Children's home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 1 SC040511 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 home is an adolescent support service provided by a local authority. The home provides short- and medium-term care for up to four children and emergency or overnight care for two children, when needed. The service provides intensive, time- limited support to children on the edge of care. This includes planned day visits for children and outreach support for their families. At the time of the inspection, the service was actively working with 103 children and their families to prevent them from entering care.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced manager who registered with Ofsted in June 2020.

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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: 25 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/11/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/03/2019 Interim Not judged 08/02/2019 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build trusting relationships and are making progress. Children who move into the home have often been working with the outreach team previously. Having pre-established relationships with staff has helped one child settle quickly into the routines of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaging in education. Staff support children when there are barriers to attending education. By reviewing patterns and trends and keeping the child’s views central to the decision-making, staff have been able to work with other professionals to explore alternatives. The manager also reviews resources from the local offer to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been supported to attend health appointments. Staff have worked hard to consistently re-book appointments and find creative ways for children who have found this more difficult. Staff also work with specialists within the team to ensure that the potential side effects of any medication are considered, and support is given to children appropriately for this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the children’s families prior to and once a child has moved in. One child’s mother said, ‘Staff communicate about everything and are just really straight with you. I have been working with them quite a few years over outreach and they just want to help. I think they are amazing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Records do not always capture the child’s full journey. This means that the plans do not always show accurate, up-to-date information about events in the children’s lives. This is important to ensure that staff are consistent in how they care for children. It is also essential for children who may ask to review their records in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Ongoing efforts are being made to make the home more homely. Due to the nature of the service, there is a large staff team. Staff make the effort to ensure that only the staff who are directly caring for the children are in the home. This means that children know each day who to go to for support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are able to enjoy a range of activities. Along with a gym room in the home, staff have taken children fishing, boxing, trips to the cinema and for breaks away. Staff understand the benefits of involving the children’s friends in the plans. This means that children are building supportive networks in the local area.

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

Children are safer as a result of living in the home. The staff in the multifaceted team work closely together in order to increase their understanding of risks to children in the local area. Children in the home and their peers in the community Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 4 have been provided with a safe place to go to spend time together and engage in meaningful activities. This has been influential in reducing police involvement, due to a reduction in the frequency of children leaving the home without authorisation.

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

One social worker said, ‘The staff have never given up on [name of child]. They are always trying different strategies. All relevant services are involved. Staff have been amazing, they have great knowledge and understanding of his needs. They know him inside and out.’

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

Regular multi-agency meetings take place. Staff contribute to the information through activities such as peer-mapping. However, this information has not been used to provide staff with clear guidance. This has the potential for staff to act inconsistently in their approach to keeping children safe.

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

Restraint is only used as a last resort. Staff explore the underlying reasons behind behaviours shown. This helps to re-establish the trust between the staff and children. Detailed records are kept after each restraint and any allegations made are followed up in line with procedure. However, the documents do not always evidence that children have been offered to speak to an independent advocate.

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

Children’s plans include details of the known risks. However, not all risk assessments include clear steps for staff to take. This has the potential for staff to act inconsistently and may result in harm to a child. In addition to this, some children have risk assessments for areas that have never been a risk to them. This has the potential for children to be stigmatised in the future and may limit their opportunities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been registered since the home opened in 2020. She works closely with a number of professionals in the management team and has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development. The manager has taken steps to meet the previous requirements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Specific roles have been implemented to ensure that progress is made. A clear management structure within the service means that staff are able to focus on improving outcomes for children in a number of targeted areas. Managers review and try to avoid potential problems caused by the size of the team through regular communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Consistently positive feedback was given to inspectors from a range of sources. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘Things have got a lot better for [name of child], staff are consistent in the way they care for him.’ One social worker said, ‘I can’t fault them. Communication is excellent, and the manager has weekly formulation meetings with the psychologist. They are an absolutely brilliant service.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of recording is inconsistent. Although some of the records are detailed and include clear action plans that are reviewed, this is not always the case. The Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 5 manager has oversight of all the records in the home. However, the manager has not acknowledged or acted on the varied quality in order to support the team to make improvements and ensure that all follow-up action taken is recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, reflective supervision and annual appraisal. Staff also meet regularly as a team. As a result, staff feel supported and enjoy their roles. Staff have the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the children living in the home. Regular training is offered, alongside bespoke advice and guidance from specialists within the team who are based at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints received have not been reviewed in line with policy. Although the manager has referred the complainant to other relevant services, she has not taken steps to fully investigate and ensure that the complainant is satisfied with the outcome. This is a missed opportunity for reflection and learning. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040511 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, the 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 registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that all complaints are fully investigated and seek confirmation from the complainant to ensure that they are satisfied with the response. 30 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that detailed records are written when children go missing from the home. Management oversight of all incidents should include clear evaluation to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Risk assessments must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children

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Recommendations

should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and actions are reviewed regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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 report for children’s home: SC040511 7 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: SC040511 8

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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: SC040511 9 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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