Children's Home run by YMCA Leicestershire in Leicester

Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 1 Registered provider: Leicester Young Men’s Christian Association (Incorporated) (The) Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a local charitable organisation. It provides care for up to three children who are experiencing emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post is currently vacant. A new manager has been appointed and has recently started working in the home. His application to become registered with Ofsted is pending.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: 20 January 2020

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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: 2507350 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress vary in this home. One child described living in the home as ‘dandy’ (meaning ‘good’). Another child said that it was ‘OK’. Children report that they get on well with some of the staff. However, recent changes to the management and staffing in the home have had a negative impact on children’s sense of stability and security.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are generally well met. Children receive routine health monitoring. If required, children receive more specialist services such as the child and adolescent mental health services. For one child, there has been a significant delay in completing a specialist assessment to inform and help support the longer- term care planning. While managers and staff cannot be held responsible for the delay, greater challenge may have helped to ensure that the child receives the right support at the right time.

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improvement to be good

Children’s placement plans are not consistently amended with up-to-date information. They lack clarity for staff about how they should help children achieve the aims and objectives set out in their plans. For example, plans about how children will be supported towards independence are vague. They fail to direct staff as to what work is specifically required to help children prepare, emotionally and practically, for the next stage of their lives. Despite this, some children reported how proud they are of the independence skills they have acquired while living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a comfortable and well-maintained environment to live in. However, they do not have access to all areas of the home. The children’s games room is kept locked. There is no risk assessment that provides a proportionate reason for this. This makes for an institutional rather than homely feel to the home.

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improvement to be good

All children living in the home have successfully engaged with education and achieved some qualifications. Staff are now supporting children to make transitions into further education, to help them achieve their goals.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to participate in a range of activities and to join groups that will help them make friends and develop socially. One child has an improved sense of identity after joining a local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group. Another child has developed confidence from being part of their local authority’s children in care council. Memories of enjoyable times are captured through photos and scrap books. These serve as a positive reminder of the good times children have had while living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments and risk management plans lack clarity in some areas. Additionally, they are not consistently updated when children’s circumstances change. This makes it difficult for staff to know exactly what strategies they should follow to reduce the risks to children.

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improvement to be good

Staff approaches to behaviour management are inconsistently applied. A child commented that some staff are more lenient than others, making it difficult to know where they stood. Some behaviour management practice is reactive. For example, during a recent incident, the police were called to manage a situation and a child is now at risk of being criminalised. This response was disproportionate. Staff training in respect of behaviour support was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The manager has plans to provide staff with the additional training and guidance they need to help them understand the underlying causes of children’s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff rarely use physical intervention in response to difficult behaviour. However, on one occasion when it was used, records of the intervention were incomplete. The records failed to describe what took place or if the children required medical attention. This prevents the manager from monitoring the effectiveness of behaviour management practices and limits the capacity to learn lessons that improve practice in this area.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained in relation to fire safety. They are involved in regular fire audits to help ensure that fire safety equipment and the environment are safe. However, not all new staff have been involved in a fire drill to develop their confidence and competence in terms of what to do if a fire occurred.

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improvement to be good

There are a high number of incidents of children going missing or being absent from the home without permission. These incidents have increased. In response to all incidents of children going missing from the home, staff diligently follow procedures by searching for children, reporting them as missing to the police, and continuing searches until children are found.

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improvement to be good

When children return home after going missing, they are offered return home interviews conducted by social workers. The outcomes of these interviews are not being shared with the staff and managers of the home. The managers and staff have not challenged the local authority about this and it is a missed opportunity to gather information to inform safety planning and help reduce incidents of children going missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager took prompt action in response to an allegation made by a child against a member of staff. This has safeguarded the child while an investigation is carried out. Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 5 Safe recruitment practices help ensure that only those adults who have been thoroughly vetted are employed to work in the home.

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good

There have been changes in the management of this home. A new responsible individual has been appointed, together with a manager and a deputy manager. They have all taken up their new roles. As a team, they have been quick to identify strengths in the home and areas that need to improve. The members of the management team are passionate about improving children’s lives. They are putting plans into practice to drive improvements forward.

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good

In addition to changes in management, there have been changes to the staff team. Staff morale has been low at times. However, the new management team and staff are feeling much more positive and morale is better. Staff are committed to making a positive difference to children’s lives. Building a stable, skilled and consistent staff team is a priority for the management team, but this remains work in progress.

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good

Staff have access to a wide range of training. Established staff members have undertaken a range of courses to inform their practice. Training records for all staff are not yet up to date. As a result, it is difficult for the manager to monitor staff training and whether staff have any unmet training needs.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions from the manager, which help them to reflect on the needs of the children. Additionally, they provide an opportunity for staff to reflect on their own practice and raise any concerns they may have.

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good

Matching processes in the home require improvement. Prior to the most recent child coming to live at the home, there was no impact or matching assessment completed. Behaviour quickly deteriorated in the home. Consequently, one child had to move out. While this child’s move was supported well, the lack of an impact assessment makes it difficult to know whether children were appropriately matched in the first place and whether a placement breakdown could have been averted.

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good

Internal and external monitoring systems meet regulatory requirements. The manager plans to enhance these systems to track, monitor and evidence children’s experiences and progress more effectively. This demonstrates his commitment to improving the quality of practice and ultimately improving children’s lives. Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

If the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to challenging the placing local authority if information from return home interviews is not shared with the manager. 15 October 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

This specifically relates to improving the quality of risk assessments and risk management plans and keeping them fully reviewed and updated when circumstances change. 15 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as is reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to new members of staff participating in a fire drill soon after starting work in the home. 15 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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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

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)) 15 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to placement plans, risk assessments, the risk management plan and all case records being kept up to date. 15 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of the home unless there is a specific reason why this would not meet their needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21 (c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns 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 information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in

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Recommendations

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 have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by the staff while working in the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff - including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 8

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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: 2507350 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Leicester Young Men’s Christian Association (Incorporated) (The)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 East Street, Leicester, Leicestershire LE1 6EY

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Inspector

Rachel Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2507350 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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