Children's home run by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 1 SC369857 Registered provider: Bolton Metropolitan Borough 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 and can provide short-break care for up to five children at any one time. This forms part of an outreach programme that is designed to support children and families who may be experiencing a period of difficulty or crisis. The primary aim of the service is to help children that are on the edge of care to remain living at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/09/2018 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Good 16/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been significant changes to this service since Ofsted last inspected the home in May 2019. These include rebranding as an outreach and short-break service and a change of registered manager and staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A reduced service is currently being offered due to staff shortages, some of which is fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricting the service has meant that caseloads have remained manageable and high-quality support has been maintained for children and families. It is clear from verbal and written feedback that the staff, and their work, are highly regarded by children, parents and professionals. A social worker said: ‘Staff are flexible and responsive. They always go above and beyond to support [name of child] and her father. It is because of the excellent support that [name of child] is not in care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at forming positive relationships quickly. They establish themselves as reliable and trusted adults in the lives of children who are much in need of help. Staff use these relationships to good effect when delivering individualised programmes of support that are both purposeful and fun. This has helped many children find stability and a renewed confidence in taking control over their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive relationships with family members are an integral feature of the programme. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of the complexities within each child’s family. They work closely with parents and carers to help them better understand and respond to the needs of their child. A parent said: ‘The support is brilliant and has definitely improved things for us. Having someone there to listen, offer advice and mediate has helped us as a family.’ Another parent said: ‘[name of staff] is always at the end of a phone. She doesn’t only help me with my children who she supports, she is also there to help me with all of my children.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, staff were delivering outreach support for 36 children and families. Five of these children were on the 12-week short-break programme, which is currently only offered at weekends. Staff recognise the importance of ensuring that children are matched well to make their stay as purposeful and productive as possible. Children like spending time at the home. As well as completing focused work, they can engage in a range of activities, interests and hobbies in a comfortable, calm and homely environment.

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

A great deal of thought goes into considering whether the service can meet the needs of a particular child. Behaviours, risks and vulnerabilities are rigorously assessed at the referral stage, and captured in a range of documents, including risk assessments and behaviour support plans. Despite records not being well organised, Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 4 staff demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of their content, not just with regard to their individual cases, but to all the children who are accessing the service.

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

Because of the nature of the service, it is infrequent that staff are required to directly manage unsafe behaviour, such as going missing, self-harm or substance misuse. This is not taken for granted and staff understand and take seriously their safeguarding responsibilities. They know what to do in the event of an allegation or safeguarding concern, quickly sharing information with the relevant agencies and professionals. However, records pertaining to such incidents would benefit from being better organised.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about the area in which they work, and the risks associated with lone working in the community. They make good use of technology to ensure that their whereabouts are known and that they are safe following visits to families’ homes.

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

The location risk assessment clearly identifies the areas of risk in the community. The information contained in this document is considered when staff are planning activities and supporting children that are attending short breaks. The document seen during the inspection suggests that the annual review is overdue, although the information remains pertinent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear vision of the type of service they want to develop. Good planning, and a thoughtful approach, have resulted in strong foundations for a highly child-focused outreach and short-break service. Managers recognise that this is work in progress and have clear plans for how they can further grow and develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are extremely enthusiastic about their work. They take ownership of what they do and demonstrate a professional and personal commitment to the children in their care. ‘Going above and beyond’ was a common phrase from feedback gathered at this inspection. The effectiveness of this service is evident from the number of children who have avoided long-term care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are highly supportive of each other and are complimentary about the leadership qualities of both the registered manager and her deputy manager. They say that they find formal supervision purposeful and that managers are always available to offer support. However, supervision records do not demonstrate that all staff are receiving regular formal supervision. Furthermore, several supervision records had not been signed by the person giving or receiving supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have recently introduced a monitoring tool to improve oversight of staff training. This is in recognition that some training has been allowed to drift during the pandemic. At the time of the inspection, a small number of staff had not refreshed training in safeguarding, medication and first aid. Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 5 Effective working partnerships have been established with a range of agencies and professionals. Staff contribute to a multidisciplinary approach by attending meetings relating to care, health, education and safeguarding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers maintain good oversight of care planning and how this affects the children accessing the service. They implement a range of effective internal quality assurance processes that are used to further develop and improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The views of children are regularly sought and used to inform day-to-day practice. However, the manager does not incorporate these views into the six-monthly review of quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The information relating to staffing in the home’s statement of purpose is potentially misleading. In addition to the core team, it lists many staff who hold substantive posts elsewhere in the organisation. It is not made clear how these staff are used and creates the impression of a much larger team than it actually is. Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(b)) 6 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (2)(b)) 6 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1)) 6 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should amend the statement of purpose to ensure that it gives an accurate description of how staff from across the organisation are used by this service. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The registered person must ensure that all staff complete any outstanding mandatory training refreshers. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should consider how records can be better organised to ensure that they are easily accessible. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 7

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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 for children’s home: SC369857 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Victoria Square, PO Box 29, Bolton BL1 1RU

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Inspector

Paul Scott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC369857 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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