Children's home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Staffordshire Moorlands

Inspection report children's home: SC470224 1 SC470224 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered for up to 10 children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2020.

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 16 September 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

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 18 December 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC470224 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/12/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 25/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: SC470224 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s feedback about the care they receive is exceptional. Children are happy at the home. They are listened to and have strong relationships with the staff team. The staff have created a nurturing environment where children enjoy spending time with staff and each other.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since they arrived at the home, children have made good progress in most areas of their lives. Social workers are positive about the support that is provided to children by the staff team. Children enjoy their education and attend regularly. Children’s health and well-being is regularly monitored. External support to promote positive mental health is accessed when required.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s journeys while living in the home are evidenced beautifully in pictures around the home and in photo albums. Child-focused care plans give insight into children’s views and hopes for their future. However, some children do not have their placing authority’s care plan on file and the manager has not further escalated her requests for the plans.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have buzzers activated on their bedroom doors, despite some children presenting no specific risks that require monitoring. The manager has not reviewed the suitability of the buzzers on bedroom doors for children individually. This is an infringement of some children’s rights and requires action to ensure children’s care is individualised.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Purposeful key-work sessions and engaging children in direct work are strengths of the staff team. They evidence quality consultation with children to ensure that their voices are heard. When children have experienced family loss and bereavement, staff have provided child-centred support that is above and beyond the duty of care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Following the last assurance visit, areas of the home have been decorated, new carpets laid and the children’s bedrooms personalised. However, the children’s bathrooms require refurbishment and modernisation. This should be made a priority, to ensure that children live in a homely environment.

p.3

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

Children say they feel safe and attribute this to the support and guidance that they have received from staff. Overall, children have made progress in relation to keeping themselves safe and children’s risks have significantly reduced since living at the home.

p.3

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. Since the last visit, there has only been one occasion where a child has been reported missing from home. Bullying is not an issue, according to the children. Equally, children Inspection report children's home: SC470224 4 rarely complain, which demonstrates that children can talk to staff openly and feel comfortable doing so.

p.3

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

Children’s individual support plans provide staff with clear guidance and current information about children’s behaviour. Child-centred risk assessments give children’s views about strategies that are effective in supporting them to manage their behaviour positively. Consequently, staff work consistently with children and serious incidents have reduced.

p.4

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

Physical intervention is used as a last resort and is proportionate to the risks that children’s behaviour presents, including to prevent serious harm to a child. Overall, the use of physical intervention has reduced for most children. Staff’s good relationships with the children mean that they understand children’s potential triggers and the behaviours they may feel the need to resort to.

p.4

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

Incentives are child specific and effective in promoting positive behaviour. Sanctions used are mostly restorative or relevant to negative behaviour presented by children. Children understand their sanctions and feel they are fair. The manager assesses the effectiveness of the sanctions and ensures that they are kept to a minimum.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Under the competent and strong leadership of the manager, staff practice has significantly improved in all aspects of the care that children receive. Of the five requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection, all are judged as being met.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children and staff team well. She makes appropriate challenges both externally and internally. Staff and children alike are very complementary of the style and approach of the manager. The support provided to staff by the senior leadership team has contributed to the stability of the staff team.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Matching processes are effective in assessing if staff have the skills to meet children’s needs and the suitability of placing children together. Some children have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the staff have not had adequate training to understand the impact of PTSD on children’s lives.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s analysis of incidents and physical intervention records is thorough. She uses reflective practice to identify any shortfalls in records and to determine any action that can be taken to prevent future incidents. There are some minor recording shortfalls in some children’s records, but these do not detract from the standard of oversight by the manager.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly monitoring enables the manager to review trends and patterns in the home. She works closely with the senior manager to evaluate outcomes and agree improvement targets for the coming months. The manager’s annual monitoring report evidences a positive shift in the last 12 months in relation to a reduction of Inspection report children's home: SC470224 5 incidents and staff turnover. Consequently, all children are making positive progress and are on track for long-term transitions to families. Inspection report children's home: SC470224 6

p.4

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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, that all staff are trained in PTSD, to be able to understand its impact on children’s lives. 10 September

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the use of buzzers on children’s bedroom doors should be reviewed regularly by the manager, to ensure children’s care is individualised in relation to their risks. 10 September

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; 10 September Inspection report children's home: SC470224 7 are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, all children must have an up-to-date placing authority care plan on file.

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Specifically, children’s bathrooms should be refurbished so they do not look institutionalised. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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: SC470224 8

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Charlie Bamber, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC470224 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.

p.8

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.9

Inspectors

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

p.9

Inspectors

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

p.9