Children's home run by Norfolk County Council in Norwich

Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 1 SC450045 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to six children who can present with challenging behaviour and need emotional support. The home is a crisis assessment and reunification service.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is currently on maternity leave and the acting manager has been in post since May 2021.

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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 home on 15 September 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/07/2019 Full Good 29/11/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/07/2018 Full Good 26/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 3

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improvement to be good

The home’s purpose has recently changed after it became part of a new pilot scheme. This new scheme focuses on supporting children with family reunion or foster care. This model was introduced at the beginning of June 2021. Following this, several children moved to the home in quick succession. The staff were not properly equipped to manage some of the children’s individual needs. Children were moved on from the home suddenly in an unplanned way. The manager acknowledged that some of the children’s needs could not be met. Shortfalls in the assessment and matching process for admissions have led to poor outcomes for children.

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improvement to be good

The home has recently been refurbished to a high standard with new bathrooms and redecoration throughout. This provides a welcoming environment. However, there is no internet access available for the children. This affects children’s social, leisure and educational opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Staff build positive relationships with children, including some children who have a history of struggling to engage with and trust professionals. One child spoke of the staff all being ‘lovely’. All staff have built excellent relationships with this child.

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improvement to be good

Children have been on holiday and undertaken a wide range of activities. Staff speak enthusiastically about the new service that has been set up and about the care that they are providing for the children.

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improvement to be good

There is a range of expertise in the staff team. A recently recruited speech and language therapist will be joined by a clinical psychologist and a police liaison officer. These will all be based at the home. The speech and language therapist has completed communication profiles for all the children, which are based on direct engagement with them. They offer clear advice and guidance for staff in terms of how to communicate effectively with the children. They also help children to understand areas of their development that could enhance their communication.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children with their education. The speech and language therapist has challenged the content of one child’s education, health and care (EHC) plan after completing assessments with the child. The challenge related to the language used to describe the child and the identified needs of the child. This has resulted in a review of the EHC plan. A more accurate plan will lead to the child’s school having a better understanding of the child’s needs and how to best meet these. Appropriate challenge leads to children being better supported in their education. Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 4

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improvement to be good

Children have not always been safe at the home. Some of the children have extremely complex needs in relation to their mental health, including a history of significant self-harm. Most of the staff have not received training in relation to mental health and self-harm. Two children were involved in separate incidents of significant self-harm, which resulted in them being admitted to hospital and leaving the home in an unplanned way. Following these incidents, the manager raised concerns around placement matching with senior management. It has been agreed that children with the most complex mental health needs will not move to the home. Moving children to the home without staff being properly trained to meet their needs has led to them being at increased levels of risk.

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improvement to be good

One child is at significant risk due to regularly sleeping away from the home in public spaces. This is often in association with people who are unknown to the staff. This is a longstanding behaviour, which predates the child moving to the home, and staff have worked closely with a multi-agency team to take steps to minimise the risk. This has led to an increased level of engagement with the child and has increased their safety at times. However, the steps being taken are not accurately reflected in the child’s plans. A lack of clarity in the child’s plans means that the extremely high levels of risk the child is subject to are potentially not being managed effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff take appropriate action in relation to episodes of children going missing from the home. They are proactive in their approach and work effectively with other professionals in response to such incidents. One police officer commented that staff’s response to children going missing from the home has significantly improved in recent months.

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good

The registered manager is on maternity leave. During this period, there is an acting manager in post, who will apply to become the registered manager.

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good

The manager is highly committed to the home and is well respected by the staff. She has started to build a good understanding of the strengths of the staff team and the areas that require development. Staff say that they feel well supported by managers, who are always available for them. However, several staff have not received regular supervision. This has coincided with a period of significant incidents, which has been emotionally challenging for staff. A lack of supervision means that opportunities to consider how effectively staff are meeting children’s complex needs have been missed.

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good

Recruitment checks are undertaken for new staff. However, gaps in employment histories have not always been adequately checked. Shortfalls in recruitment checks have the potential to expose children to increased risk. Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 5 The managers and staff have embraced the new model of working. The managers have supported staff’s understanding of the new model through team days and regular team meetings. Many staff have lead roles in specific areas of the work undertaken with the children and their families. Overall, the range of expertise in the team is starting to provide a more holistic model of care. Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments reflect agreed strategies to keep children safe. 11 August 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that impact risk assessments give sufficient consideration to whether the staff have the required skills to manage the identified risks effectively. 4 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 8 September 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 7 In particular, ensure that staff receive regular supervision and undertake training in relation to mental health and self- harm.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home meets children’s basic day-to- day needs. In particular, ensure that children have access to the internet. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that practice relating to the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, ensure that any gaps in employment histories are appropriately explored and accounted for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC450045 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Norfolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC450045 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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