Children's Home run by Nottinghamshire YMCA in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 1 SC444681 Registered provider: Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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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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: 14 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 for children’s home: SC444681 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2020 Full Good 11/12/2018 Full Outstanding 24/10/2017 Full Outstanding 13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 3

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improvement to be good

This inspection identified shortfalls which mean that the overall progress and experience of children is not yet good. Weaknesses in safeguarding and in the home’s management also contribute to inconsistent standards of care.

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improvement to be good

Not all children benefit from programmes of therapy that have been recommended by health professionals. Because children have not had access to therapy, their emotional and psychological needs have not been fully addressed.

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improvement to be good

There are some inconsistencies in staff practice, particularly in how children’s positive behaviour is recognised, celebrated and rewarded. As a result, some children are not given the support and encouragement that they need to do well.

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improvement to be good

Children engage in education. They make clear progress at school and benefit from educational plans that are tailored to their individual learning objectives.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between staff and children are generally positive. Children feel that staff care about them. However, the turnover of staff has had an impact on some children’s important relationships. As a result, not all children feel they have strong, trusting relationships with the current staff group.

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improvement to be good

Although there have been few safeguarding issues in the home, when there have been incidents, staff have not always understood their roles and responsibilities. Staff failed to consult with managers to seek guidance. This has led to a failure to protect a child from potential risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

In one incident, staff undertook a physical intervention on a child. The intervention used a restraint technique that had not been approved or taught. The intervention was not necessary or proportionate. The registered manager was not aware of this use of restraint. The physical intervention record was not available on inspection.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has not ensured that the regulator is notified of significant safeguarding incidents. This reduces the capacity of Ofsted to carry out its safeguarding and regulatory functions.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not accurate, clear or up to date. This means that staff lack clarity about risk management strategies and are not provided with good-quality guidance on how to protect children from potential harm. Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 4 Recruitment practice is safe. But recruitment records do not show that there has been sufficient attention to detail in pre-recruitment vetting processes.

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good

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the registered manager has provided direct support to children. She has covered gaps in the rota and has supported staff to ensure that there is consistency of care at the home.

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good

Not all staff have been provided with training as specified in the home’s statement of purpose. A member of staff without sufficient training or experience has been lone working in the home. Such arrangements do not ensure the safe care of children.

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good

The registered manager has failed to escalate concerns to secure resources for a child. A child’s medical report stated that a child required therapeutic input. This was necessary to manage risks. Significant delays have led to a child experiencing anxiety and unmet needs.

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good

A child’s views about their well-being have not been balanced against what is in the child’s best interests. Particularly in supporting a child to engage with support for potential depression.

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good

Important records are not well organised in the home. For example, the registered manager was unable to locate missing-from-care and restraint records during the inspection. This does not show management oversight of significant incidents.

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good

Children are not encouraged to read their records or to add further information to them. This limits their participation in their care and fails to include their voice. Children’s case records contained potentially stigmatising language. This fails to ensure an accurate, full and professional account of the child’s behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 5

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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

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to securing the resources necessary to meet children’s emotional and psychological needs, without undue delay. 25 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in 25 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 6 the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to supporting children to engage with services to support their emotional and psychological well- being.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are accurate, clear, up to date and relevant. 25 March 2022

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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

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

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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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)) 25 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff seek guidance prior to making a decision which potentially places a child at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate.

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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

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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having the training as specified in the statement of purpose and not allowing staff to lone work when they have not got the relevant training or experience. 25 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner— 25 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 8 records of the use of measures of control, discipline or restraint (see regulation 35);

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36);

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Requirement Due date

other records (see regulation 37). (Regulation 38 (h)(i)(j))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to records that are not accessible, including incident forms, records for the use of measures of restraint and ensuring that there are clear rotas which show a record of actual hours worked.

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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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; or

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)) 25 March 2022

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour using positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further

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Recommendations

information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6) Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 9

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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: SC444681 10

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Registered provider:

Registered provider address: 16 St. James’s Street, Nottingham NG1 6FG

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Registered provider:

Responsible individual: Anthony Gallaher

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Inspector

Amanda Ellis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC444681 11 regulates and inspects 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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