Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 1 SC063978 Registered provider: City of Bradford 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 run by a local authority. It provides care for up to six children who have a range of social and/or emotional difficulties. There is currently one child living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager. There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted .

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 24/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 3

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inadequate

There are failures in the safeguarding practices of staff, resulting in children not always making progress while living at this home. Staff do not consistently offer an effective level of care that the children need to help them feel safe and secure.

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inadequate

There is only one child living in the home but other children, whose progress has been affected, have only recently moved to other services, or returned home.

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inadequate

Children’s experiences of moving on from the home are mixed. One child has moved on from the home with limited preparation. The child’s plan was not individualised to their needs, which affected how staff could support the child to build their readiness for independence. For another child leaving the home at short notice, staff worked in partnership with the child’s social worker and adults from the child’s new home to minimise the anxiety associated with the move.

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inadequate

Staff work in partnership with the virtual school and other educational professionals to offer children alternative learning when their education plans change. Progress in education is varied. Staff try to encourage and promote education, but this is ineffective in helping children to engage and make progress in their education attendance and therefore attainment. Staff have helped one child to complete some of their GCSE exams by reducing the distance they had to travel on the day of their exams. This helped the child, as staying closer to school in a hotel reduced the anxiety associated with the distance.

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inadequate

Children have access to health services and staff have regular conversations with children about their general health needs, lifestyle, and physical and emotional well- being. One child has made notable progress with their personal care skills because of the guidance and encouragement from staff.

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inadequate

Staff have not had specialist guidance and support to enable them to understand the specific needs of one child. This means that they were unable to help to develop the child’s resilience, therefore preventing progress in their emotional well-being.

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inadequate

Staff provide children with the opportunity to take part in activities and fun experiences. They seek children’s wishes and interests in relation to activities to help children to widen their opportunities.

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inadequate

Staff have been effective in helping a child to adjust to a significant event in their life. Staff offer emotional warmth and nurture through a programme of support for the child as they learn to prepare for their future. Staff have regular conversations with the child about their health needs, being safe in the community, and personal relationships, among other aspects of their lives. However, the child’s plans do not Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 4 show how they make progress, and it is difficult to see how staff effect change in lives of children.

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

Staff have failed in their duty to safeguard a child because they did not complete welfare checks through the night. Staff were unaware that a child had left the home during the night but recorded that the child was asleep in bed. Staff did not discover until late the following day that the child was missing. This significant failure could have resulted in harm to the child.

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

Staff and management did not notify this as a serious event to Ofsted. This prevented Ofsted from ensuring that management oversight of the incident had taken place to prevent harm to a child.

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

Staff did not consistently follow the missing-from-home protocol for a child who was at significant risk. The staff team’s safeguarding practice lacks curiosity and concern when warning signs of exploitation are part of a child’s behaviour. This does not help to keep children safe.

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

The manager and staff have a working relationship with local police officers. The continuity of the officers and their relationship with staff enable them to have open conversations with children about the concerns for their safety. This helps children to have positive relationships with a range of adults responsible for helping to keep them safe.

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

Risk assessments provide staff with direction about the actions they should take to help keep a child safe. However, they do not include indicators to help staff identify when a child may be struggling to cope with difficult emotions or offer strategies on how staff should respond to help them. This may result in inconsistent help for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home continues to run without a registered manager. However, leaders are ambitious and aspirational and want to achieve the best for the children. There is an acting manager in place supported by a peripatetic manager and senior managers as they continue to make the necessary changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Training records are disorganised. It is unclear whether staff have completed important learning to meet the needs of children, for example training in preventing the exploitation of children and internet safety. This prevents staff from having the skills required to meet the individual needs of children and help to keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The approachable style of the acting manager is helping staff to feel valued and motivated in their role. They feel that the manager considers their welfare needs and say that they now have the support and guidance to be an effective team. One Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 5 staff member said: ‘As soon as [acting manager] took over, we knew we had someone to talk to.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is well decorated and furnished, creating a relaxing environment for the children. However, the external doors have an electronic entry system. This form of system detracts from the homely atmosphere and means that children cannot enter their home freely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of care review does not include an evaluation of the feedback and views of children and does not detail any action taken because of children sharing their opinions. This may prevent children from sharing their opinion in the future and limit the progress that staff can make in helping children feel valued or influencing the care they receive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 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—

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Requirement Due date

who understand the children’s homes 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.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day to day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(b)(iv)(v)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that the children’s day- to-day care is aligned to their assessed needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that the day-to-day arrangements for care are set out clearly in plans and followed by staff, and that these arrangements promote the well-being and development of children. 28 August 2022

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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. 7 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must devise an action plan to address the shortfalls in the team’s safeguarding culture.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must devise a system to review and monitor the safeguarding culture of the home and the effectiveness of staff’s risk management and safeguarding practice.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must provide training to staff, and be reassured that all members of staff, including agency staff members, are aware of their role and responsibilities, to supervise, care for and protect children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must devise a system for monitoring that the day-to-day care for children is aligned to their plans and routines.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must devise a system so that staff know the children’s whereabouts. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must review the behaviour support plans to ensure that they include the children’s current risks and behaviours, and provide the staff with clear actions about how to reduce the risk of harm. 28 August 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 9 research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(a)(c)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must have an effective system for monitoring the training needs of the staff team.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that staff have the support and training required to meet the needs of the children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must develop and implement an effective system to review children’s care plans to ensure that they remain current and effective, showing how they are helped to make progress.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely, nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, consider how the building’s external doors can be secured using more homely alternative methods. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that feedback gained as part of the quality of care review is used to inform how they plan to develop the care they provide Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 10 to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: SC063978 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: , City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1HY

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Inspector

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063978 12 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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