Children's home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 1 SC033387 Registered provider: Kirklees Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides residential short breaks and emergency support for children aged up to 18 years old, who may have physical disabilities, learning disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The local authority applied to vary the condition of registration to provide care and support for up to two children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties. Ofsted approved the variation on 17 August 2021. The variation was approved to assist the local authority during the COVID-19 pandemic.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living at this home who required care and support due to emotional and behavioural difficulties. There were no children accessing the short-break service.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 7 September 2022. The interim manager has recently been appointed and is in the process of applying for registration.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 18 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Ofsted issued two compliance notices under regulations 12 and 13. Ofsted withdrew both compliance notices following a monitoring visit on 13 December 2022. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2022 Full Inadequate 18/10/2021 Full Good 11/02/2020 Full Good 16/05/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 4

p.3

improvement to be good

The home is designed to care for children with additional needs. Despite the local authority varying the home’s registration to widen its remit of care, the leaders and managers have not done enough to make the necessary subtle changes in the home. Neither has there been good enough mentoring from the leaders and managers to support the staff team to adapt following changes to the home’s registration. Consequently, there continue to be shortfalls with regards to the care of the children.

p.4

improvement to be good

The physical environment continues to be a barrier to providing some children with a sense of home. The team has not endeavoured to make minor changes to the home that would better suit the child’s needs. The child has a bedroom door alarm in the absence of a rational risk assessment. Likewise, staff routinely lock the lounge door on an evening. These issues curtail the child’s overall experience of care.

p.4

improvement to be good

The child’s support plan does not contain important information relating to the child’s care. Consequently, the team has no coherent plan around consistently applying basic parenting strategies. Examples include the child having access to their smartphone throughout the night and ambiguity around bedtime routines. This has resulted in a lack of consistent care for the child.

p.4

improvement to be good

The local authority has experienced significant challenge around accessing a suitable educational provision for the child. However, despite this, staff have supported the child to achieve some stability in this area of the child’s care planning. The interim manager has forged good links with the virtual school and the child’s tutor. This has enabled the child to establish structure and purpose in respect of their access to education. It has also enabled the local authority to better understand the child’s learning needs.

p.4

improvement to be good

The inspectors noted that, despite the context surrounding the child’s living arrangements, the child has made progress since the last inspection. The team’s sense of commitment to the child has enabled positive relationships with the child to flourish. This has created much-needed stability for the child.

p.4

improvement to be good

The child’s risk assessments are vague and do not direct staff how to better reduce assessed risk. Risk assessments do not offer sufficient guidance when staff should access other avenues of support or intervention, such as from health professionals or the police. Although staff assured inspectors that they had a good understanding of their responsibilities, ambiguous risk assessments deplete staff accountability and create the prospect of staff making poor decisions in times of crisis. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 5 Written recordings in the home do not show that staff respond effectively when the child reveals issues of concern to them. Records are open to misinterpretation and do not instigate effective follow-up work with the child and professionals. This significantly reduces transparency and accountability in the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

The interim manager has worked hard to set up effective working relationships with external safeguarding practitioners. This has resulted in expert agencies undertaking focused work with the child in the home. However, the interim manager does not filter strategies and agreements from multi-agency meetings into the child’s risk assessments or support plan. This means that staff are likely to overlook crucial agreements associated with risk management.

p.5

improvement to be good

The interim manager has tightened the system involved with vetting agency staff. The vetting process is transparent and organised. Procedures are in place that ensure that the establishment authenticates the agency staff member’s credentials. This better protects children from the risk of unsuitable staff working at the home.

p.5

improvement to be good

The home’s location risk assessment is a useful tool to quickly learn about the known risks to the child in the immediate community. Inspectors learned that the interim manager takes effective steps when local proprietors have been known to sell tobacco or vapes to children. These actions show that the team takes on a wider responsibility to all children who live in the community.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following the home’s variation to its registration, the interim manager has worked hard to adapt her team’s ability to care for children who present with different needs. However, there continue to be significant vulnerabilities in the setting due to gaps in the interim manager’s oversight of her team.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In one instance, managers and leaders failed to evidence how a safeguarding issue was followed through. This was symptomatic of the setting’s poor recording systems. Although the interim manager and her staff were able to explain actions that they take to safeguard children, collaborated by other professionals in some instances, the setting’s recordings did not provide the assurances that the regulator required. Therefore, the recordings in the setting do not consistently evidence decision-making or accountability for the child.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The team’s lack of experience around caring for children with social and emotional difficulties resulted in some poor decision-making. Cumulatively, this resulted in professionals and family members forming the view that the local authority hastily planned the child’s move to the home. These practices make it less likely that children will experience stability in their lives.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are discrepancies in the information that comes out of the home. The interim manager’s analysis of risk in a notifiable incident that the regulator received contradicted information in the setting’s records during the inspection. Although this Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 6 was not the intention, conflicting information coming out of the home will reduce confidence in stakeholders who require certainty from the information that they are in receipt of.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff attendance at team meetings is poor. This weakens the interim manager’s ability to achieve consistency of care. Additionally, team meeting minutes do not provide sufficient detail of the agenda and agreed outcomes. This means that processes that can bolster consistency of care are ineffective.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are low completion rates in the team on various training courses. Managers and leaders have not pursued staff to complete pertinent courses that will better enhance staff knowledge on issues such as illicit substances, bullying and supervision. Although the interim manager has a workforce development plan, it does not highlight all identified training needs in her team. Poor access to training stifles staff development and limits the quality of care in the home.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have clearly expressed their vision that the setting will resume short-break care when they deem it appropriate. This has provided the team with clarity and a sense of direction. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 7

p.6

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.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.7

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii)) 1 April 2023

p.7

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.7

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 1 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 8 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.7

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.8

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;

p.8

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(b)(e))

p.8

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—

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.8

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;

p.8

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.8

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.8

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.8

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.8

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.8

Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 1 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 9 (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(h))

p.8

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.9

Requirement Due date

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

p.9

Requirement Due date

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

p.9

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.9

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, asset out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.9

Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

p.9

Requirement Due date

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

p.9

Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

p.9

Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

p.9

Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

p.9

Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

p.9

Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c)(e)(i)(f)) 1 April 2023

p.9

Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and 1 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 10 any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

p.9

Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

p.10

Requirement Due date

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

p.10

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 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

p.10

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. In particular, that senior care staff receive training on the delivery of staff supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s record of the notifiable event includes a description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation. The registered person must ensure that the language used in the notification is factual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)

p.10

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: SC033387 11

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Civic Centre 3, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD1 2EY

p.11

Inspectors

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033387 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.11

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.12

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.12

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.12