Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 1 SC037910 Registered provider: Hampshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to three children. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since June 2021. The manager in day-to-day charge of the home is applying to be registered with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A restriction of accommodation notice served following the full inspection on 21 November 2022 was ended following a monitoring visit which took place on 3 January 2023. Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2022 Full Inadequate 30/08/2022 Full Inadequate 31/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of care has improved since the last full inspection. Predictable structures and routines have helped the child to make good progress, particularly in relation to attendance and achievement in education. This means that the child has also benefited from opportunities to make friendships outside the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team gives high priority to working closely with other professionals and voluntary agencies. Feedback from external professionals is very positive regarding partnership working and the motivation of the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Compassionate staff provide plenty of opportunities for the child to express their views, including through key-work sessions and significant conversations. An open culture allows the child to talk about the things which matter to them, for example school and family time. The child told the inspector that they feel able to talk to all staff and are confident that their voice will be heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and implement the child’s care plan. The child has trusted relationships with staff which are built on commitment and understanding. As a result, the child has been able to share their wish to continue to live at the home until adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s care plan does not contain detailed information about their health needs. As a result, it does not fully describe what staff need to do to ensure that they have a consistent approach to achieving the best possible health outcomes for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s environment is clean, tidy and welcoming. The kitchen is at the heart of the home and the child enjoys cooking and preparing meals for themselves and staff. This has helped to prepare the child to live more independently in the future.

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

The safety and well-being of the child is a priority for all staff. The frequency of the child’s missing-from-care episodes has reduced since they have come to live at the home. Records of missing-from-care episodes demonstrate that there is a robust response from staff to ensure that the child returns safely when they go missing.

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

Staff know the child extremely well. They are adept at noticing changes in the child’s presentation and behaviour. They recognise that those changes may indicate that the child is struggling and needs additional support. As a result, the use of physical restraint is kept to a minimum. However, records of incidents do not fully demonstrate that staff attempt to de-escalate situations before making the decision to call the police to support with behaviour management. Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 4 Staff now work collaboratively, which leads to a shared understanding of the child’s progress in relation to addressing their risks and vulnerabilities. Consequently, the frequency of incidents has reduced because staff are more confident in managing the child’s behaviour.

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

The child told the inspector that they feel safe and understand why consequences and restorative discussions are important. The child is encouraged to participate in deciding what consequences should be applied in response to their actions. Having a say in the way they are looked after is empowering for the child.

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

There are thorough and detailed risk assessments for the child. Managers ensure that they are updated regularly and clearly describe what staff need to do to keep the child safe. This enables staff to provide the child with consistent and predictable support.

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

The child knows how to make a complaint if they are unhappy about any aspect of their care. Complaints are taken seriously, investigated and acted on. The child is offered the opportunity to escalate their concerns to external agencies if they are unhappy about the outcome of their complaint.

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

Processes for managing health and safety matters and maintenance tasks are effective. As a result, repairs are completed in a timely manner and the physical environment is safe and secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is currently no registered manager at the home. The acting manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. They have demonstrated commitment and determination to improving the quality of care provided. Staff speak positively about the impact the acting manager has had on the home, and morale is high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has sound awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They swiftly address any shortfalls that they identify. However, the workforce plan could be improved to ensure that it is streamlined and that there are manageable and realistic timescales for agreed actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are offered a range of training courses to give them the knowledge and skills they need. However, some staff have not received training that is relevant to the needs of the child they are looking after. Despite this shortfall, staff provide good- quality care because the acting manager ensures that any deficits in the quality of care are immediately addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive meaningful supervision regularly, and the records of these sessions demonstrate that managers are assessing and auditing each staff member’s performance. As a result, managers can be confident that staff fully understand how to meet the child’s needs. Annual appraisals are completed. Staff who are ready for career progression within the organisation are given development opportunities. Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 5 The acting manager makes good use of their own review of the quality of care and of the independent person’s reports. This means that they have a well-rounded view of the experiences of the child and the impact that the care is having on their outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager notifies Ofsted about all serious events. This enables the regulator to monitor the management response to incidents. Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding.

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that written plans reliably inform staff how to consistently meet the child’s health needs. 30 June 2023

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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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 31 July 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 7 Specifically ensure that all staff receive training that is relevant to the needs of the child that they are looking after.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should agree with their local police force, the procedures and guidance on police involvement with the home to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour and criminalisation of behaviours. Children should not be charged with offences resulting from behaviour in a children’s home that would not similarly lead to police involvement if it occurred in a family home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47 paragraph 9.40)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should:

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Recommendations

- detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose;

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Recommendations

- detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications);

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Recommendations

- detail the process for managing and improving poor performance;

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Recommendations

- detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.

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Recommendations

The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that the home has a person managing it. Under regulation 27, that person will be an individual that the registered provider appoints as manager. This is with specific reference to the acting manager proactively pursuing her application to register with Ofsted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 12.2) Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 8

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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: SC037910 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hampshire Council, 3rd Floor, Elizabeth II Court North, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC037910 10 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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