Children's home run by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 1 SC037670 Registered provider: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council 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 short-break care for children between the ages of 11 to 17 years. It is registered to provide short breaks for up to two children at a time. At the time of the inspection, eight children were receiving short-break care at this home. Additionally, the staff provide community-based outreach support to children and their families.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2019. He is also the registered manager for another children’s home within the same local authority. At the time of the inspection, the registered manager was absent from post.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 16 November 2018

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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: SC037670 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/11/2018 Full Good 17/11/2017 Full Good 27/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/09/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 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 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. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that all potential risks are rigorously assessed, and protective strategies are clearly identified. 06/03/2020

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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 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 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and 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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation: to improving the registered manager’s oversight of the service; increasing staff supervision and performance appraisals; and providing the staff with relevant training. 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to improving the short-break care plans and the impact risk assessments. 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI 06/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 4 of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care is completed. (Regulation 45(4)(a)) 06/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 5

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improvement to be good

Weaknesses in leadership and management have negatively impacted on the home’s overall inspection judgement. The serious management shortfalls identified at this inspection have resulted in a judgement of inadequate for leadership and management.

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improvement to be good

The judgement of the effectiveness of leaders and managers is a graded judgement. This means that if this area is judged to be inadequate, the judgement for the overall experiences and progress of children can be no more than requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

The children, parents and carers are clearly benefiting from the diligent support provided by the staff team. This is reflected in a parent’s comments: ‘The staff have been brilliant; I have nothing but good things to say about them. They have been a massive support to my son and family. They go above and beyond what is expected.’

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improvement to be good

The staff are skilled at nurturing positive relationships with children. The children recognise the positive influence that the service and staff are having on their lives. A child said: ‘The staff have really helped me. I love coming, and get to do lots of exciting things.’ Another child described the service as ‘a second home’.

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improvement to be good

The children look forward to their short breaks and they enjoy doing a range of activities. These activities are helping the children to develop new skills and interests, which increases their self-esteem and confidence.

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improvement to be good

The staff help the children to access the expert support that they need, for example substance-misuse and counselling services. Additionally, they have been instrumental in helping some children to resolve issues at school, such as bullying. The staff’s dedicated support is helping to improve the children’s outcomes and experiences.

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improvement to be good

The planning for short-break care is an area that needs to improve. For example, the aims and objectives of the service’s intervention are not clearly identified in the children’s short-break plans.

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improvement to be good

The assessment of risk is an area that requires improvement. Some risks are not being rigorously assessed despite being identified in the children’s referrals, for example unsafe use of mobile phones, going missing from home and cannabis use. Consequently, there are no clear protective strategies in place for the staff to follow, should such issues arise. Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 6 Additionally, the impact risk assessments do not consider the potential influence that the children may have on each other. This could lead to children being inappropriately matched, potentially compromising their welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

The local area is assessed annually to ensure that the home’s location remains suitable for the children to visit. However, the strategies identified in this assessment are not routinely put into practice. For example, there is a lack of robust risk assessments.

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improvement to be good

The staff are skilled in de-escalating challenging situations and behaviour. As a result, physical restraint has not been used at this home. Furthermore, with the staff’s support and guidance, the children are learning how to manage their emotions and make safer choices, which increases their safety.

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improvement to be good

The staff are skilled in developing trusting relationships with children. These trusting relationships are the key to enabling the children to confide in staff and accept their guidance and support.

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improvement to be good

Parents and carers value the staff’s consistent support and guidance. Strong collaborative working is enabling parents and carers to continue to care for their children and keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is currently absent from post, and the date of his return is uncertain. The responsible individual and senior residential worker oversaw this inspection and will continue to manage the service in the interim.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is responsible for leading two children’s homes. Responding to the day-to-day demands of the two homes, as well as meeting the needs of the children and two staff teams, has proven to be a significant challenge for him. As a result, the home’s improvement journey has been hindered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The requirement raised at the last inspection has not been met. Ofsted has not received the quality of care review reports as required. Consequently, the service’s regulator has been prevented from continuously monitoring and evaluating the care and protection provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s statement of purpose has not been kept up to date to reflect all the changes within the home, such as new staff. This does not ensure that all stakeholders, including parents and carers, have access to current information on the service and the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s oversight of children’s progress is not evident. For example, the children’s end-of-service summary documents that were sampled at the inspection had omitted the registered manager’s evaluation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Furthermore, the monitoring of staff’s learning and development is weak. As a result, the staff are not being provided with opportunities to increase their knowledge and expertise Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 7 in relevant areas, such as life-story work, child criminal exploitation, domestic abuse and substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff do not receive adequate support from the registered manager. Regular professional supervision is not being consistently provided to all staff. The responsible individual was unsure if all staff had received an annual appraisal of their practice and performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Encouragingly, prior to the inspection the responsible individual had identified some weaknesses in the management of the home and had taken steps to improve them. This included putting children’s short breaks on hold for two weeks to allow the staff team to strengthen the impact risk assessments and short-break plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The committed, child-centred and experienced staff team is undoubtedly a key strength of this service. The staff work collaboratively with parents, carers, social workers, schools and health services to improve the children’s outcomes and experiences. Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 8

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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 difference 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: SC037670 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Knowsley MBC, Children’s Services, Huyton Municipal Buildings, 6th floor, Huyton, Knowsley, Merseyside L36 9YU

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Inspector

Marina Tully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037670 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 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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