Children's home run by Wolverhampton City Council

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 1

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Wolverhampton City Council

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children with complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been appointed permanently but has not yet submitted their application for registration with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was judged inadequate on 22 April 2021. Eleven requirements were raised, two of which were subject to a compliance notice.

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This monitoring visit

This visit examined progress made by the home against the compliance notices. All areas of these notices are now met.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have made sure that children’s risk assessments, behaviour management plans and missing from home protocols give staff sufficient guidance to work with children and keep them safe. They have also further developed children’s placement plans so these are positively focused and clear for children and staff. As a result, staff are clearer in how they can support children.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have improved their oversight of the home as their monitoring systems are better embedded. Staff are clear on their responsibilities for daily tasks and managers can now audit these effectively. Managers now consider trends and patterns in the home. This means that they can now focus on the development of staff, in areas where they need to. For example, managers noted there was a slight increase in the number of incidents of children self-harming. They led a session in a staff meeting to consider how to help children who self-harm. They also included guidance for staff about how to carry out effective room searches when needed. This oversight means that managers can be increasingly confident in the care staff provide. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 2 Staff have improved the quality of record-keeping and this is increasingly child focused. Managers still need to be clear about expectations in their supervision records, for

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This monitoring visit

example, by giving actions timescales for completion. Managers are taking action to address this shortfall.

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This monitoring visit

Managers now have accurate training records and are clear about staff’s needs. When staff do not complete required training without justifiable reason, managers address this through informal and then formal channels. This is because managers are committed to children receiving care from staff who have the knowledge they need to help them.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have stabilised the staffing of the home and it is mostly permanent staff who work there. On the occasions when non-permanent staff do work in the home, this is a small number of adults who work there regularly, and children know well.

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This monitoring visit

Other requirements issued at the previous inspection have not been reviewed during this monitoring visit and have been restated.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 21/04/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, there must be management arrangements in place to support the home at all times.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 25 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 25 July 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 4 manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children’s compatibility to the home must be considered effectively, to ensure that good decisions are made about children moving into the home. In addition, children’s plans must be regularly reviewed, and managers must ensure that staff adhere to these plans.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma").

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (3)(b) (4)(a) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 25 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; 25 July 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 5 the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

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 person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii)(viii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers must ensure records meet regulation and show how staff practice is challenged as needed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers must ensure that notifications are made to the regulator accurately and in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 25 July 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 6 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers must ensure that all relevant persons’ views are included in reviews of the quality of care and clear actions are devised that drive improvements in the quality of care that children receive.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 25 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should seek to develop the physical environment of the home so that it is a homely rather than an ‘institutional’ environment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff supervision is used to reflect on and challenge staff’s views of their practice, include clear actions and targets, and be fully recorded. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15) Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 7

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wolverhampton City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, St Peters Square, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 1SH

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Inspectors

Karol Keenan, Social Care Inspector Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2496288 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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