand and meet the care needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.

p.7

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

The physical environment of the home is reasonable. The communal areas for young people to use are comfortable and welcoming. Young people’s bedrooms and the landings and corridors of the home would benefit from further personalisation. Staff are current undertaking redecoration of the home which will improve the environment further for young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 8

p.7

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.8

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: SC032475 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Trafford Borough Council

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trafford Council, Town Hall, Talbot Road, Manchester, Trafford M32 0TH

p.9

Inspector

Dawn Parton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC032475 10 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.9

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 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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10