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

Inspection report children's home: SC464762 1 SC464762 Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority short-breaks service provides short periods of residential care for up to six children with physical and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in April 2013 and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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 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 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: SC464762 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2018 Full Good 20/11/2017 Full Good 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC464762 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. Through the use of communication aids, they begin to influence decisions that affect their daily lives. Consequently, children develop independence skills and learn how to care for themselves. One child has learnt to tie her shoelaces and prepare breakfast for herself.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, children have continued to enjoy socialising with other children during their short-breaks. One family member told the inspector, ‘I feel he is safe when he comes here and the staff know him very well. I feel comfortable leaving him here; I know he is being looked after well. He likes his stays’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children seek appropriate physical affection and contact from staff, which staff welcome. This can include holding hands and giving appropriate hugs. Staff know the children very well and have a good knowledge of their individual needs and vulnerabilities. This gives children a sense of acceptance and security when they are away from their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilful in supporting children to express their views, wishes and feelings. They modify their communication skills through a range of aids to meet the needs of individual children. As a result, children can contribute to decisions that affect their lives and feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The learning experiences for children are good. Staff encourage children to succeed in their education and make sure that all achievements, no matter how small, are celebrated. This enables children to feel valued and have a sense of pride in what they achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children’s health needs are met. They have specific knowledge about children’s medical needs. Children’s health plans are followed to ensure that children have the correct treatment. As a result, children experience safe care when staff attend to their personal needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have good partnership working with others. This includes parents, teachers, special-care nurses and social workers. Children benefit from this tailored support, which has a positive impact on the progress they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite the good progress, children’s records are not always regularly reviewed and updated. For example, documents tracking children’s progress do not always contain the relevant information. This means that staff are not able to measure children’s achievements or what further support they may need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a stimulating and warm environment. The home is nurturing, and its décor and design meet the specific needs of each child. Children take pride in and enjoy their own personal space; they have an array of personal possessions. Inspection report children's home: SC464762 4 However, some aspects of the home are not welcoming. For example, children watch the television through a glass cabinet without a good safeguarding reason, and this is not kept under review. This is despite children having televisions in their bedrooms, which they use without the need for these.

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

Children who have complex health and learning needs enjoy their short-breaks because knowledgeable and skilled staff protect them. Staff work collaboratively with parents, family members and professionals to mitigate risks and ensure children are supported. Consequently, staff are aware of safeguarding risks and respond to them promptly.

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

Staff are highly trained to understand safeguarding and child protection. In addition, staff receive training to carry out medical procedures such as the safe administration of emergency medication. This comprehensive training helps to ensure that children’s health needs are met effectively.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home are rare. However, there are risk assessments in place with strategies to follow if children go missing from home. Staff have a good understanding of procedures and the importance of liaising with the police and other local services. These measures promote children’s safety and demonstrate that staff care about them and want them to return home safely.

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

Staff have conversations with children about a range of topics, and how to manage their emotions and anxieties. However, staff do not always have discussions with children to celebrate the positive work they do to enrich children’s lives. This is a missed opportunity to capture these positive experiences.

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

Incidents of restraint are rare and are always a last resort. The registered manager and staff implement strategies well to de-escalate children’s behaviours. Staff have a good understanding of their behavioural management policies. Children benefit from this approach and this contributes to their positive experiences. However, staff do not always provide detailed records of incidents when low-level restraints have been used.

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

Staff ensure that each child has an individualised risk assessment to reflect their specific vulnerabilities. However, staff do not always show professional curiosity and vigilance. For example, on several occasions, staff failed to monitor a child’s electronic devices when there was a potential risk of exploitation. Furthermore, not all staff read and understand children’s risk assessments. This has the potential to leave vulnerable children at risk of harm.

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good

Throughout the pandemic, the registered manager has not ensured that all core staff complete a range of refresher mandatory training courses in caring for children. For Inspection report children's home: SC464762 5 example, some staff’s training has expired in topics such as equality and diversity, and manual handling. This omission has the potential to compromise the children’s safety and the staff’s ability to update their knowledge.

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good

The registered manager does not always use his monitoring and review systems effectively. For example, he has failed to ensure that all staff who have worked in the home for a long time have satisfactory qualifications to meet the needs of children. Two of the staff members have not achieved the level 3 diploma for residential childcare within the required time frame.

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good

Staff provide positive feedback and confirm they are well supported by the registered manager. Staff benefit from regular team meetings. However, the quality and frequency of staff supervision are variable. Furthermore, the registered manager does not always use supervision and appraisals effectively to monitor staff progress and professional development. This does not promote staff development and improve practice within the home.

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good

Children do not receive consistent care due to a continued shortage of staff. In the past 12 months, core staff have been temporarily relocated to other homes. This has negatively impacted on what services are provided to the children. One child’s carer told the inspector that he likes the home but ‘sometimes we have to make other arrangements as the service is not available because there are not enough staff’. Senior managers have a recruitment campaign in place.

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good

Managers do not always ensure that the independent visitor to the home seeks the views of children, their families or social workers. This may limit the quality of their view as children’s views and external feedback are not always sought.

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good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He is ambitious and passionate about providing a good quality of care to the children. He works closely with professionals, and feedback is positive. These partnerships mean that children are protected, feel secure and know that everyone has their best interests at heart.

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good

The registered manager is very responsive to feedback and advice from the regulatory body. He has taken action to meet the requirement raised at the last inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC464762 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 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring that risk assessments are reviewed and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that all aspects of the home are welcoming. 18 March 2022

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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— 18 March 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC464762 7 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring that all staff receive refresher mandatory training.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have sufficient staff to provide consistent care to the children.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring they use internal monitoring systems more effectively.

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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,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate 18 March 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC464762 8 qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that all staff have completed the relevant qualification in residential childcare.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that all staff receive regular reflective supervision and appraisals. 18 March 2022

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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

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff ensuring that all children’s record are updated. 18 March 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC464762 9

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that physical intervention records contain all the relevant information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraphs 9.59).  The registered manager should ensure that the appointed independent person undertakes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5).

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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: SC464762 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall WS1 1TP

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC464762 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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