Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children's home: SC381085 1 SC381085 Registered provider: Stoke on Trent 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 run by the local authority. It offers care and accommodation for up to two children who have experienced early childhood instability that has led to trauma and/or associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2020.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 17 November 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. This report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC381085 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/04/2019 Full Good 12/06/2018 Full Good 15/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC381085 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is currently one child living at the home. The child is making some good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have been persistent in promoting the child’s engagement in learning despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has included helping the child to produce a CV for a job interview.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage the child to lead a healthy lifestyle. Staff ensure that the child has access to the relevant services for his physical, emotional and mental health. The child is supported by staff to attend his medical appointments and specialist services. As a result, the child’s overall health needs are promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have taken time to build positive relationships with the child. They have developed a bespoke care package to meet his specific emotional needs. This is being managed in a sensitive way that gives the child a sense of self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have grasped the importance of family relationships for the child and promote these relationships well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good at holding important conversations and key-work sessions with the child about a range of topics, including education, sexual health, healthy eating and the risk of self-harming. They also use these discussions to understand the child’s wishes and feelings. This consultation helps him to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have access to the in-house therapeutic service to support their practice. This helps them to develop a better understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities and risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have continued to develop positive working relationships with a wide range of professionals and the child’s family. All those involved in the child’s care are satisfied with the quality of care that staff provide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, the home does not provide a homely and nurturing environment. Not all aspects of the home are welcoming which gives it an institutional feel. For example, the lounge, dining area and the child’s bedroom are impersonal and bare. This does not help the child to feel invested in the home.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff write detailed risk assessments that give clear guidance and advice for staff to follow to reduce risk. However, these records are not kept up to date. This means that staff do not have the most up-to-date control measures to help to reduce risk further.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have a good understanding of de-escalation techniques, or when to use them, to help manage challenging behaviours to keep the child and themselves safe. Inspection report children's home: SC381085 4 For example, staff are reluctant to use physical intervention when there are serious concerns, or when the child is unable to regulate his emotions. As a result, this has led to situations escalating, damage being caused to the home and staff being assaulted. These are missed opportunities by staff to ensure that the child is better supported to manage his feelings.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff lock some internal doors as a way of managing the child’s behaviour. The kitchen and lounge doors are routinely locked. The registered manager does not regularly review this approach to ensure that such strategies are proportionate and necessary to keep the child safe. This places unnecessary restrictions on the child’s ability to move freely around the home.

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improvement to be good

When the child goes missing from the home, staff act promptly and follow clear guidance from protocols for managing these situations. They ensure that when the child returns home, he is offered an interview with an appropriate professional.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures that staff who work in the home are vetted thoroughly before they work with children. As a result, children are kept safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, managers have worked hard to ensure that all staff have continued to receive regular and practice-related supervision. This means that staff have had the opportunity to reflect on their practice and develop their learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works closely with the child’s family and professionals. This partnership means that the risks for the child are reducing over time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager does not always use monitoring and review systems to help with his oversight of the home. For example, the registered manager was not aware of information missing from the fire risk assessment and incorrect information in the home’s documentation. This prevents the registered manager from identifying areas for development and addressing shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have the required level 3 diploma in residential childcare. However, the registered manager does not always ensure that casual staff complete all the required refresher mandatory training in physical intervention, child sexual exploitation and food hygiene. This leaves casual staff without all the necessary learning and development they require to enable them to keep the child safe and improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has taken sufficient action to address the one requirement raised at the last inspection. This has resulted in improvements being made to provide better structure to the child’s daily routine. Inspection report children's home: SC381085 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

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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the home having an institutional impression rather than nurturing and domestic feel. 2 July 2021

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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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 2 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC381085 6 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is serious concern about the child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring that risk assessments are up to date.

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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—

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of the care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff provide consistent care to the child and use internal monitoring systems more effectively. 2 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and 2 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC381085 7 any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that risk assessment relating to restricting the child’s movement in the home is regularly reviewed.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that adequate precautions against risk of fire are in place and that the fire risk assessment is kept up to date. 2 July 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the barriers to the child’s learning and ensure the appropriate support is provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.3) Inspection report children's home: SC381085 8

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of Stoke-On-Trent, Swann House, Boothen Road, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 4SY

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC381085 9 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 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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