Children's Home run by Portsmouth City Council in Portsmouth

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides accommodation for up to three children aged eight to 18. The aims of the home are to provide care that helps children to better manage their emotional responses to challenging situations. The sta team aims to support children to develop better self-esteem and confidence.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered by Ofsted on 4 October 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 10 December 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Requires improvement to be good

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assurance visit report: 1239948 2

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit.

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The care of children

The staff have warm and trusting relationships with the children that result in the children being able to talk about the things that worry them. Children make progress in most areas of their lives. One child proudly said that the staff had helped them to manage their emotions better and wanted to keep it that way.

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The care of children

Staff arrange and support the children’s contact with their families and friends well. They planned effectively for one family to come to the home and have a meal with their child. The staff’s planning took good account of the other children’s needs. This resulted in a positive time for the family concerned and fun activities for the other children.

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The care of children

Education has been supported effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic. The staff provided daily structured routines for education during lockdown. They inventively created meaningful education opportunities. For example, one child worked with staff to set the agenda for, and chair, their looked after review as part of their education time. The staff’s focus on education has resulted in the children being prepared and positive about returning to school.

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The care of children

The staff listen to the children’s views and act on these well. They ensure that the children know how important their views are. For instance, the staff regularly give the children a summary of what has changed because of listening to their views. The staff also now write excellent child-friendly letters to the children after one-to- one discussions. The letters clearly outline what was said and confirm what will happen as a result.

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The care of children

In response to a previous requirement, the children’s guide has been reviewed with the children. Some of the sections are not clearly referenced and some of the wording is lengthy. These factors reduce the likelihood that children will easily find or understand what the information is telling them.

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The care of children

The children’s health is generally promoted well. The children are involved in finding new and healthy meal options and encouraged to participate in physical activities. An independent reviewing officer reported that the staff have successfully helped two children to lose weight appropriately.

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The care of children

The staff do not demonstrate that they have used every opportunity possible to encourage and support one child to engage in therapy. The staff have not held meaningful discussions to help this child to understand why therapy is important. Neither have the staff found alterative therapy solutions for this child’s needs. Consequently, the requirement from the last inspection is repeated. Assurance visit report: 1239948 3

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The safety of children

Professionals and a parent are positive about how the staff work with them to keep the children safe. The staff team has been trained in e-safety and talk confidently about how they support the children to stay safe online. The registered manager has been thorough in compiling information about safeguarding concerns, which have resulted in local authority investigations being instigated.

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The safety of children

The ability of staff to respond to children’s behaviour is variable, in part, because written risk assessments are poor. These assessments do not include all the relevant risks, such as potential grooming for one child. Well-defined risk management strategies are not available to guide staff on how to respond to a child’s problematic sexualised behaviour or in relation to bullying. At the time of this assurance visit, the senior management team was making changes to the risk management system in place, but these changes are not yet clearly embedded in the staff’s practice. Because of this visit and the concerns raised, managers are taking urgent action to review and improve the children’s risk assessments.

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The safety of children

The home’s locality assessment has not been reviewed within a year, as required. However, the registered manager maintains good links with relevant groups to support his knowledge about any changes in the area where the home is located.

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The safety of children

From December 2019, leaders and managers stopped the use of the physical intervention system that was in place at the home. This was replaced with a non- physical approach to all behaviour. Staff said that the new approach has been beneficial, and no physical restraints have occurred since this was introduced. This is confused by the confirmation from leaders and managers that, in extremely rare circumstances, staff may use force to prevent harm occurring to a child. The staff could not consistently say, however, when they would use such force or what this might be. The absence of clear and explicit guidance poses numerous risks for the children and the staff, such as being physically hurt and allegations being made.

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Leaders and managers

Staff, professionals and local authority senior leaders acknowledge that the registered manager’s leadership has resulted in positive change. There is a much homelier environment and the standard décor and furnishings, which were a concern at the last inspection, have improved. Concerns about the numbers of staff on duty each day and night have been addressed. The staff said that they feel supported well, where previously they did not.

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Leaders and managers

Staff supervisions are regular, but their quality is variable. Some supervision records are detailed and reflective; others provide minimal detail of the discussions held and do not demonstrate that reflective discussions occur. Managers have already begun to take steps to improve the quality of supervision through their training and monitoring systems. Assurance visit report: 1239948 4 There is a detailed and extensive training plan which considers the different roles and responsibilities of leaders, managers and the staff. The plan, however, lacks detail of the training for children’s individual needs, such as autism and problematic sexualised behaviour.

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Leaders and managers

The staff have established and maintain effective working relationships with several professionals. The designated officer said that the staff act on their advice and the registered manager has good oversight of safeguarding matters.

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Leaders and managers

Leaders’ and managers’ monitoring systems have improved but remain weak in places. The local authority has set up various working groups to improve its children’s homes. This has resulted in positive changes, such as training plans that include the effects of trauma on children’s lives and greater access for the staff to the child and adolescent mental health service for advice. Shortfalls in monitoring systems include that of the manager’s six-monthly report on the quality of the care provided by the staff. It does not include children’s views, as required at the last inspection. There is also a lack of analysis and evaluation. Consequently, this is a missed opportunity to identify areas for improvement.

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Leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have reviewed the home’s statement of purpose several times during the last year. Nevertheless, a revised copy has not been submitted to Ofsted, which was a requirement at the last inspection. A copy has now been submitted and systems for ensuring the statement is submitted to Ofsted after a change are being developed.

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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 health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that where it is in a child’s best interests to engage with therapeutic 11/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 1239948 5 services that the staff take all possible action to support a child to do so.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are up to date, include all relevant risks, and contain clear strategies for staff to follow about how to minimise risks. 11/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have appropriate guidance for the use of any restraint or restrictions that staff can apply in an emergency. 11/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that training plans are kept under regular review to ensure staff have all the necessary training to meet children’s individual needs. Where a new training need is identified the registered person must quickly put plans in place to address this need. 11/12/2020

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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). (Regulation 46 (1)) 11/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 1239948 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, the registered person should consider ensuring that their monitoring systems adequately cover all aspects of the home’s operation .  The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should 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

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency) and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the layout and language used in the guide is child friendly. Assurance visit report: 1239948 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Portsmouth City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Portsmouth PO1 2EA

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Inspectors

Ruth Coler, Social Care Inspector Stephen Collett, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 1239948 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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