Children's home run by Calderdale Council in Calderdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 1 SC035154 Registered provider: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by the local authority and provides care and accommodation for up to five children. The aim of the home is to apply the model of care to support children to be able to return to live with their families, to foster carers or to independent living. Three children currently live in this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was previously a short-breaks service and reopened in December 2020 as a residential children’s home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020 and holds the relevant qualifications.

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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 and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 13 January 2022

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/04/2018 Full Outstanding 04/09/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 3

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inadequate

Since the last inspection, a child who was assessed as not being an appropriate match to live with the children already living at the home moved in. This, combined with a lack of staff, has resulted in the quality of care declining for children. This has resulted in an inadequate judgement.

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inadequate

Staff do not respond consistently to children’s needs. This is due to a lack of clear plans for staff to follow. This does not provide children with the structure and boundaries they need and has caused them emotional distress at times.

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inadequate

The manager has failed to ensure that they know and understand the contraindications of children’s medication when mixed with recreational drugs. Plans in place to support children when under the influence of drugs are not known by the manager or being followed by staff. Behaviour management plans do not identify any additional concerns, despite the potential outcome of a child dying.

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inadequate

Staff have supported one child extremely well while they have had complex health issues. The manager has challenged health professionals to ensure the right support is in place and that the staff team has the knowledge and equipment to meet the child’s needs. Therapeutic support is also in place for both the child and staff team.

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inadequate

Education is promoted in the home and the manager has advocated for changes to education to ensure that it meets the children’s needs. All three children have some structure in their week.

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

Children have been placed at risk of harm while living in this home.

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

The management team has failed to ensure that children’s plans provide clear, up- to-date information about the children’s known risks and vulnerabilities. This means that staff do not know this information or how to respond. This has led to inconsistencies in staff responses and does not adequately protect children from harm.

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

Staff have made unsafe decisions without clear rationale or guidance from information in children’s plans. For example, a child was given a sharp knife without staff assessing whether this was safe to do so. The child refused to hand this knife in, causing distress and anxiety for children and staff. This has not been addressed with the staff member, and it is not clear in the records whether this has been addressed by the manager. This continues to place children and staff at risk of harm.

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

Staff have failed to follow individual children’s plans when children have time away from the home. This does not give a message to children that they are cared for, or Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 4 that staff are ensuring their safety. One child suffered a serious assault while away from the home and inaction from staff left the child at risk.

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

Physical intervention records are not evaluated in line with regulatory timeframes. Some of the records are not signed by staff, are not evaluated by the manager, or dated when completed. This delays any shortfalls being identified, including assessing children’s well-being or whether the intervention was appropriate.

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

Children do not have access to the communal areas of the home overnight. There is no clear rationale for this, as there are alternative solutions in place to keep children safe, including bedroom door alarms. Locking communal areas of the home prevents children from having the space to use when needed, and led to one child leaving the home during the night when they were upset.

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

Staff say they are unable to keep all of the children safe. One child, referring to a specific incident regarding another child, said, ‘If this was a family home, they’d class it as unsafe, so why is it okay in a children’s home?’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders directed the home’s manager to accept a placement of a child without them fully considering the matching of the children who were already living in the home. The manager had assessed that the child’s needs were beyond those that staff could safely manage. Senior leaders did not fully consider the impact this move could have on the other children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders did not ensure that resources to reduce the risks identified at the point of the child moving in were in place. This heightened the risk to children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are not enough staff to safely care for children. New staff have been employed, but they do not have the skills and knowledge to support the children. As a result, managers have had to work directly with children more frequently than they ordinarily would have. This has taken the manager and deputy manager away from essential managerial tasks and reduce their oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to ensure that they fully review documents such as incident reports, physical interventions and logbooks. As a result, shortfalls and concerns have not been addressed or acted on and this has had a detrimental effect on the care that children experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive supervision in line with the statement of purpose and function. This does not give staff the support or guidance they need and does not ensure practice issues are addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Regulation 44 visits do not always meet requirements, including undertaking a virtual visit without clear rationale. Children and staff are not consulted, and therefore concerns are not identified and addressed. The manager has failed to Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 5 respond to shortfalls that have been identified during visits, and therefore no improvements have been made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Throughout the inspection, the manager and staff team were open and honest with the inspector. The manager and responsible individual are aware of the shortfalls and have asked for support from the local authority. Senior leaders have failed to ensure that this support has been provided, leaving issues unaddressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of this inspection, a notice to restrict accommodation has been issued, alongside three compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 14 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— 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 7 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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

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)(c)(d)(e)(g))

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Requirement Due date

* The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 8 (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all communal areas should be accessible to the children and any restrictions on this should be proportionate to the risk presented and regularly reviewed.

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeated requirement. 6 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; 6 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 9 the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that any physical intervention is accurately recorded, signed off by those involved and the manager, and evaluated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 6 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 10

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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: SC035154 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Calderdale School Effectiveness Service, 2nd Floor, Westgate House, Westgate, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 1PS

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Inspector

Debra Boldy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035154 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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