Children's home run by North Yorkshire Council in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 1 SC034220 Registered provider: North Yorkshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It offers pre-planned and emergency short-breaks and long-term placements for up to seven children.

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Information about this children’s home

This service is for children who have a sensory impairment, learning disability or physical disability. The home also offers extended and bespoke packages of care on a shared-care basis.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021.

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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

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: SC034220 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/10/2019 Full Outstanding 18/12/2018 Full Outstanding 30/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The short-break provision has been re-established for children. The pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the local authority’s decision to accommodate some children on a full-time basis, impacted on the service offer of short breaks for families. Careful consideration has been given to each child’s needs as they return to the short-break service, as this has brought different challenges and emotional responses for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s opportunities to gain new experiences with friends had been impacted by the temporary closure of the short-break provision. Children are now back enjoying a range of social and recreational opportunities, including activities in the local community. The inspector saw one child laughing loudly as they instructed the staff to push them on the garden swings. Staff understand the children’s abilities and are providing them with the opportunity to try new experiences and build new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children living in the home are waiting for the local authority to source a suitable long-term placement. During this time, education becomes an integral aspect of the child’s care needs. E ducational plans are developed to meet each child’s needs. However, the manager has not ensured that these plans are created to secure the best possible outcomes for children across education, health and social care. This is because children’s education, health and care plans are not being reviewed. For some children, their education timetable remains under 25 hours per week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are confident and competent at responding to children’s health needs. Their training and skills help to prevent any injury or discomfort to children during the delivery of medical procedures, for example gastrostomy feeds. Children who live at the home have been supported by staff to attend the doctors, dentists, opticians and their annual health assessment review. This review highlights the health support that children need. The record of this statutory assessment was not on the children’s files and the staff’s knowledge of these assessments was limited. This could impact on staff being able to meet children’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s needs and well-being have been the focus of their moving-on plans to their new home. Steps have been taken to help children understand the arrangements for their move, in a format that meets their communication and learning abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to an acceptable standard and meets the needs of the children. Children are able to move freely between the home and garden. The maintenance and repairs to the home, which were highlighted at the last inspection, have been completed, but redecoration of the fresh plaster work is still required. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 4

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

Children’s complex health needs, learning disabilities and diagnoses increase their vulnerabilities. High staffing ratios ensure that children have staff supervision and engagement both within the home and out in the community.

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

Children are treated with dignity and respect, and their personal care needs are delivered sensitively by the staff. The staff routinely provide reasoning, reassurance and an opportunity for the children to take control of this element of their care. Children are helped to understand their bodies, and they gain education around private areas of their bodies, masturbation, and menstrual cycles and hygiene.

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

Some children need to rebuild their familiarity, security and trust of the short-break service and the staff. Some children are reverting back to historic behavioural responses during their stays, and children’s responses can cause harm to themselves or others. The manager is reviewing all incidents where a child has been physically restrained by staff. This oversight enables the development of staff practice and a greater understanding of children’s needs. However, the recording of these incidents does not consistently evidence if the staff have tried all of the de-escalation strategies that may prevent the use of physical restraint.

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

Children exhibit self-injurious behaviours, and these can be a response to their developmental disabilities. There is evidence of children wrapping material, including clothing, around parts of their body and their neck. This places these children at risk of ligaturing. The children’s environments are adapted to reduce risk. However, not all staff are confident to deal with a ligature incident. The ligature cutters were not in the allocated place and staff have not completed ligature training. This places children at risk of harm.

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good

The staff are a strong team that pull together to provide good outcomes for children. The manager and the staff provide good care to children and the feedback from other professionals and children’s families is positive. The temporary closure of the short-break service has impacted on families, but trusting relationships are rebuilding. Parents are positive about the future and the experiences that their children receive.

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good

The manager is developing her understanding around her responsibilities of caring for children who are placed in the home full time. However, she has overlooked the financial allowances for children. It is evident that the children receive money to enable them to purchase new clothing and have haircuts, but they do not receive pocket money. There are no procedures to save this allocated money for children. The manager has not reviewed the statement of purpose to differentiate between the varying financial support for children who access this service and those who live full time in this home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 5 Staff are receptive to regular training from health professionals to support their care of the children. The manager completes a training matrix to oversee any potential shortfalls in staff’s knowledge and development. However, she is not utilising this data to schedule training for her staff to ensure that their skills continue to reflect

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good

External monitoring is routinely completed each month for this home. This provides children with access to an independent person who spends time interacting with and observing children and staff. The independent person gathers children’s views, wishes and feelings. However, there is delay in Ofsted receiving these monitoring reports, which means Ofsted does not have timely insight into this home and the safety and welfare of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 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 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

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)(b)) 26 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c)) 26 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (1) (6)) 26 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the repaired damage to the home is decorated to provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that any records of restraints enable managers and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that they have a plan that includes any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care, and that these assessments are sent to Ofsted within an accepting timeframe. (‘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: SC034220 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Yorkshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Yorkshire County Council, County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034220 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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