Children's Home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 1 SC033723 Registered provider: Leeds City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to five young people. The purpose of the home is to prepare young people aged between 15 and 17 years old for independence.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was closed temporarily during a period of renovation. Once the renovation was complete, the manager, staff team and young people moved from another home into this setting on 22 December 2021. This was a carefully planned transition.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted for this home but is registered for another home, which is currently being renovated. He is in the process of submitting his application to register.

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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. We last visited this setting on 4 November 2020 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 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: 17 September 2019 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Compliance notices were given at the assurance visit in September 2020. These were met in full at the monitoring visit in November 2020. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2019 Full Good 13/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/07/2018 Full Good 30/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have positive relationships with staff and will accept support and guidance. This is evident in the key-work sessions that have taken place and the engagement in their plans of all three young people currently living in the home. Young people are making progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and support young people to process their emotions. Staff validate how young people are feeling and discuss this in an open and caring manner. This is helping the young people to rationalise and reflect on their feelings. As a result of this approach, young people are more willing to engage in discussions and feel that they are listened to. Young people receive support to develop their independence skills. The staff adapt their approaches to the individual needs of the young people and understand the potential barriers to engagement. This helps young people to engage and progress at a level suitable to them, while still working towards their overall goals. The recent move to this home was managed well by the staff team. Young people were involved in decisions regarding the move, including choosing to move in prior to Christmas. For one young person, the new area has had a negative impact on

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

their mental health. However, staff are responding well to this and ensure that support is in place for the young person. Young people are supported and encouraged to build wider support networks around them. This includes reconnecting with previous foster carers, as well as maintaining and progressing existing family relationships. This provides young people with additional support, both now and when they move out. When young people move out, they continue to receive support from the staff team. This is on both a formal and a voluntary basis. The staff genuinely care about the young people they have supported and enjoy speaking to them. This provides young people with the support they need even after they have moved out. Young people struggle to engage in attending health appointments. The staff have adapted to this, for example by using online appointments and arranging visits to the home to ensure that young people’s health needs are met. However, staff did

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

not make efforts to clarify with health professionals how one young person should be taking their medication and whether there would be any adverse effects from changing the time it is given. This matter was resolved during the inspection. Young people’s plans are clear and focused on their current needs and aims. Their voice is clearly heard within these plans. The plans are reviewed monthly and capture the progress young people have made as well as their next steps. This helps to focus the support needed for young people and increases their engagement. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 5 Not all young people are engaging in education and there have been some delays in securing a placement for one young person. However, the manager is working well with other agencies to address these delays and has put numerous plans in place to support young people to engage. This includes enrolling young people on short-term

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

qualification courses. The staff team also recognises the importance of role modelling a good work ethos. As a result, some young people have part-time jobs in the local community. This helps to support the young people financially and provides them with opportunities and experience to gain the skills they need for the future. The home has been renovated to a high standard and the young people are helping to personalise it. However, one young person had to wait several days for additional bedroom items to be provided after requesting them. This was addressed during the inspection.

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

Young people have built positive relationships with staff, which is helping them to engage in conversations regarding safety. The staff team works restoratively following incidents of negative behaviour, to repair these relationships. This also helps to ensure that young people understand the potential impact of their actions. When police are used, this is as a last resort and does not lead to young people being criminalised. This is helping the young people to take responsibility for their actions.

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

Risks for young people are well known and risk assessments provide clear guidance for staff to follow. Staff follow these plans and give young people a consistent response. This helps to protect young people from harm.

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

Episodes of going missing from home have reduced significantly. Staff follow the plans in place and have often intercepted and distracted young people to prevent them from going missing. Staff recognise the links between young people going missing and child sexual exploitation, and have worked with the young people to build their self-esteem and reduce this risk. Young people are now more empowered, and they make informed decisions that help to keep them safer.

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

Incidents of negative behaviour and damage have significantly reduced in number. Records demonstrate that, when incidents do occur, staff respond well. They understand the underlying emotional trauma linked to negative behaviour and support the young people to work through this. The manager has excellent oversight of these incidents and is quick to identify any learning points and implement change.

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

Restraints are rarely used. When they are, the manager has excellent oversight and ensures that everyone involved has a full debrief to identify any learning and to repair relationships. The manager also has a debrief by a senior manager to ensure that he has the support needed. This helps staff and young people to move forward together in a positive way. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 6 Staff respond well to potentially concerning information shared by the young people. They are inquisitive and try to gather details without asking direct questions or making the young people feel they are at fault. All information is shared with relevant professionals, including the police, regardless of how much detail is gathered. This ensures that action is taken and support is put in place for the young people.

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

Staff know how to respond to allegations and the manager acts on the information provided, whether from young people or staff. The manager prioritises the safety of the young people and staff and understands his safeguarding responsibilities. This helps to protect young people from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear ethos and vision for the home to support young people to build the ability to live independently. He understands the importance of young people having these skills and how the staff can support them to achieve independence. Staff understand this ethos and are committed to ensuring that it is met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff are given time and support to understand how the home operates. The manager understands that the home operates differently to others and ensures that new staff have a full induction and understanding of their role. This ensures that staff work consistently with the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and well supported by the manager. Therapeutic support helps to provide further guidance to the staff team, and gives staff an opportunity to reflect and gain new understanding and skills. The manager responds well to any feedback regarding how he can support staff further, and he implements any changes needed. This helps to upskill staff and drives best practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises that staff know the young people best and he empowers staff to make decisions and try new ideas. The manager maintains good oversight of this and makes changes if needed. Staff have the confidence to make decisions and young people trust that staff can respond to their needs without relying on the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular consultations and team meetings enable staff to be consistent in the care they provide and to share ideas. Visitors to team meetings from other agencies provide staff with new information and ideas to try. This means that young people benefit from a well-informed, trained staff team that has the skills to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works collaboratively with other professionals and seeks support when needed. Joint professional meetings are held with the staff team to ensure that everyone is working together to support the young people. This provides young people with a consistent response from professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 7 Impact risk assessments are used when young people move into the home. However, one young person’s impact risk assessment showed that they did not meet the home’s specific remit at the time of moving in. The manager responded well to this and put plans in place to ensure that staff were able to support the new young person. This helped the young person to settle. Nevertheless, the manager recognises that this had the potential to change the home’s ethos as set out in the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises his own abilities and is willing to ask for help and support to ensure that young people and staff receive the support they need. This has included another manager undertaking staff supervisions. Not only did this ensure that staff had the forum to express how they were feeling but also provided another point of view to identify any shortfalls or learning. The regulation 44 visitor supports the manager to ensure that tasks are completed and there are no shortfalls in documentation. The manager is confident in ensuring that any recommendations link to the way in which the home operates to ensure that these are beneficial to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has clear plans in place to continue to develop. He works with other managers in the organisation to share good practice. This helps to build and develop his own staff team and those in other homes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that young people have their basic needs met, as any good parent would. This specifically relates to replacing items quickly in young people’s bedrooms when they are damaged or unusable and that items for young people are suitable for their needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they approach an expert such as a general medical practitioner, community pharmacist or designated nurse for children looked after when the home has questions or concerns about a young person’s medication. This includes when it is not clear whether medication needs to be taken at the same time each day or could be taken at night. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home can respond effectively to the young person’s assessed needs as recorded in the young person’s relevant plans. This includes if the young person is ready for the specific purpose of the home of preparing young people for independence. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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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: SC033723 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Leeds City Council, Civic Hall, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 1UR

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Inspectors

Debra Boldy, Social Care Inspector Ceri Evans, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC033723 10 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. 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

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Inspectors

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 .

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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