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

Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 1 SC431696 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

The home is operated by the local authority. It is registered to provide care under short-break arrangements for up to 10 children with learning and/or physical disabilities, complex and/or life-limiting conditions.

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Information about this children’s home

On 19 July 2021, an application was made to vary the conditions of the home’s registration in order to provide permanent placements for up to three children who need full-time care and support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2011. She has significant experience and knowledge of working with children with complex health needs.

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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: 31 January 2022

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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 children’s home: SC431696 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/09/2019 Full Good 19/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into this home by staff who are committed to providing them with good care and experiences. In communal living areas, staff display photos of the children. This helps children to create a sense of belonging and build positive memories. Children enjoy a range of play activities inside and outside the home. In the garden, there is a trampoline and zip wire. Children benefit from sensory rooms, and they enjoy music therapy and opportunities to engage with art and cooking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff have improved the physical appearance of the house to create an inviting home for the three children who live here. Children have personalised bedrooms. The three children who live in this home chose their beds, bedding and lights to meet their individual and sensory needs. Leaders and staff recognise and celebrate children’s achievements The registered manager creatively captures children’s progress with photo montages, which she shares with professionals and families. Children enjoy swimming, visiting the park and going to a coffee shop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who visit the home for short breaks have established routines, including personalised and familiar beds and bedding. This helps them to transition and settle when they are staying at this home. Staff see children visiting for short breaks as part of the family. Children and families using the short-break service are supported to develop friendships. Children celebrate their transition from the service when they reach 18 years old. The registered manager carefully considers staff’s training needs before new children start the service to ensure that their health needs can be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and social workers state that the registered manager provides strong leadership, and she acts in the best interests of the children living in or visiting the home. Staff know the children well and provide regular communication which helps parents and social workers to understand children’s needs and the progress that they are making. Families feel welcomed by staff when they visit. They describe feeling supported and confident that their children’s health and care needs are being met. Families spoken to state that their children are happy living in or visiting this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff monitor children’s health closely and share information with health professionals appropriately. This helps to increase understanding about a child’s behaviour and how to support them effectively through reviewing medication or care. Staff have facilitated one child to have time with the looked after children’s nurse to help him understand the physical changes to his body as he progresses through puberty. The consultant psychiatrist, who has known the three children living in this home for many years, praises staff for their consistency of care. He states that this consistency contributes to the progress that the children are making from their starting point when they transitioned to this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged by staff to express themselves and contribute to their care plans. Staff use key-work opportunities to explore what is important to keep children Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 4 safe and happy. One child has been supported to choose a trampoline for the garden and engage in a heathier lifestyle. This has helped the child to lose a significant amount of weight and enjoy more activities in the community. Staff record the child’s voice during key-work sessions and include photos to provide visual prompts and memories for children.

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

Staff help children with disabilities or complex health needs to live safely in this home. Leaders link with health professionals to develop training so that staff are competent to provide the care that children require. Staff manage the administration of medication well for children. This helps children and their families to transition smoothly between home and their short breaks.

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

Children have specialist equipment so that staff can meet their personal care needs. Staff competently support children inside and outside of the building. Staff prepare children well so that they understand how to stay safe when leaving the home in an unplanned way, such as in an emergency, or when travelling to a planned activity.

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

Leaders ensure that there is always an appropriate number of staff to meet children’s individual needs. Children increasingly have opportunities to engage in activities in the community. Staff prioritise children’s safety while helping them to have positive experiences. There have been no incidents of concern when children have engaged in community activities. Staff maintain sight of the child and they are aware of the protocols in place should they need to report a child as missing to the police.

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

Children have risk assessments which provide clear guidance for staff. On one occasion, the registered manager did not actively consider the risks from parents’ request to bring alcohol to a party celebrating a child transitioning to adult services. There were no incidents of concern during the party, but children were placed at risk of potential harm. The registered manager has used her supervision with the service manager to reflect and learn from this incident.

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

Children’s personal behaviour support plans reflect the contribution children make to how staff deliver their care. Children are developing the skills to communicate with staff and regulate their emotions. This has reduced the number of incidents for the three children living in the home.

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

Staff mostly hold children when they are a risk to themselves or others. These holds are appropriate and proportionate. Two holds have been carried out by agency staff who failed to de-escalate one child’s behaviour effectively. The agency workers are not trained in the behaviour management model used in the home. Therefore, the child was upset when he was held in a way which was unfamiliar to him. He subsequently explained to staff how he would like to be supported in the future when he feels distressed. Leaders have incorporated the child’s wishes into his revised care plans. The registered manager has acted appropriately to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident reoccurring. She has updated the behaviour management policy. However, the policy and children’s plans do not provide clear enough direction for Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 5 staff. This results in some staff not feeling as confident as they should when

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

managing a child’s behaviour with a hold.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Child-focused leaders are driving significant improvements to the quality of care that children living in or visiting this home receive. The registered manager has good oversight of the daily running of the service. She is supported by an effective leadership team that monitors the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows each child’s health and care needs and provides good role modelling for staff when she interacts with children. Staff report feeling supported and valued by the registered manager. One staff member stated, ‘I feel inspired and motivated to go the extra mile.’ Staff appreciate the higher staffing levels that support them to work intensely with children. They feel proud of children’s achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff working in this home receive regular supervision from appropriately experienced supervisors. Staff performance and development are monitored via annual appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the staff working in this home are appropriately qualified to meet the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. A small number of staff who transferred to this home 12 months ago have higher education qualifications which are unrelated to residential childcare. Therefore, they have not acquired the appropriate qualification within the timescale required. Leaders were unaware of this. However, they have responded promptly, and the staff are now registered to complete the appropriate training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff require refresher training to update their learning. Leaders have now enrolled staff with a training provider. This provides staff with access to training that has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff have the skills and confidence to care for children with disabilities and complex health needs. She has requested bespoke behaviour management training for staff following a physical intervention in which an agency member of staff used an unapproved hold. Leaders were unaware that agency staff were not trained in the same behaviour management model staff in the home use. Although the registered manager has acted to address the training shortfall, she did not proactively match the agency worker’s training to ensure that children’s behaviour is consistently managed by all staff caring for the children living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 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

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

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)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that staff respond to children’s needs and emotional difficulties through de-escalation and using the least restrictive practice to manage a child’s behaviour. 9 September 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 9 September 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 7 This relates to the registered manager matching agency staff’s training to core staff so that children receive consistent approaches to their care.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to enrolling staff and overseeing their completion of the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare or equivalent training. 9 September 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place to assess the risks continually and actively for each child and put arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should keep under review and revise the behaviour management strategy where appropriate so that it is understood and always applied by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 8

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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 children’s home: SC431696 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1HY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Picklu Roychoudhury

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Inspector

Joanna Warburton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC431696 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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