Children's Home run by Shropshire Council in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 1 SC382730 Registered provider: Shropshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home offers a short-break provision for up to five children who have social and/or emotional difficulties. It is owned and operated by a local authority.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 27 February 2019

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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: SC382730 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2019 Full Good 29/11/2017 Full Good 21/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming environment for children to enjoy their short-break stays. Children’s bedrooms are warm and comfortable. Children say that they enjoy their time at the home and cannot think of any changes that would improve their short- stay experience. Staff work closely with children’s parents, carers and social workers to plan for their short-break stays. This inclusive approach means that children’s needs are fully understood, and staff can tailor their support to individualised needs. When children are admitted to the home at short notice because of a family or personal crisis, staff quickly put in place arrangements so that children are inclusive of daily routines, including being involved in varied activities such as playing football, going on a night hike or going to the cinema. This approach helps children to quickly settle. Staff support children’s education by taking them to and from school during their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

stays. This enables children to sustain their school attendance. Children are encouraged to develop their independence. During their stays, children are encouraged to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy and to help with daily chores such as washing dishes and preparing their own healthy packed lunch. Children can use the laundry area to wash their clothes. This means that children develop valuable self-care skills and a sense of ownership during their short-break stays. Staff record children’s achievements in a child’s ‘journey book’. However, staff do not update children’s plans with their learning and progress. This represents a missed opportunity to formally capture children’s successes as a result of their short breaks.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they feel safe. Staff and managers use information from children’s plans to carefully match children and to recognise risk. Incidents of challenging behaviours are rare, and staff implement clear boundaries and use their positive relationships with children to promote a calm and welcoming atmosphere that helps children to relax and benefit from their short breaks. However, staff do not always follow safeguarding procedures when children make disclosures of abuse or when they self-harm. On one occasion, a child disclosed a historical serious sexual assault to a member of staff. The child later in the evening self-harmed. Although the incident of abuse had been previously reported to the police, the staff failed to update the child’s social workers and managers of these recent events. This means that key professionals can be left without crucial information to help them to determine whether a reassessment of a child’s mental

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improvement to be good

and physical health is necessary. Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 4 On occasions, staff are slow to update risk assessments with significant information, for example recording information when a child has talked about self-harming and having suicide thoughts. Some risk assessments lack vital information such as the level of supervision needed for a child who is at high risk of going missing from the home. This means that staff do not always have the necessary advice and guidance or have the most up-to-date information to keep children safe. Staff are skilled in using de-escalation techniques to help children to safely manage their challenging behaviours. Consequently, physical intervention is rarely used. However, staff do not always clearly record incidents and managers do not always ensure that staff receive a debrief after an incident has occurred. This represents a missed opportunity for staff to review their practice. Also, children do not have an

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improvement to be good

opportunity to talk with someone who is independent of an incident. This limits children in having the opportunity to have their voice heard. Positive behaviour is promoted, and bullying and unkind behaviour are not tolerated. Sanctions are rarely used. However, staff do not always record the praise that they give children about positive achievements and kind actions. This represents a missed opportunity to formally capture the successes that children make as a result of their short breaks. The registered manager has carried out a risk assessment of the location of the home. However, this contains information that has been cut and pasted from another local authority home and is not accurate. The registered manager has also failed to consult key stakeholders, such as the police. This is despite accepting children who have a history of anti-social behaviour and gang affiliations. This means that the manager is missing a valuable opportunity to gain soft intelligence to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a suitably qualified and experience manager who is committed to providing the best possible service to the children attending the short- break provision. He ensures that staff receive regular reflective supervision that focuses on the children. Staff receive an annual appraisal which acknowledges their achievements and evaluates their development. Staff speak positively about the manager and say that he is a supportive presence in the home. The registered manager has received regular supervision but has not had his performance reviewed in an annual appraisal. This means that his achievements and his development needs are not formally acknowledged. The staff team is well qualified. Ten members of staff hold a level 3 diploma in residential childcare. They have a very clear sense of the value of the service that they provide for children in their care. Staff retention is excellent and many of the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

staff have worked at the home for years. This means that children receive consistent care from a well-qualified and motivated staff team. Managers have not always ensured that the home operates in line with the statement of purpose. For a short period, three of the five beds were used for the emergency admission for children in crisis. This decision resulted in some children’s Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 5 planned stays having to be cancelled. Managers have also not ensured that the statement of purpose has the most up-to-date information about staff. This means that stakeholders are without accurate information about staff qualifications and skills. The registered manager completes a six-monthly review of the quality of care for children. He has systems in place to find out the opinions of children about the care that they receive. However, the review is not always analytical and does not capture

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the strengths and weaknesses of the home. The review does not include actions and targets for continuous improvement. This means that the manager has limited insight into the opportunities available to further improve the quality of care for children attending the home for short breaks. Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 6

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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. 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; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)) 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 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 06/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 7 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(1)(3)(a)(b)) The registered person must ensure that all employees— have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised

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Requirement Due date

person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). 06/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 8 When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2))

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Recommendations

 Homes should develop and maintain effective working relationships with local youth justice and police services where children in their care have targets to achieve in reducing offending or socially unacceptable behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.5)  Equally, staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.3)  The registered person should ensure that they and their staff engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to the relevant plans for the child’s care on an ongoing basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.3)  15.4 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should

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Recommendations

focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for

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Recommendations

continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 9

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC382730 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY2 6ND

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC382730 11 to 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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