Children's home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Staffordshire Moorlands

Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 1 SC008488 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home registered for up to eight children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operating without a registered manager. The previous registered manager left his role after three months. An acting manager was appointed in April 2022. He has not yet applied for registration.

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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: 6 December 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: SC008488 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/12/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/02/2020 Full Good 11/12/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress because of the positive relationships they have with staff. Children are happy and relaxed in their home. The staff team provides children with clear structures and boundaries to help them develop healthy daily routines. They are nurturing in their approach, have a good understanding of children’s needs and regularly use praise. One parent reported that their child had excelled since living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers say that when children move into the home, structured plans help to reduce children’s anxieties and reassure them about their move. Staff take the time to get to know children before they move into the home. When possible, children lead the pace of their move into the home. Social workers and parents are regularly kept up to date about children’s progress and any concerns are communicated promptly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved out of the home, as the staff team identified they could not meet his needs in a large home. The child was supported to remain safe and settled during an extended transition from the home, while a suitable home was found by the placing authority. This provided the child with consistency and security during this difficult period of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Internal placement plans reflect the objectives of children’s placements, including the therapeutic support required and how children’s needs are to be met. However, one child does not have relevant placing authority care planning documentation on file to reflect their current placement. The manager requested this from the social worker on the child’s recent admission. However, at the time of the inspection, the manager had still not received the care plan. This prevents the manager and staff team from ensuring that the internal plans match the placing authority’s plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children access full-time education and have good attendance. The staff team advocates on children’s behalf to ensure that education is tailored to individual children’s needs and that they have a say in where they would like to be educated. Family time is promoted for all children when it is safe and appropriate, to help them sustain and rebuild relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planned key-work sessions evidence that staff explore the therapeutic elements of children’s care with them and provide children with the emotional support that they need. Creative workshops engage children effectively in work about keeping themselves safe, developing positive relationships, worldwide celebrations and random acts of kindness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with lots of opportunities to ensure that their views, wishes and feelings are heard. Children also participate in regular house meetings to share their opinions about the care they receive. However, children are not given feedback Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 4 in relation to the outcomes of these house meetings. This means that children do not see the results of their views being listened to or action taken following these meetings, and do not know the reasons when their requests cannot be agreed.

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

Children say they feel safe, supported and well cared for by the staff team. They feel listened to and say that any concerns they have are taken seriously by the staff team. Children are encouraged to develop positive relationships with their peers. Staff are vigilant in monitoring children’s relationships with each other. Bullying is not a concern in the home.

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

Staff are proactive in developing safe and trusting relationships with children. They are responsive to children’s needs. When children require additional support to help them manage their behaviour, staff promptly talk to children about how they are feeling. One child said, ‘Staff always recognise when I feel down or upset.’ Furthermore, a social worker reported that the additional support implemented by the staff team has helped their child to regulate their emotions and reduce incidents of self-harm.

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

Matching risk assessments are thorough and allow early identification of appropriate measures to reduce risks for children, through effective liaison with social work and health professionals. One social worker said, ‘Staff were able to demonstrate how they would be able to keep the child safe and how any risks would be managed.’

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

Behaviour support assessments provide clear and up-to-date guidance for staff about how to support children. A positive behaviour support model of care is embedded in staff practice. Consequently, the staff team has a good understanding of children’s risks, life experiences and the impact of trauma on their day-to-day lives. Individual support plans reflect the child’s voice about how they want the staff to support them and strategies that help them to manage their behaviour.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Incidents of restraint have reduced for all children in the last few months. Staff implement effective precautionary measures to safeguard children. When incidents do occur, they are managed safely and without delay. Reflective debriefs are undertaken with both children and staff. Additional follow-up work with children helps to promote positive behaviour and support children to manage their emotions safely. However, on one occasion, following an incident between two children in school ,the staff team did not undertake further follow-up work at home to talk about appropriate peer relationships.

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

Staff reported that senior managers promote an open-door culture in raising concerns. Complaints from children and others are rare. Staff take appropriate and swift action in the event of an allegation being made by a child. There is effective consultation with relevant professionals and records evidence that safe action is taken to ensure the immediate safety and protection of children. Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 5

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good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has left their position. The change of management arrangements has failed to provide consistency and stability for the children and staff team. A new manager has been in his role for one month. He is yet to apply for registration with Ofsted but is making this a priority. The staff say that they feel reassured by the new manager’s presence. During the inspection, the new manager demonstrated that he has a positive and realistic vision for the home.

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good

The manager is supported by two dedicated and knowledgeable deputy managers. They have offered consistency, support and direction to the staff team during the difficult transition period between the registered manager leaving and the new manager starting in their role.

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good

The staff team has started to stabilise and there has been a reduction in the level of staff turnover since the last inspection. Staff say they enjoy their roles, they feel listened to and staff morale has improved. One staff member said, ‘This is the strongest the staff team has been.’ Staff have improved their knowledge in their roles and have become more skilled in specific areas such as paperwork and anticipating children’s needs. The manager has a focus to sustain the current staff team to ensure continuity of care for children and that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted.

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good

Senior managers failed to implement a contingency plan to support the deputy managers to deliver regular practice-related supervisions to the staff team when there was no manager in post. This means that most staff have not been provided with regular supervision over a period of two months. However, this has been identified by the current manager as an area that requires immediate improvement to support staff in their roles.

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good

Team meetings are regular and purposeful. They enable the staff team to come together to discuss children’s needs and progress. They also provide a forum for the staff team to agree consistent strategies to keep children safe. Mandatory training and training that is specific to the needs of children are prioritised for all staff. Training levels are monitored well by the senior team and refreshers sought for staff when required.

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good

The review of the quality of care report is evaluative and provides an oversight of the progress children have made and areas of their care that require development. However, the independent visitor reports do not evidence regular feedback from social workers, professionals and families, to be able to provide a full evaluation of the quality of the service provided to children. Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 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 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that the staff team is supported through consistent management arrangements and that staff are provided with regular practice-related supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. 7 July 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. Specifically, the manager should provide feedback to children regarding their views and feelings shared at house meetings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that the staff work with education professionals to ensure that progress made by children in building relationships and achieving socially acceptable behaviours is recorded. Specifically, the manager should ensure that the staff team undertakes follow-up work relating to appropriate peer relationships following any incidents between children in school. Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 7

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.4)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. Specifically, the independent visitor should obtain regular feedback from children and stakeholders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should challenge any placing authority which asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan. Specifically, the manager should ensure that when a child is admitted to the home, they are provided with the relevant care planning documentation from the placing authority to reflect the child’s placement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)

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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: SC008488 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pearce House, 80 Cawdor Street, Eccles M30 0QF

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC008488 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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