Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 1 SC400301 Registered provider: Hertfordshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home, which is run by a local authority, provides care for up to five children aged between 11 and 18 with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 28 May 2021.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 3 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 20 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/11/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/05/2019 Full Good 09/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, five children have moved into the home and six children have moved on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children all have education places. One child is working towards her GCSE exams. Since living at the home, another child has been helped to re-engage with education. The manager works closely with the virtual school and education providers to ensure that children get the help that they need. The staff’s understanding and support enable the children to progress and learn at a pace that is appropriate for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have health reviews and attend health appointments. One child has complex mental health needs. They attend regular therapy sessions and have good support from specialist health professionals. One child has access to a substance misuse case worker. Children get expert help to meet their health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to develop independence skills that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. One child has a part-time job and is learning to drive. Children are encouraged to spend free time out of the home with their friends. Children are building important independence skills and friendships, which help to prepare them for when they move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how important it is for children to explore their identity. Children are involved with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth groups, and one child chairs the group that they attend. Staff are respectful of the children’s wishes about how they would like to be addressed. Children trust the staff, talk openly and feel comfortable to be themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to participate in different activities. One child is part of an athletics club, and another child enjoys swimming. The children benefit from events that staff arrange, including a Christmas ball. The children’s participation in activities improves their self-esteem and gives them new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have planned moves in and out of the home whenever possible. Emergency moves into the home are managed well. Some moves out of the home have been unplanned, and these has been to keep children safe. These moves have been managed with sensitivity. Children are helped to settle into the home and children who move out are supported to experience a positive ending. Some children keep in touch with the manager and staff when they move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a good standard; it is vibrant and welcoming. The home is very spacious with plenty of communal areas and separate snug spaces for children who want privacy. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their own tastes. The Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 4 home benefits from a large garden for children to enjoy. Staff help the children to feel at home.

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

The manager and staff have taken appropriate actions to help keep children safe. Despite every effort being made to keep children safe, situations out of the staff’s control have meant that, at times, children have been exposed to risky situations. Social workers are impressed with how well safeguarding incidents are managed. The staff are confident and well equipped to manage safeguarding incidents.

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

The manager shares risk assessments with all relevant professionals so that children who are at risk of exploitation are safeguarded. Regularly reviewing the risks that children are exposed to and agreeing protocols through joined-up working enable an effective multi-agency approach to safeguarding children.

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

There have been a high number of incidents of children going missing from the home. The manager has worked closely with the police to agree effective protocols. The staff alert railway station staff when a child has gone missing, which has prevented children from being able to board trains. The staff manage incidents well, which has resulted in a notable decrease in frequency.

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

There have been several incidents of physical intervention. Staff are suitably trained. Interventions have been appropriate, proportionate and necessary. Children are spoken to following incidents and the manager has created a reflective debrief for staff to learn from incidents. There has been a notable decrease in the frequency of physical interventions over time.

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

Behaviour support plans are individualised. The plans give staff good guidance on proactive strategies and de-escalation techniques to help children manage difficult emotions. The plans include children’s views on how they want to be supported. Staff understand how to best support children, and the children are developing safe coping strategies.

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good

The manager is working towards a level 5 qualification in health and social care.

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good

Following a significant incident, the manager failed to identify that staff had not fully followed the home’s protocols. This led to staff practice not being addressed, and there has been no learning from the incident. The monitoring of the incident was poor and did not help staff to develop their practice.

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good

The manager has not ensured that staff training records reflect all staff training. The training records are unclear and confusing. This makes it difficult to monitor when some staff training is due to be refreshed. The manager has poor oversight of training records. Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 5 The manager has not completed a review of the home every six months as required. This reduces his oversight and ability to effectively monitor the home or make continuous improvements.

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good

On one occasion, the manager failed to identify or explore a significant gap in previous employment dates for a new employee. This does not ensure that all reasonable checks are made to ensure suitability to work with children.

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good

On several occasions, the manager has failed to notify Ofsted of significant incidents without delay. He has acted to safeguard children. However, failure to notify Ofsted reduces Ofsted’s ability to monitor the home effectively.

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good

All eligible staff hold a relevant level 3 diploma. Three staff are working towards the qualification within the agreed timescale. Due to exceptional circumstances, one staff member of staff has been given an agreed extension to achieve the qualification.

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good

The staff and manager benefit from regular consultations with a psychotherapist to discuss the children. The consultations help staff to understand the impact of trauma on children. The manager and staff also have monthly therapeutic process groups and ad hoc one-to-one support from the psychotherapist. This intervention enables staff to work in a therapeutic way to support the children.

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good

The children have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and on occasions have had to self-isolate. Due to COVID-19 and difficulties with recruitment, there have been staff shortages. Managers and staff have worked overtime and agency staff have been used to ensure that children are safe and well cared for. The manager has appointed three new members of staff who are due to start in post soon.

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good

The manager has met five of the seven requirements that were raised at the assurance visit. These relate to the environment of the home, safeguarding, staffing and staff training. Two requirements are restated, in respect of the manager’s six- monthly monitoring and providing timely notifications of significant events to Ofsted. Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that incidents are monitored and reviewed and that staff training records are updated to reflect the training that staff have received. 3 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; 17 February 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 7 the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that employment gaps are identified and explored as part of the recruitment process.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the assurance visit and is restated. 17 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every six months. (Regulation 45 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the assurance visit and is restated. 3 March 2022

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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: SC400301 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hertfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford SG13 8DQ

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC400301 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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