Children's Home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 1 SC066747 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides care for up to five children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 28 July 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 2 A monitoring visit carried out on 25 March 2021 found that there were serious failings that had a detrimental impact on the care, well-being and safety of children. As a result, two compliance notices were issued. These related to the admission of children in line with the homes statement of purpose and failing to notify Ofsted of significant safeguarding concerns.

p.2

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Three further monitoring visits have taken place. On 4 May 2021 the compliance notice relating to the admission of children was reissued, and a further compliance notice was issued, relating to children’s risk assessments. On 23 June 2021 the monitoring visit found that insufficient action had been taken to address the two compliance notices. These compliance notices were therefore reissued. These were confirmed as having been fully met during the monitoring visit 28 July 2021. Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/11/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s progress and experiences of living at the home vary. Some children speak positively; they feel safe and understand their plans. Staff advocate for them and support their attendance at meetings. However, some children do not feel that staff respond consistently to their needs and behaviours, which is affecting their views of living at the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

The home is festively decorated. It is spacious and provides ample room for children to live and relax. Children’s bedrooms have signs of personalisation, and they say that they are happy with them. A window that has been damaged for many months has not yet been repaired. This continues to detract from the homeliness of living areas.

p.4

improvement to be good

The relationships between key workers and children are strong. Children state that they are ‘grateful’ to have the support of staff and ‘could not ask for better’. Children regularly engage in planned discussions that are pertinent to their care, and they receive support at times of emotional distress. However, children’s risks have not reduced as a result of the support they have received.

p.4

improvement to be good

The model of care practised at the home allows for close partnership working and a multi-agency approach to help recognise and reduce risk. Psychologists are integral in the home and build positive relationships with children to promote therapeutic intervention. Children benefit from specialist advisors making decisions about their care.

p.4

improvement to be good

The staff welcome family members to the home and promote children’s family time. One child regularly attends activities with her grandfather, and another child has requested to spend time with their siblings. Staff are taking action to ensure children can spend time with people who are important to them.

p.4

improvement to be good

Since the monitoring visit, one child has successfully moved on from the home into semi-independent accommodation. Their views were sought, and the move was well planned. The child now receives ongoing outreach support from familiar staff.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children’s educational outcomes and progress vary. One child is a high attender and, through daily attendance, is meeting their targets. Staff ensure learning opportunities are created even when children are not accessing formal educational provision. Not all children fully engage, which limits their future prospects. In the home, basic life skills are being learned, and one child’s confidence is building through support to experience the ‘working world’. Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 5

p.4

improvement to be good

Children’s safety does not always improve as a result of living at the home. Staff have not been able to successfully apply interventions to ensure that children make progress and are able to keep themselves safe. Staff have implemented safety plans when one child’s risks have increased. These are regularly reviewed by partnership agencies and have evolved with the child’s needs. However, the manager has not recognised the ambiguous information in the plans or when staff have not followed them accurately. Consequently, the safety plans have not reduced the child’s risk of harm when not in the home. Failure to follow the safety plan could lead to an increase in risk to the child. Senior managers challenge supporting agencies when they have not adhered to the plan. This does help ensure children receive the services and support needed to keep them safe.

p.5

improvement to be good

A failure to resolve issues at the earliest opportunity has resulted in one child’s behaviour escalating and leading to the use of physical intervention. Police involvement and details of the follow-up action to safeguard the child’s welfare, taken in response to ligatures on this occasion, are not recorded. The quality of support children receive is therefore unclear. Not all staff are trained in managing ligatures or are aware of where to locate the ligatures that are available in the home. This places children at risk of harm.

p.5

improvement to be good

Behaviour management plans are not in place for all children. Children’s risk assessments are inconsistently updated when incidents occur and do not provide enough detail. The guidance for staff relating to one child’s self-injurious behaviour is not explicit. As a result, staff are unaware of the safety measures that they may use, which could limit their response in an emergency situation.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff use missing-from-home protocols and liaise with police when the whereabouts of children is not known. Children who are often missing engage in independent return home interviews. This ensures that children have support from a consistent person outside of the home.

p.5

improvement to be good

Allegations against staff are managed well. Managers initiate safeguarding procedures and identify protective measures to safeguard all involved. Multi-agency meetings occur promptly, and the managers listen to children’s concerns through direct work. This ensures children are able to share their views and feel their voices are heard.

p.5

good

Quality assurance processes are not yet good enough to ensure the manager has sufficient oversight of the home. The manager has not identified the inconsistencies and gaps in documents relating to children’s care arrangements. When incidents have occurred, debriefs and management evaluations are not always completed Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 6 within the required timeframe and often lack a detailed analysis. This does not provide a thorough review of how children are being supported.

p.5

good

The manager notifies the regulator when serious incidents occur but has not provided timely updates when child protection enquiries have concluded. This prevents the regulator from effectively monitoring safeguarding concerns.

p.6

good

A new admission to the home has had a negative impact on the manager and staff team’s capacity to focus on each child’s needs adequately. Staff say they are understaffed and feel stretched in their daily tasks and addressing the individual needs of the children. The manager’s plans for additional staffing to support the home have been unsuccessful. The local authority’s out-of-hours duty team has been deployed to deliver the safety plans for one child. This limits the positive impact staff can have on children’s lives but does help keep children safe.

p.6

good

An independent person routinely monitors the home. The visitor provides a detailed report offering critical challenge and an external insight into the operation of the home. The manager responds to the action plans provided. This helps them to make improvements at the earliest opportunity.

p.6

good

The improved quality of care review report now shows that regular consultation takes place. The views of stakeholders are periodically sought, and a ‘You said we did’ book is now available for children. This gives the children a voice in their home and provides feedback for the manager to help develop the service further. Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 7

p.6

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.7

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.7

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)(a)(i)(iii) (b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure children’s risk assessments and safety plans contain accurate information about the timings for checking children’s welfare when they are not in the home and how to respond to the use of ligatures.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments and safety plans are understood and followed by staff who are trained in line with children’s needs, specifically in relation to ligatures. 25 January 2022

p.7

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.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

p.7

Requirement Due date

and promotes their welfare. 25 January 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

p.8

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(d)(h))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that sufficient staffing is in place before considering a child’s admission to ensure the quality of care for children is not affected.

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that oversight monitors staff implementing children’s plans.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

p.8

Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

p.8

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(i)(ii))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person is to ensure that incident debriefs and evaluations are completed within the timescales set by regulation. 25 January 2022

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.8

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

p.8

Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii)) 25 January 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 9

p.8

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that damaged caused to the home is addressed in a timely way. The living room window is to be repaired to ensure that children’s living space is homely and inviting. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.9

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: SC066747 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sheffield City Council, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

p.10

Inspectors

Alex Howitt, Social Care Inspector Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066747 11 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.10

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.11

Inspectors

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

p.11

Inspectors

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

p.11