Children's Home run by East Sussex County Council in East Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 1 Registered provider: East Sussex County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides care for up to five children who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties as well as being diagnosed with mild autism spectrum disorder. There are currently three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were both registered on 4 May 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last full inspection, leaders and managers have focused on relationship- based work. This has allowed children to have greater trust and faith in staff. Leaders have also changed how they support and direct staff. There is now greater oversight of and direction for staff. This, combined with an effort to enhance the environment, has meant that significant improvements have been made to the home and how well children are cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate staff team. The quality of relationships between staff and children has meant that children trust the staff and have been able to talk about any worries or concerns they have. The strength of the relationships has supported children to reduce the level of incidents. One child was proud to call the home her home, saying, ‘It is fun to be here, and it feels like home and not a care home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are child focused and provide extensive information and guidance to staff. Records demonstrate that children are held in high regard and that their opinions and views are considered. The introduction of new star charts has enabled staff and children to be aware of just how much progress has been made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are shared in meetings and one-to one sessions. Their views are used to inform decisions which relate to their daily care. As a result, there have been changes to the children’s guide, suggestion boxes and the structure of children’s meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to access therapy, and for one child, this is a significant achievement as they had previously not wanted to engage in this. Clear plans and the consistency and commitment of staff have allowed the child to trust, try out and now participate in the therapy process.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are creative in how they support the educational needs of children. Children have individualised timetables and are provided with a wide range of educational activities. However, none of the children have a permanent school placement, and this is despite two of the children living in the home for several months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Decisions about children moving into the home are carefully considered. Detailed transition plans and careful placement matching ensure that the impact of a child moving in is fully understood. This information is shared well with staff. Transition plans are created in consultation with children moving in to make sure that the move is at a pace they are comfortable with. This has helped children to quickly feel at home once they have moved in and to talk about how long they want to stay. Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 4 There has been an occasion when a member of staff recorded some confidential and sensitive information relating to one child in another child’s record. This was rectified during the inspection.

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

Children have detailed impact assessments that ensure that their risks are well known and understood by leaders, managers and staff before children move in. Plans to reduce risk are regularly updated and shared with staff, and staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s risks and individual needs.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. When they do, the response by staff is prompt and effective because all children have clear protocols in place for staff to follow. This helps keep episodes of missing from home to a minimum.

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

There is good communication with external agencies such as the police, ensuring that levels of risk are understood and shared effectively.

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

Children’s positive behaviour is consistently promoted. Staff use effective de- escalation techniques that are specific to the individual needs of children. All staff are aware of these strategies and have a sense of pride about how effective they have been. Children have responded well to these strategies and have been able to learn how to manage some of their own emotions, meaning levels of incidents have reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have a strong view of their aspirations for the home. It is clear that there have been lessons learned following the previous inspection. Significant improvements have been made to records, communication and the daily management of the home. Staff are now clearer about what is expected of them and have subsequently been more consistent in the care they provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive high levels of support. Monthly staff supervision sessions are supplemented by frequent well-being ‘check ins’. Detailed handovers and weekly team meetings have helped to provide staff with opportunities to learn from each other and share good practice. Staff meetings have also included representatives from the positive behaviour support team and child mental health services. This provides staff with external guidance when planning for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have a clear understanding of the progress that children make. As well as detailed monthly audit tools, the introduction of the already mentioned star system allows leaders to continue to both assess progress and identify any gaps in the quality of care that is being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s social workers are confident in the quality of care that the children receive at the home. Positive relationships between leaders, managers, staff and social workers ensure that there is a cohesive professional network around children. This Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 5 means that when concerns are raised, there is an immediate response that involves relevant professionals. Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 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 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 use reasonable endeavours to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children need to have identified school placements. 30 December

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2674792 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: East Sussex County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: , County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1UE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Teresa Lavelle-Hill

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2674792 8 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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