Children's Home run by Suffolk County Council in Suffolk

Inspection report children's home: SC430022 1 SC430022 Registered provider: Suffolk County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to six children aged between 11 and 17 years with social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since January 2018.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC430022 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/07/2019 Full Good 05/04/2018 Full Good 21/08/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC430022 3

p.2

improvement to be good

There were five children living at the home at the time of the inspection. Since the last inspection, two children have moved on. Staff supported one child to return to live with their family. This was a positive and planned move. Another child moved on after an incident of setting a fire at the home. Staff responded to the fire appropriately. However, the incident was upsetting for the staff and the children. This occurred after an extended period of instability for this child which had affected other children’s sense of stability at the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Three children have moved into the home since March 2021. Children are making variable progress across areas of their development. Children’s routines are increasingly disrupted by incidents that take place at the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Two children do not currently have education provision that they can attend. Education plans are in place for all children, and staff are actively encouraging children with their learning. One child has completed their GCSEs and will be attending college in the new term. Another child has increased the number of hours they spend in education since they first moved to the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children can identify staff who they feel able to talk to. Staff know the children well and are good advocates for them. Now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing, staff are supporting children to access fun activities outside the home. This is helping the staff to build on the positive relationships that they have with the children.

p.3

improvement to be good

One child is being supported to gain independence skills by accessing the semi- independence area in the home. They are enjoying this opportunity, and the experience is helping them to increase in confidence and improve their self-esteem. Another child has negotiated some free time away from the home. Staff planned for this carefully with the child and the child’s social worker.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff work well with health professionals. In particular, the staff have established good links with mental health services. Unfortunately, despite this, staff are regularly responding to serious self-harm incidents which have required hospital admissions at times. Staff enable access to specialist support and encourage children to make use of this.

p.3

improvement to be good

The communal areas of the home are homely and well maintained. The home has regular maintenance visits twice a week, due to the high level of damage. At the time of the inspection, some of the children’s bedrooms were not decorated to a good enough standard, with marks and graffiti on the walls. A downstairs window was boarded up. One bedroom door was damaged and sharp to touch, presenting an environmental hazard. Inspection report children's home: SC430022 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff are responding to a large number of incidents at the home. This includes managing serious incidents of self-harm, volatile behaviour resulting in damage to the home and acrimonious relationships between children.

p.4

improvement to be good

There are regular incidents of bullying. Staff respond to incidents, but due to the severity, staff have not always been able to protect one child from being physically harmed by other children. As a result, children do not always feel safe.

p.4

improvement to be good

At times, children have smoked in the home. They have also threatened another child by placing lit cigarettes under the child’s bedroom door. Staff have responded appropriately to these incidents when they occur. However, children having lighters has not been risk assessed. This does not adequately manage the increased risk of a fire at the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

Risk assessments do not always contain clear guidance for staff to follow. One child brought a knife in to the home. This was discovered because another child told staff. The risk assessment does not contain actions for staff to take that would reduce the risk of this child bringing inappropriate items into the house again. This places the staff and children at increased risk of harm.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of the risks that they need to manage for each child and the actions that they should take to keep children safe. However, the lack of sufficient guidance increases the risk of staff not responding appropriately or consistently to serious incidents.

p.4

improvement to be good

The staff have established good working relationships with the police. This enables effective information sharing about the risks to the children in the community. This helps inform decisions about referrals to the home and supports the staff to establish missing-from-care protocols. Incidents of children going missing from the home have decreased since one child moved on. When children do go missing or do not return as planned from unsupervised time, staff act quickly to find and return them safely.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to meet with the police liaison officer, who visits regularly for engagement sessions. This helps children to learn about the consequences of behaviour without being criminalised.

p.4

improvement to be good

On occasion, there is an over reliance on the police to manage behaviours that the staff should be sufficiently skilled to de-escalate. Children spoke about staff not being able to keep them safe. External professionals and staff also raised frustrations about staff’s capacity to provide children with the individual time that they need. Inspection report children's home: SC430022 5

p.4

good

The home is led by a dedicated and well-experienced management team. Managers have established excellent relationships with other agencies that help them meet children’s needs.

p.5

good

On occasion, the home has operated with reduced staffing levels. This has resulted in staff feeling anxious about keeping children safe and in low staff morale. Staff absence means that children have not benefited from a consistent staff team.

p.5

good

The manager has a good understanding of what is working well and what needs to improve. The manager has effective systems in place to ensure good management oversight of all incidents involving children. Staff feel well supported by the manager to help manage the current pressures that they are facing.

p.5

good

The independent person is not providing an effective external quality assurance function. The reports lack an evaluation of incidents that have taken place at the home. This does not provide the scrutiny needed to help improve practice.

p.5

good

The manager encourages children to be part of decision-making in meetings and in their everyday routines. Staff recently supported one child to chair his own review meeting. The manager deals with complaints from children formally and in a timely way.

p.5

good

Two requirements from the last inspection have not been met. Staff are still not receiving regular supervision. Most staff have missed recent supervision meetings due to the need to prioritise children’s imminent needs. This means that staff are not getting the support and guidance that they need at a time of high pressure and low staff morale. There are two members of staff who have not achieved the level 3 diploma within the required timescale. Inspection report children's home: SC430022 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The positive relationship standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

p.6

Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(c) (2)(a)(xi))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff respond effectively to incidents of bullying. 30 July 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments contain clear guidance for staff on how to reduce risks of self-harming behaviour, children having lighters and recurrence of children bringing weapons into the home. 30 July 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 30 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC430022 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

p.7

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—

p.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)d)) 30 July 2021

p.7

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—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the Level 3 Diploma’); or

p.7

Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

p.7

Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

p.7

Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, 1 April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b)) 1 December 2021

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; 30 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC430022 8 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

p.7

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: SC430022 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX

p.9

Inspectors

Paula Edwards, Social Care Inspector Lianne Bradford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC430022 10 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10