Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 1 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a solo-bedded home. It is owned and run by a local authority and provides medium- to long-term care for one child with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home was registered in July 2020. The manager registered at the same time as the home and has completed the required level 5 diploma.

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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 widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 1 February 2022

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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: 2599994 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 01/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 3

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inadequate

The child who lives at the home is not having positive experiences or making progress. The child is at risk of harm. Staff are not safeguarding the child, nor are they working effectively to help the child learn how to keep themselves safe as they move into adulthood.

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inadequate

The child lives at the home by direction of the court. Staff are permitted to monitor the child’s mobile phone and restrict access to social media. Staff have not done this, and the child has formed relationships with unknown and potentially unsafe people through social media.

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inadequate

The manager and staff have failed to ensure that the child attends education. The lack of alternative learning activities leaves the child with no structure, routine, or meaningful focus throughout the day. Since the court-applied restrictions have been lessened, the child spends a significant amount of time away from the home. The child has been reported as missing on multiple occasions. Staff have failed to help the child learn about personal safety associated with increased independence. This means the child is unprepared to manage the risks they are exposed to.

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inadequate

The child is registered with health services and has access to specialist help for their health needs. However, staff have failed to ensure that the child attends health appointments. This could have implications for the child’s physical and emotional well-being.

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inadequate

The child sees their family, but the frequency is not as regular as the care plan requires. Changes to the frequency of these arrangements are not effectively communicated to the child. The child’s wishes to see their family have not been respected. This has impacted on the child’s feeling of security and well-being.

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inadequate

At the time of the inspection, a window had been broken. The window had been boarded up, but shards of glass and debris remained and had not been cleaned away. This placed the child at risk of harm.

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inadequate

The manager and the staff involve the child in consultations regarding the day-to- day running of the home. The child was involved in choosing the colour scheme for the hallway and the lounge, as well as the overall decoration of the home. However, the home does still require some redecoration. The manager is aware of this and has a plan in place to have this completed.

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inadequate

The child said that she likes the staff and gets on well with them. Inspectors observed this through positive interactions and friendly, jovial conversations with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 4

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

Safeguarding procedures are not always followed correctly. Up-to-date safety plans are not easily accessible or available on the child’s file. This results in the child receiving inconsistent care, as staff approaches to managing behaviours differ. There is a court order in place which allows staff to use increased measures to keep the child safe. Despite this, the child is exposed to risks both in and out of the home.

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

The staff have received training to equip them with skills and knowledge relevant to their roles. However, staff have failed to embed this into practice and have missed signs that the child is at risk. Staff have not addressed this or explored it with the child. This leaves the child exposed to harm.

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

Not all staff understand the plans that are in place to safeguard the child. Effective action is not taken to prevent incidents from reoccurring. The child spends a large amount of time out of the home. Staff fail to follow risk management plans when the child returns home. One of the plans is for room searches to take place and for flammable items such as lighters to be removed. The child engaged in risk taking behaviour because such room checks were not effectively completed by staff.

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

The reporting of serious incidents does not consistently happen. This means that Ofsted is not notified of all incidents that it should be. This does not afford the regulator the opportunity to have appropriate oversight of such incidents. It also does not allow the manager to review and evaluate staff practice to gauge whether action taken by staff has been effective.

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

Staff attempts to manage the child’s behaviour have been inconsistent and ineffective. There have been no changes to the child’s behaviours as a result of these attempts. There is also no evidence of the child’s views about the appropriateness of the measures imposed. This does not help the manager and staff to learn as they have not considered the effectiveness of the measures.

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

The child goes missing for long periods of time. The child has been found in dangerous situations and is vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation. Actions that are taken by the registered provider to reduce risk are ineffective. The plans in place to safeguard the child are not reviewed and amended in response to new risks. This results in the child spending time with people outside of the home who staff do not know and could therefore be a risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered provider has not taken effective action to address all of the requirements made at the last inspection. This means that necessary improvements have not been made, which has led to a decline in the standards of care experienced by the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 5 The manager does not have full oversight of the home and communication is ineffective. This is evident in the manager’s lack of knowledge about recent events that have affected the child. Incidents and events that are recorded in daily logbooks are not explored, as the manager has no systems to review them. On one occasion, the child left the home in a taxi that had been paid for by someone outside of the home. The manager was unaware that this had taken place and had not explored this with staff. This prevents the manager from putting strategies in place to reduce the likelihood of this happening again, as well as checking on staff

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not sufficiently monitored and reviewed the practice of staff. Staff supervisions do take place, but the manager does not explore and respond to staff practice and performance issues. The staff do not act cohesively and in line with child’s plans. The child is experiencing different approaches and responses, as not all staff are aware of the detail in the child’s risk management plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The review of the quality of care does not include sufficient consultation with the child and relevant professionals. Consultation does not inform or identify any actions needed to make improvements to the quality of care. This has a detrimental effect on the manager’s ability to make improvements within the home and the care the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager cares about the child’s well-being. They want the child to fulfil their potential, to do well and have a positive future. The manager has good links with professionals and meetings take place regularly to discuss the needs of the child. However, this strategic planning has not filtered down to the practice within the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 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 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;

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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)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 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 children’s homes that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to their full potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 7 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 the staff work as a team as appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(b)(e)(f)(h))

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vii)) 28 September

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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. 28 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 8 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b) (4)(a)(b)) 28 September

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2599994 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspectors

Aasia Hussain, Social Care Inspector Rachel Ruth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 10 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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