Children's home run by Suffolk County Council in Ipswich

Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 1 SC038761 Registered provider: Suffolk 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 home provides care for up to six children aged between 11 and 17 who have difficulty managing their emotions and behaviour and may have suffered severe trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/07/2021 Full Good 03/12/2019 Full Good 30/07/2018 Full Good 02/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, five children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and two children have moved in. The children who have moved on from the home have been proactively supported by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have moved on from the home in a planned way. Staff provide children with ongoing support after they have moved on, if they wish to accept it. This enables children to maintain important relationships with staff at a time when they are experiencing many changes. The social worker for one of the children who moved on said that they are pleased with the progress that their child made while living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy at this home. One child said, ‘The house is not the heart, it’s the people who live in it, that’s the heart.’ Children have warm and trusted relationships with staff. Children feel confident to share their views and feelings and they have a sense of belonging at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager makes good assessment of the children’s needs when considering other children moving into the home. This ensures that the dynamics between children remain positive. Children are welcomed to the home in a considered and supportive way. They receive welcome gifts and information to help them to feel informed about what to expect from living at the home. This eases children’s anxieties at a time they may find difficult.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have education placements that meet their individual needs. Two children, who did not enjoy school, have gone on to college placements that they do enjoy. The staff communicate exceptionally well with education staff. This ensures that children’s educational needs and progress are shared and discussed so that they can fulfil their educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with exciting activities. Staff have taken children to see their favourite music artists and arranged for them to watch premier league football matches. Staff have taken all the children on holiday, which, for one child, was a first. Such activities broaden children’s social experiences, develop their interests and enhance their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have created memory books for all the children. These books contain positive statements from staff and items such as receipts, tickets and photos of happy times spent with staff. These are important reminders of the children’s time at the home. These keepsakes help children to retain memories that they may otherwise forget. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 4

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

Staff understand the risks that children face and manage them well. Risk assessments are thorough, routinely updated and reflective of the risks that children are exposed to.

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

Staff have supported one child exceptionally well in legal proceedings. Staff advocated for the child extremely well. Staff understand that the child has been under emotional strain and adapted their care and expectations of the child accordingly. Consequently, this support has strengthened the child’s relationship with the staff team.

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

Staff support and encourage children to spend quality time with people who are important to them. Children maintain important relationships with people they love.

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

Safeguarding concerns and allegations against adults are managed appropriately and promptly. This ensures that children remain safe.

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

The use of restraint and consequences is infrequent. When used, they are reasonable and proportionate. There is good management oversight of all incidents.

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

There has been a recent increase in children going missing from the home. At these times, staff respond effectively and actively look for children until they are found. The management team is working alongside a multi-disciplinary team to consider how to reduce risks related to children going missing from the home.

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good

The manager has failed to address issues which were identified at the inspection.

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good

Health and safety checks are routinely completed. However, a high priority recommendation in the fire risk assessment plan had not been addressed. This presented a significant risk to children and staff. This was addressed at the time of the inspection. However, this was only addressed when identified by inspectors. The manager had not made a record of responses to actions raised in the fire risk assessment. Therefore, it was difficult to determine what action had been carried out and when.

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good

The location risk assessment refers to out-of-date information. This information is not reflective of the current risks in the locality, such as the presence of county lines activity. The management team has received specific information from the police about people of concern in the local area; however, this does not feature in the risk assessment. Opportunities have been missed to use all information available to increase safeguards for children living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 5 The management team has not ensured that staff have the required training and skills to meet the health needs for one child. Failure to adequately train staff reduces their ability to provide effective care to children.

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good

Overall, staff are supervised regularly. There is some inconsistency in the quality of supervision and support offered to staff. Actions and plans resulting from supervision sessions are not consistently clear or timely. Opportunities to improve staff practice through meaningful support have been missed.

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good

A full refurbishment of the home is due to take place in spring 2023. However, the plans for refurbishment were discussed at the inspection in July 2021 yet no further action has been taken since that inspection. Two windows at the home are broken. Although these have been made safe and a request has been made for their repair, they remain broken. Boarded-up windows detract from the overall look of the home.

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good

Three complaints have been made since the last inspection. Two complaints were not about the home but in the interests of children. The manager has supported two children by advocating for them to get the services that they need. She has sought an apology for a child when they were rudely spoken to by a college tutor. The manager is a good ambassador for children and challenges others appropriately when they are not working in children’s best interests.

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good

The manager has been proactive to obtain a health assessment for one child. The management team contributed financially towards the assessment. Such actions demonstrate that children’s best interests are at the heart of the team’s work.

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good

Social workers were unanimous in their views that the manager makes an exceptional difference to the experiences and progress of children at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 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 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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that: the location risk assessment contains up-to-date information; sufficient support and guidance are provided to staff during supervision sessions; the fire risk assessment is reviewed and effective action is taken and recorded; staff receive training to meet children’s health needs. 31 January 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing, supportive and homely environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 7

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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: SC038761 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX

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Inspectors

Lianne Bradford, Social Care Inspector Thomas McGhee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC038761 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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