Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 1 SC034495 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates this home. The home provides care for up to eight children with learning disabilities. It currently provides care for four children on a long-term basis and 17 children on short-breaks arrangements. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home and two were staying for a single- night stay. The manager was registered in November 2020 and has the required qualification.

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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 outstanding

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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 children’s home: SC034495 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 13/11/2019 Full Outstanding 09/10/2018 Full Outstanding 10/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children at this home have differing and complex health and care needs. These needs are met by staff who offer highly individualised care. Children’s plans are made in collaboration with a range of specialists. This means effective use is made of expertise and knowledge, which helps children receive the right type of support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individuality is celebrated and staff show genuine nurture and warmth towards the children. Children’s views are central to their care, be that in activity choices, which staff they spend time with, or big decisions such as where they will live when they leave this home. Widespread use is made of alternative methods of communication to ensure the child’s voice is heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children mostly make good progress in education. Where education is disrupted, this is compensated for as far as possible by staff at the home. Interim arrangements provide structure to the child’s day and opportunities for learning. There is little evidence of drift, as any obstacles to getting the right support are challenged assertively by the manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is an established and effective network of health and care professionals who support the children. Staff’s relationships with professionals and families are mutually respectful and the staff team is held in high regard by others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is dated and is currently being replaced with a new building already in construction. Despite the old-fashioned design of the current building, children’s rooms reflect their interests and the shared areas are functional and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have stimulating and exciting experiences, both at the home and in the community. Staff organise holidays, visits to different towns and to shows and concerts. This broadens the children’s horizons.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The short-break service is invaluable to parents and enables them to be resilient in the longer term. This service was unavoidably cancelled for 10 weeks last autumn and this did have an impact on the children and families. The manager has reviewed this period and has identified ways in which care can be organised differently to reduce the likelihood of future cancellation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager reviews children’s needs before they move into the home to make sure that the new children will get on well with the children already living there. One child moved in recently and the dynamic in the home has since changed. There are sometimes more serious behavioural incidents where staff notice other children become distressed. The situation arising from the last child to move in has shown the benefit of including different information in the impact and matching assessment. This might pre-empt such a challenging mix of children. Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 4

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

Risk assessments are succinct and cover children’s vulnerabilities. Strategies to manage risks are clear and well understood by staff. At points of crisis, the introduction of safety plans helps to introduce short-term steps which make children increasingly safe.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home but, despite this, plans are in place for those children where this is a potential risk. This means staff know how to respond. Similarly, there have been no complaints and no allegations. This means children are being cared for safely.

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

Management of online risks is effective and done in the least restrictive way, while ensuring children are safe. Staff help children understand how to manage risks themselves where this is appropriate. This helps the children as they move towards increased independence.

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

Children’s care plans are regularly updated and provide sufficient information for staff to provide children with the help they need. However, the wording used in some written records needs to be improved to avoid inaccurate or incorrect information being included.

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

The required safe recruitment checks are completed when staff are appointed to work at the home. However, checks on agency staff are not as comprehensive. This does not provide the manager with the assurance that all staff working with the children have been safely recruited and that agency staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to provide safe and effective care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are inspirational, confident and ambitious for children. The manager shows a high degree of tenacity in seeking positive outcomes for children. The manager reliably takes actions to escalate and challenge when the practice of others falls short.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is well established and mostly very experienced. Despite this, the manager pushes continuous professional development for the staff and for them to constantly embrace new ways of working. This also shows responsiveness to the changing needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The building of new premises has provided an opportunity to review and revise the provision, and the manager is leading a culture of high aspiration for the future service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leadership team of the manager and senior care staff has an effective model for supporting and challenging staff to get the best from them. The team has provided emotional support through a challenging period for the staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 5 Despite the manager giving time and attention to managing some of those challenges, she has also supported staff to give children life-enriching experiences and new opportunities. These have included regular participation within the community, which has kept the children visible and made them a part of the local landscape.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses a variety of tools to keep oversight and make effective improvements to the service. Requirements made at the last inspection in relation to medication and incident records have been met. However, the monthly independent reports have been submitted late to the regulator and do not always contain sufficient consultation. This reduces the value of the reports because the regulator does not have up-to-date oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When issues have arisen, the manager has an open and honest attitude and uses these times as an opportunity for learning. This means she continues to make improvements in the quality of care. Her main focus though, which shines through, is her commitment to the welfare of the children and her staff team. Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 31 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any external agency staff meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications, and the Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 7 registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work at the home. The use of agency staff should be carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure children receive continuity of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.16)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56,

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Recommendations

paragraph 11.4)  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. (‘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: SC034495 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034495 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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