Children's home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 1 SC394283 Registered provider: Salford City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to five children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post. There is an acting manager who has applied to register.

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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 inadequate

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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: SC394283 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2022 Full Good 07/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff treat children with dignity and respect and have positive and trusting relationships with the children. Throughout the inspection, warm and nurturing interactions were observed between the children and staff. Children spoken to said that if they have any worries or concerns, they can talk to staff about it and staff will listen and help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and wellbeing needs are met, they have access to health services when needed. The manager and staff work in partnership with health professionals such as the Diabetes nurse and CAMHS to ensure that children have access to specialist external help when needed. There are robust health plans in place to make sure that children’s specific health needs are managed well by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children’s education needs are met. Children attend education or are in full time employment. When children have faced difficulties with their education the manager and staff have worked alongside their education provider to make sure their needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are always welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. There is a robust referral process which is used to assess the needs of children who already live in the home and the impact for children who may be new to the home. The manager assesses the staff skills to make sure that they can meet the individual needs of the children. When specialist training is required to support a child, this is sourced prior to the child moving into the home. This ensures that there is a child-centred approach when making decisions about whether children should move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with relevant plans ensuring it meets the individual needs of the children and ensures that they can maintain relationships that are important to them. The manager and staff work with the family and placing authority to promote meaningful and safe contact and they share any concerns about family time with the relevant professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage the children to develop their independent skills to help prepare them for adulthood, this is done in a way which is compatible with the child’s age, ability, and emotional needs. This targeted work helps prepare them for adulthood and independent living.

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

Each child’s individual risks are detailed in their risk assessments. These are detailed documents which are frequently updated and give clear guidance to staff to ensure consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice when supporting the children. One child is subject to a Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 4 Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) order, the manager and staff understand this document and there are clear plans to safely reduce the restrictions in place to enable the DoL order to be removed.

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

Leaders and managers have responded suitably when safeguarding concerns have been raised. They have taken all necessary action to investigate and address these complaints ensuring that the needs of the children were prioritised throughout the process.

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

There has only been one occasion when a child has been held to keep them safe, it was necessary, reasonable, and proportionate. The child was spoken to following the hold to ensure they understood why it was necessary. However, staff were not spoken to following the hold, this meant they did not have the opportunity to reflect on the use of the hold. The manager reviewed the report but did not evaluate the effectiveness of the measure used.

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

Significant events and incidents are recorded, and all relevant professionals are notified. However, there is not always sufficient detail within these reports.

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

The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals, such as the local police and missing from home team, to ensure well-coordinated responses when children go missing from the home. When there are concerns of exploitation the home ensures that all relevant professions are notified, and appropriate action is taken to address these concerns.

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

Direct work sessions take place with the children to support their understanding of how to keep themself safe. These are completed proactively as well as in response to significant events and take place in collaboration with external professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a manager in post, however she has not applied to register with Ofsted in line with the social care common inspection framework. She is passionate and shows an ambitious vision, with high expectations for what all children can achieve. There are systems in place for effective monitoring and review of the home. These ensure that the manager has good oversight of the home which means she can identify and address any issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a consistent team of staff who are suitably qualified and experienced, however not all staff have completed all the required training and there are not sufficient plans in place to support them to complete these outstanding sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff spoken to during the inspection said that they enjoy working at the home and feel supported by the management team. Staff receive regular supervision, however these are not always practice related and records of supervisions do not include sufficient detail. Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 5 Leaders and the manager notify Ofsted of significant events which occur at the home. However, these notifications are not always sent in a satisfactory timescale. This affects external monitoring of children’s safety and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is warm and welcoming with a supportive and nurturing atmosphere. There are some areas of the home which require attention to make sure it does not appear institutionalised such as removing bars on the windows and ensuring that children can access all communal areas of the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline, or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(v)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are spoken to following the use of a measure and that the effectiveness of the measure is evaluated. In addition to this, any steps to avoid the measure must be recorded in the report. 12 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 12 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; 12 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 7 there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must notify Ofsted without delay of any notifiable events.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the environment is homely and domestic and does not give an ‘institutional’ impression. Bars should be removed from the windows and replaced with more discreet window restrictors. Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home, unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs, and locks should be removed from communal areas of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’ page 15, paragraphs 3.9 and 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. Staff should complete training in a reasonably planned way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’ page 53, paragraph 10.11)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and

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Recommendations

understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information that distinguishes between fact, opinion, and third-party information. The registered person should ensure that reports relating to significant events include all relevant information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’ 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, Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 8 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: SC394283 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5DA

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC394283 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 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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