Children's home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 1 SC064858 Registered provider: Salford City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by the local authority. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/04/2021 Full Inadequate 21/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has continued to live in the home. A decision was made by senior managers to not move anymore children into the home. The child has been supported to build trusting relationships with staff. As a result, she is making progress in a number of areas in her life. The child said, ‘Things are better now. I am safe. I have learned so many things that will help me when I move on.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Clear goals were set within the child’s plan. The plan is child-focused, regularly updated and identifies the support systems in place. Staff have continued in their efforts to make the plans child friendly. The child now attends meetings and is able to express her views, wishes and feelings. As a result, the child has become central to the planning and decision-making in her life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has gained further independence skills that will support her into adulthood. Staff have considered the child’s learning disability and ensure that the information is delivered in a way that can be understood. As a result, the child has become more confident in a range of tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular meetings take place to ensure that services are working together to provide wraparound support. The child has been allocated support from the adults’ team in the local authority. The child has now been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Staff encourage the child to see the diagnosis as a strength and describe it as her ‘superpower’. This diagnosis means that all services are working to build a package of support into adulthood that will meet the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is currently not in education, employment or training. Managers and staff have worked with the virtual school in an attempt to find a provision that is able to meet the child’s needs. The manager has also reviewed support available in the local offer for children with special education needs and/or disabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide additional support to promote employment opportunities. However, staff do not have clear plans on a day-to-day basis that guide them on what learning would be beneficial for the child. This is a missed opportunity to support the child to regain confidence and improve attainment levels while other education provisions are being looked into.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment has improved. Locks on internal doors have been removed. This allows the child to have free access to all areas of the home. Extensive work has taken place, including new carpets being fitted throughout. Further work is planned, to include replacing the bathrooms, fire doors and radiators. Managers and staff provide appropriate scrutiny and challenge to ensure that any work completed is of a high standard. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 4

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

Staff are now able to keep the child safe. Well-written safety plans provide clear expectations for staff on what they need to do to keep children safe. Multi-agency planning is effective in reducing the risks in the child’s life. The complex safeguarding team worker said, ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the staff. They know her so well and constantly advocate for her needs and they provide a huge advantage for us as practitioners.’

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

Staff are aware of the child’s vulnerability to exploitation. Staff support the child to have healthy relationships. Managers discuss any concerns with relevant agencies in order to work together to safeguard the child. As a result, the child has not been missing from home for several months.

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

Staff are aware of the steps to follow if children’s whereabouts are unknown. However, missing-from-home reports do not clearly document the events. Some of the reports also lack management oversight. This is a missed opportunity for learning, reflection and driving improvement in staff practice. However, these reports were from the time before the new manager was in post and it is evident that all documents have hugely improved since.

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

Restraint is used as a last resort and there have been no physical interventions since August 2021. However, comments made by a child following an incident were not reported in line with the home’s child protection policy. The new manager and staff spoken to understand the process necessary in the event that any allegations are made. More positively, huge efforts have been made since the last inspection to ensure that the child receives updates to ongoing police investigations. This meets a previous requirement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since November 2021 and has submitted an application to register with Ofsted. He has been supported by the responsible individual and a newly appointed service manager. The team also includes a newly appointed deputy manager and two new team leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff spoke highly of the support given by the management team. One of the longer-serving staff told the inspector, ‘The manager is the best manager I have had in 20 years. I’m excited to come to work every day.’ Additional positive feedback has been received by external professionals. The link worker from the transitions team said, ‘Management and the team have excelled. I cannot fault them.’ The social worker said, ‘[Name of child] seems to be a different person. She is so much more mature as a result of the support she has received.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, supportive and reflective supervision. The team also attends regular team meetings. Clear actions are set and reviewed to ensure that the care provided is continually improving. Appropriate challenge is provided to staff in a Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 5 sensitive and inclusive way. This means that all staff are working to the same goals and contributing to the changes being made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have the skills and knowledge to provide good-quality care. Staff have attended a range of training since the last inspection, including in child sexual exploitation, safeguarding children with disabilities, autism awareness and trauma- informed practice. This has given staff a clearer understanding of the needs of the child. As a result, staff communicate more effectively with the child and are more able to ensure that she is safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited monthly by an independent person. The report is child-focused and provides scrutiny. Managers welcome the additional quality assurance and use the recommendations in the reports to improve the quality of care. The report is also sent to Ofsted, allowing the regulator oversight. This meets a previous requirement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers also complete an internal review of the quality of care. Patterns and trends are reviewed, with actions identified in order to keep the direction of progress clear. The recent report evidences the focus across the local authority to invest in the staff teams, which ensures that they have the skills and knowledge to provide good care to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children who are not attending education full time are engaged in suitable structured activities relevant to their individual needs and interests. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff report any allegation of abuse immediately to a senior manager in the home. Any allegation of harm or abuse must be addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy, including notifying Ofsted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17)  The registered person should ensure that records of when children go missing from the home are detailed and include the steps taken by staff to locate the child. Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what

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Recommendations

worked well. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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: SC064858 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Salford City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5DA

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Inspector

Sylvia Eboigbe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC064858 8 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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