Children's home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 1 SC034162 Registered provider: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides care and accommodation for up to seven children who may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke with all three children who live in the home during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2009.

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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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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: 17 December 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2019 Full Outstanding 11/02/2019 Full Outstanding 16/01/2018 Full Outstanding 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in the home and enjoy trusting relationships with the staff, who know them well. The children receive individualised packages of care from the staff, who are creative in the ways that they deliver care and communicate with the children. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff managed the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions well. They ensured that this was a positive experience for the children who did not fully understand what was happening. As a result, the children continued to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children’s health needs are met. Children receive support from a range of professionals, including specialist services. Staff advocate on behalf of the children and raise complaints with health professionals when appropriate. This ensures that the children’s physical and emotional well-being continue to be supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school, and have excellent attendance. The staff attend all education meetings and communicate with schools daily, by way of a handover. One education professional described this as being very helpful because it allows the school to understand in advance any issues, which they can then respond to accordingly. This approach to partnership working supports the children to make steady progress in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that the children’s views are regularly sought. Children are supported through an independent advocacy service in their monthly children’s meetings. This means that the children have a say in their care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Decorating tasks identified at the last inspection have been completed. Despite this, feedback from some staff and professionals raised concerns about the home environment and the ‘institutionalised feel’ of the home. There are some outstanding maintenance tasks identified throughout the home which could lead to children inadvertently hurting themselves.

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

Children are safe living in the home. Staff respond to the immediate risks and act to reduce them. There are no missing-from-home incidents and few sanctions are given, which is attributable to the staffing ratios as well as the relationships that staff enjoy with the children.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed, which provides assurance that they are suitably vetted and qualified to provide care.

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

Records, including children’s risk assessments and individual crisis support plans, are clear, easy to read and have a detailed plan of how the risks will be managed. Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 4 However, some known risks are not included in these children’s case records. This means that the staff do not have an accurate understanding of the risks when caring for the children.

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

Before children move into the home, the registered manager completes an impact risk assessment. While the identified risks and the strategies in place to reduce the risks are clear, not all risks have been considered. There is also little analysis of risk or consideration of how each child’s behaviours may impact on the other children. The lack of a robust matching process means that the children are potentially placed at risk.

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

One child’s living area was locked on both days of the inspection without a clear rationale for doing so. This denies the child access to this area of the home and creates an institutionalised environment for the child.

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

Records of physical intervention are not completed as required. Children’s debriefs are not consistently undertaken, and there is a lack of evaluation by the registered manager of the effectiveness of the hold. It was also identified that one record was not completed in the appropriate timescale. The lack of consistent management oversight means that it cannot be established whether the holds are safe, necessary and proportionate.

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

The inspector’s review of the records identifies that there is one serious incident that has not been notified to the regulator. While the incident alone does not meet the threshold for notification, the impact of the incident and the response required to ensure the child’s wellbeing as a result did warrant transparent sharing of information.

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good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has a strong presence within the home and is supported by an experienced and stable team of staff. This means that children benefit from consistent staffing arrangements, which helps to provide them with stability and security.

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good

The independent visitor does not always consult with the children, their parents, professionals, and the staff working in the home. There have been six occasions when children have not been consulted as part of the independent visits, with two visits being undertaken while the children were at school. This means that there is a lack of independent scrutiny, which potentially places children at risk by limiting the opportunities for them to talk.

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good

The provider reviews and monitors the children’s progress and the development of the home. However, the provider’s quality of care review report does not include the feedback and opinions of the children about their home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive. Nor does it include feedback from parents, professionals and the staff. The report also has not been sent to Ofsted within the required timescale. Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 5 These shortfalls hinder Ofsted’s ability to monitor and review the progress that is being made to improve practice and outcomes for children.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision, but the quality of this varies. Reflective practice does not always occur. This means that the staff have limited opportunity to consider their own practice and make any changes.

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good

Training records are kept up to date, and identify when training needs to be renewed. Some staff need to complete safeguarding refresher training. In addition, not all the staff have received training that is specific to the individual needs of the children, in particular the children who have epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder. This means that not all the staff are appropriately trained to care for the children currently living in the home.

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good

The registered manager has monitoring and auditing processes in place. However, these systems are not effective, as they have failed to identify the shortfalls raised. The manager has also failed to identify that the statement of purpose contains the incorrect details for the responsible individual, and that there are recording issues throughout the children’s records. These include inaccurate information being recorded and some children’s records not being signed or dated. This means that the manager has failed to ensure that there are effective and consistent internal auditing processes in place to monitor the performance of the staff and how the home functions. Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to impact risk assessments and risk assessments. 22 April 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—

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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)) 22 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected; 22 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 7 children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the locking of doors.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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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”)—

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vii)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to restraint records. 22 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 8 The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)) 22 April 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 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b) (4)(a) (5)) 30 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all the staff, including the manager, receive regular supervision so that they can reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 4.13) Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 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 children’s home: SC034162 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Bond Street, Wakefield, Yorkshire WF1 2QW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Cheryl Whitehouse

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Inspector

Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034162 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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