Children's Home run by Halliwell Homes (Midlands Division) Limited in Staffordshire

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 1 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes (Midlands Division) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home that provides care for up to eight children. The home has an attached registered school. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 15 September 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At these inspections, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and/or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 safeguarding arrangements in the home are not always effective  staff are unable to manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other  risk assessments lack detail about how to keep children safe  risks in the environment have not been identified and action has not been taken to reduce these risks  staff do not undertake sufficient work with children to help children understand how to keep safe  children receive inconsistent care due to instability in the staff team  not all staff understand the behaviour management model that they are trained in to support children’s behaviour  poor matching of children has resulted in a period of instability in the home.

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The care of children

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and no children have moved in. There were six children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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The care of children

Poor matching of children has resulted in period of instability in the home. Staff have not been able to support one child’s behaviour effectively and this has had a negative impact not only on that child but on the other children living in the home.

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The care of children

All of the children attend school full time and are making good progress. Staff promote education by working with education staff and supporting educational activities in the home. When children face difficulties in attending education, the manager seeks external support. This helps to reduce the barriers to learning.

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The care of children

Children engage in a range of positive activities outside of the home. For example, one child is a member of the local brownies group, while another child enjoys going climbing and visiting the beach. These experiences provide children with opportunities for fun and enjoyment, and help to build their self-esteem.

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The care of children

The manager has not ensured that the home is personalised or that the standard of cleanliness is maintained to a suitable standard. Children’s bedrooms and communal areas of the home are sparse and to do create a warm and homely environment. Most children’s bedrooms are in need of redecoration. There was a painter brought in to address this during the inspection.

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The safety of children

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 3 Staff do not manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. There are numerous examples in incident records where children have harmed each other. Staff do not intervene at an early enough stage to de-escalate situations and prevent children from harming each other. Staff do not understand the model that they are expected to use to support children with their behaviour.

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The safety of children

Managers have not considered the risk to children from the road outside the home. There have been a number of incidents where children have run out of the home onto the road. On one occasion, a child ran out of the home and sat in the middle of the road. Managers have not identified this as a risk and, as a result, have not taken action to limit this risk to the children. This has the potential to cause a child serious harm.

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The safety of children

Children’s risk assessments do not contain sufficient information about children’s known risks or actions that staff should take to reduce these risks. For example, there is no guidance for staff to follow about how they should manage children running onto the road.

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The safety of children

Staff do not provide children with sufficient support to help them to understand risk and their behaviours. Risk assessments identify that staff are expected to help children to reflect on behaviours through debriefs and key-work sessions. Despite this, key-work sessions with children are limited and of variable quality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Managers’ monitoring and review systems are not effective. Managers fail to identify risk and do not take action to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff do not have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the children. A number of staff do not have the required qualification. Currently, there are five senior staff who have the required level 3 qualification. However, due to a number of senior staff leaving the home the number of qualified staff will be reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Agency staff and staff from other homes are used to fill gaps in the rota. This has led to a lack of continuity of care for children. More incidents occur during the times when there are most agency staff on duty. This demonstrates the negative impact on children of having inconsistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager ensures that staff receive supervision and has taken steps to ensure that staff are now safely recruited to the home, which had been identified as a shortfall at the last inspection. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/01/2022 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 5

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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 who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s 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 to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the managers ensuring that the environment is improved and meets the needs of the children living in the home. 24 November

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 24 November Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 6 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for staff to provide children with effective support to help them to understand the impact of relationships with peers.

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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

help each child understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 24 November Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 7 (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having the skills to prevent children from harming each other and staff undertaking direct work with children on helping them to understand how to keep safe.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the manager ensuring that any environmental risks are addressed.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the manager ensuring that there is clear guidance for staff in children’s risk assessments about how to manage these risks.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that staff have the knowledge, skills and training to meet children’s needs, and that staffing arrangements provide continuity for each child. 24 November

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 8

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Inspectors

Sarah Billett, Regulatory Inspection Manager Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2611027 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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