Children's home run by Nottingham City Council in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 1 SC424348 Registered provider: Nottingham City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. The home provides medium- to long- term care for two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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 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: 10 September 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2019 Full Outstanding 26/06/2018 Full Good 11/10/2017 Full Good 03/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by staff who know them well and understand their complex needs and vulnerabilities. Staff have a very good understanding of children’s experiences, including trauma and rejection. When children have wanted to spend time with their family and friends, staff have been creative in looking at how this can be made safer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at communicating with children. They recognise when children are receptive to discussions, and staff often use ‘what if’ scenarios to facilitate conversations about a range of topics. Staff also recognise when children might not want to talk but value staff just being present for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education and are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have budgeting responsibilities as part of getting ready for semi- independence. However, some children are struggling to do this while living at the home. There has not been enough intervention from managers to revise children’s plans when children are not coping. Staff do not always provide care that meets the children’s emotional age. Staff want to spend time with children, but some children are reluctant to spend time with staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children go missing from the home, staff are responsive, and are professionally curious as to where they may be. Some children misuse substances and this has become a pattern. There is good-quality multi-agency work with wider professionals when missing-from-home episodes happen; however, the children are highly reluctant to engage with support services provided. This means that children have a limited understanding of what risks they may be exposed to in the community. The relationship between the police, wider professionals and staff is excellent.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are reluctant to engage in structured one-to-one conversations about safety with staff. However, staff are good at choosing and responding to moments when children may be responsive. Staff talk to children openly about sexual health and substance misuse, which helps to support children and keep them safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There are indicators that some children may be vulnerable to radicalisation. When children have made threats to harm another person, they have been listened to and some action has been taken. However, the concerns have not been thoroughly risk- assessed by wider professionals who have specialist knowledge in this area. Where children may have additional needs, there have been some delays in getting necessary assessments completed. Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers recognise the importance of research and this informs the way that staff care for children. Some children have contributed to the community, by being part of the Children in Care Council and helping the local authority interview staff. Some children have a negative perception of the police. Managers are working with the police to try to breakdown some of these barriers for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, managers have been able to maintain a consistent, long-standing staff team. This is a huge achievement. When staff have been unwell, managers have stayed in communication and put together care packages. Although supervision records could be made clearer, staff supervisions are reflective and happen monthly. Staff are supported by managers to fulfil their roles effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the pandemic, independent visitors have felt unable to visit the home in person. Regulation 44 reports (independent visitor reports) do not always provide enough professional evaluation of the care being provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some children want to move out of the home to live more independently. Managers have supported children with their plans to move. However, not enough action has been taken to progress these plans, resulting in delays for children. This uncertainty negatively impacts on children. It has led to one child vocalising that they frequently go missing to avoid returning to the home, because this is not where they want to live. Although staff stay in communication with children and wider professionals during missing-from-home episodes, ultimately children going missing from the home increases their exposure to risks in the community. Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 5

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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

Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to management needing to further challenge and escalate concerns with professionals when there are delays for children. Where children may be at risk of radicalisation, specialist expertise should be sought from wider professionals so that risks for children can be fully assessed. 28 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iv)) 28 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 6 This relates to managers only caring for children in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose. Children’s plans need to be regularly reviewed and, where semi- independence plans are not working, steps need to be taken to intervene to improve outcomes for children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions are kept and that both the person giving the supervision and the staff member have a copy of the record. This relates to supervision notes being recorded in a way that is more structured and easier to read. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that the independent person they appoint has the skills and understanding necessary to: – relate to children in a home’s care – assess all relevant information – form an impartial judgement about the quality of the home’s care. This relates to independent visitors having more opportunities to visit the home in person. Independent visitors should offer additional scrutiny of practice and rely on other forms of evidence that are less self-reported. Reports could be enhanced with an evaluative summary clearly stating whether children are protected and well cared for. Managers could respond more to the content of the report and discuss actions taken. Where there is a pattern of no or few recommendations, it may be helpful to review whether the independent visitor has provided the necessary reflective oversight of the service being given to children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph

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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: SC424348 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG

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Inspector

Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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