Children's Home run by Norfolk County Council in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 1 SC068076 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to two children. It provides residential care for children when family, foster care or other community-based placements are not possible or desirable at that time. The manager registered with Ofsted in May 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 inadequate

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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

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: SC068076 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/08/2021 Full Good 03/07/2019 Full Good 04/09/2018 Full Good 19/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 3

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improvement to be good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Progress for children has been mixed. Children build some positive relationships with staff. One child said that they get on well with all staff and the other child has positive relationships with some. However, significant shortfalls in relation to effective managerial oversight of the home and the support provided to staff have affected children’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Help for children to gain the skills that they will need to move on from the home is inconsistent. Children are encouraged to learn some skills. However, one child who has been living at the home for some time has no clear plan on how staff are supporting their independence. A lack of help for children in this area means that they are not being as well prepared for their futures as possible.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is not welcoming or homely for children. There are some large holes in a wall which have not been adequately repaired for a significant period and staff have failed to remove graffiti from an internal door for several weeks. The children’s bathroom needs decorating as the paintwork is flaking and there are numerous marks on the walls. At the time of the inspection, decoration of some areas of the home was taking place, but the environment had declined to an unacceptable state of repair before action was taken.

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improvement to be good

Some communal areas of the home are locked at night. Staff gave different reasons for why this is done. The manager said that it was due to concerns in relation to one child’s access to food overnight. However, there is no record of the decision-making process that has led to this restriction and it is not kept under regular review.

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improvement to be good

One child who has recently moved to the home has settled in well. A group dynamic risk assessment was completed in advance of their move which considered both children’s needs and the impact that they may have on each other. The other child at the home had lived there for a significant period on their own, but they have adapted well to the change in dynamic. Good support for children to move to the home makes this a more positive experience for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to build and maintain relationships with people who are important to them. One child who had not seen their parent for a significant time is now able to seem them unsupervised, and staff have supported the relationship to be able to reach this point. This helps children develop relationships that can be supportive to them now and in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 4

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always provide children with clear behavioural expectations and consistent boundaries. Some specific behaviours and triggers for behavioural incidents are not identified in one child’s plans. This means there are no strategies for staff to manage these behaviours. This has led to inconsistencies in how staff respond to the child. Direct work with the child following such incidents, and more generally to help them manage their emotions at times of distress, is not consistently completed. Several significant incidents have occurred which have led to the child being arrested. Inconsistent responses from staff and a lack of behavioural support for the child have meant that not all measures have been taken to try and reduce incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff have, on occasion, used restraint to help manage behavioural incidents. Use of restraint is appropriate and proportionate. However, records of restraint are poor and follow-up work after the incidents is not always undertaken. Records do not always include signatures of those who have used the measure or of the manager. Use of restraint is not discussed with the child involved and staff debriefs are not always completed. Poor recording of and follow up on the use of restraint means that there is not effective oversight of the measures and learning from incidents is missed.

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improvement to be good

The home’s fire risk assessment was due for review in October 2021, but this has not been carried out. The manager said that this was due to a change in the company who undertake this review. However, she has failed to follow up in relation to the delay. A fire drill has not taken place since one child moved to the home and no work has been undertaken with them in relation to the home’s fire procedures. Shortfalls in fire safety mean that the risk in this area is not being properly managed.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and are clear on how to report any concerns about children’s safety. One allegation has been made against a staff member. Appropriate action was taken in response to this, with measures put in place to protect the child and staff member. A referral was made to the local authority designated officer. The resulting investigation, undertaken by managers external to the home, made sure that the allegation was looked into as necessary. Ensuring that safeguarding procedures are followed means that children are kept safe and that what they say is taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not provide a visible presence at the home. Staff said that support from managers is not always at the level that they need. Not all staff have received regular supervision, including staff who are new to their roles. When supervisions have taken place, records of them are brief. The records do not evidence how supervisions are used to consider how well staff are meeting children’s Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 5 needs and to think about how well incidents are managed. A failure to provide regular, good-quality supervision means that the opportunities that supervision provides to help staff development are being missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said that the induction process for new staff members does not provide them with the necessary support to undertake their role. Induction records were not available to be viewed during the inspection. Staff undertake a good range of other training. However, some staff have not worked with children previously and a failure to provide a suitable induction means that they are not properly prepared for their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring of the home by managers is ineffective. There is a lack of curiosity in management reviews of behavioural incidents, and these reviews are not always completed. Managers have failed to identify triggers for behaviours, evaluate how staff are managing incidents, seek children’s views and use these to identify learning and contribute to how staff are caring for children. Children’s plans are not always updated to include new behaviours. The shortfalls in the home’s environment, fire safety and oversight of restraint records all relate to a failure by managers to provide effective oversight of children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The internal quality of care review does not provide effective analysis of care for children. It is a mainly descriptive report. Where it does identify some areas for development, these do not always relate to the actions identified to make improvements. It also contains very limited feedback from children and none from external professionals. These shortfalls limit the effectiveness of the report in identifying and driving improvement at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The independent person’s reports have consistently failed to include feedback from external professionals. This affects the independent person’s ability to make a fully informed judgement as to whether children are safeguarded effectively and their well-being is promoted. While the manager and independent person have identified this shortfall, actions taken have not resulted in improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from external professionals is mixed. Staff have built up good links with local police, which have helped provide good support for staff and for children to have a more positive image of the police. Professionals said that communication with staff is good, but some concerns were raised in relation to how much progress one child has made while living at the home. This related to some of the shortfalls identified earlier in this report about how staff manage behaviours and help children to develop independence skills. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vi)) 30 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the home is appropriately decorated and that repairs are carried out promptly. 20 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 7 The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)) 30 May 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))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 30 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 8 In particular, ensure that the fire risk assessment is regularly reviewed and that children understand the fire evacuation procedures.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 May 2022

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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 name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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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 spoken to the user about the measure; and

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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 (3)(a)(vi)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 16 May 2022

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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 quality of care provided for children; 30 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 9 the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children can access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home must only be made when this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘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 for children’s home: SC068076 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Norfolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068076 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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