Children's Home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 1 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children. The home has an attached registered school.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post in the home, who took up position in January 2021. Ofsted is currently processing her application for registration with Ofsted.

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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. This is the home’s first inspection since registration.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: n/a

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 24 November 2020, Ofsted undertook a monitoring visit of the home following concerns about the quality of care and children’s safety. Following this visit, a decision Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 2 was made to issue the provider with a notice that restricted them from admitting any further children to the home. This was put in place for up to 12 weeks. This notice was issued because Ofsted found concerns about staff sufficiency. Ofsted believed that, should any new children be admitted to the home, this would place the existing children and any new children at risk of harm. Five monitoring visits followed.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

During the second visit, inspectors found that there were serious shortfalls in children’s risk assessments and ongoing shortfalls in safeguarding. Following this visit, a decision was made to issue a compliance notice.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 15 February 2021, because of the improvements seen, no further enforcement action was taken, and the restriction of accommodation notice was not renewed.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

This was the home’s first full inspection. Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in August 2020. The home was initially failing, due to the lack of effective leadership, to create an appropriate, nurturing care environment. External monitoring of the home by senior staff quickly identified staffing and managerial weakness and took effective action to address this situation. This involved replacing the manager and some of the staff. Children currently receive good care because the new manager has successfully identified previous shortfalls and has put new systems in place that are having a positive impact on the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported by staff and benefit from the care that is offered. Staff establish good routines that enable children to feel secure within their environment. Because of this, all children make good progress, and, for some, this progress is significant from their starting points. A placing social worker reported, ‘My young person has made substantial progress since moving to [name]. He is responding well to consistent routines, boundaries and expectations. He has formed positive attachments to staff and views them as safe and predictable.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have clear health plans and are registered with the relevant primary healthcare services. Their individual placement programme is overseen by a psychologist, and staff have regular meetings to facilitate consistent implementation of agreed strategies and support. This provides continuity for each child and contributes to their emotional health outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Medication is stored safely, and an effective medication management system helps to ensure that children receive their medication safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

School attendance is consistently high, with most children attending the organisation’s on-site school. Education is highly valued in the home, and care staff ensure that the children are fully supported to attend and to achieve. For example, they work closely with teachers, including providing direct support in the classroom when necessary. This promotes both consistency and the value of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive practical support from staff so that they can visit friends and family. Staff understand the strong links that children have with their families and the positive impact that these can have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build strong attachments with the staff team and enjoy spending one-to- one time with them. Records of key working sessions clearly demonstrate that staff talk to children about matters that are important to them. Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 4

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

Staff fully understand policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding, and social workers confirmed that staff keep children safe. A social worker told the inspector, ‘The staff kept her safe at all times. I had no concerns with her safety.’

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities and implement the risk management plans sufficiently. Risk assessments are reviewed regularly in response to any changes in children. Staff use other professionals’ knowledge and skills, such as those of the therapists within the clinical team. This gives staff improved knowledge of managing children’s behaviours. This gives staff a greater understanding of how to keep children safe.

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

Children who go missing from the home are protected by good reporting procedures that are shared between social care services and the police. However, not all children receive an independent return interview after an episode of going missing, and the manager has not reviewed all episodes to consider whether appropriate action has been taken. This creates a missed opportunity to enable children to discuss their reasons for going missing and for the manager and staff to learn from this to reduce any further incidents.

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

Incidents of physical intervention are fully recorded with evidence of management oversight and monitoring. Staff are clear that physical intervention is very much a last resort and tend to use the positive relationships built with children to defuse difficult situations. All staff receive initial and refresher training in physical intervention techniques.

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

The manager has not ensured that the home’s location risk assessment has been updated with new and emerging risks. This means that any risks presented by the home’s location are not being identified along with the strategies for managing any potential risk.

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

Children live in a physically safe environment. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks and make sure that equipment is regularly serviced. Staff are trained in fire safety procedures, and they ensure that children take part in fire evacuation drills, so that they understand what to do in the event of a fire or other emergencies.

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

The manager ensures that children are protected by effective recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These measures positively promote the safety of the children by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a new manager in post in the home, who took up position in January 2021. Ofsted is currently processing her application for registration with Ofsted. The manager holds a national vocational qualification in leadership, health and social Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 5 care at level 4.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good support and guidance from the manager. They receive regular supervision and confirmed that their supervision supports and challenges their performance to improve. Regular staff team meetings and daily handovers help to keep staff informed about children’s daily activities and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training records show that staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training to develop their knowledge, skills and professional practice. New staff receive an induction and move to completing a level 3 diploma in residential childcare. This means that staff are well trained and suitably qualified to meet the needs of children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the provision is regularly undertaken. Information is analysed and audited to identify and drive forward improvements for the overall service received by children. However, the manager has failed to update the report supporting the impact placement meeting, which can potentially lead to inconsistent information being given.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formed positive relationships with parents and a range of agencies, including the police, local authorities and education professionals. A social worker told the inspector, ‘The staff always worked in partnership with me. They always sent me updates and phone calls informing me how my young person is doing.’ This approach means that there is a coordinated approach to meeting children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When the home’s statement of purpose has been reviewed and updated, this has not always been sent to Ofsted as required. This means that Ofsted does not always have up-to-date information about the service. Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 6

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to completing the placement matching meeting document. 30 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to having an up-to-date staffing list in the statement of purpose 30 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of the information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that under regulation 46 the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home are reviewed at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2592943 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Curtis Partnership, 1 Tape Street, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent ST10 1BB

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Inspectors

Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 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 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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