Children's Home run by North Lincolnshire Council in North Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 1 SC472449 Registered provider: North Lincolnshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority and can provide care for up to six children who may have social and emotional difficulties. This includes up to one child with a physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

There are interim management arrangements in place as the registered manager is currently not in work.

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Information about this children’s home

Six children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Good 08/11/2021 Full Outstanding 27/11/2019 Full Good 05/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 3

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, shortfalls were identified in the help and protection of children and the effectiveness of leaders and managers in the home. This means that some children’s overall experiences and progress have not been positive since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff support and encourage children to access therapeutic support and are proud when children feel ready and able to access additional support. Staff support children’s health needs, but have failed to ensure that all the children access specific local health services and dental appointments. This can have a negative effect on children’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children decorate their bedrooms and communal areas to reflect their identity, hobbies and interests. However, one child has not been provided with their personal items, photos and appropriate equipment. This means the child has been unable to personalise their bedroom in the way they wish to.

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improvement to be good

Child-friendly care plans help staff understand children’s needs and enable the staff to provide consistent care. One social worker discussed how one child is embracing ‘lots of positive life experiences’ that staff support the child with. However, staff struggle to ensure that some children have positive routines, resulting in them being awake during the night and asleep during the day. This has a negative effect on their attendance at education and restricts children from accessing any additional support they may need during the day.

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improvement to be good

Children are consulted regarding their views, wishes and opinions. Staff support children to have access to independent advocates. Staff also advocate on behalf of children to ensure that they have appropriate support to reduce worries around transition to independence. Most children known how to make a complaint; however, one child was unaware of the complaints policy.

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improvement to be good

Children, irrespective of abilities or disabilities, access a range of social and recreational activities. Children enjoy taking part in boxing and swimming, and have holidays away. Although this is a positive, staff attempts to support all the children to access activities that provide distractions from unsafe ‘pulls’ in the community are not always effective. This leaves children engaging in unsafe activities and some anti- social behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well and understand their individual needs. This helps some children develop and maintain positive relationships, which creates a sense of belonging. One child said they like living in the home and said, ‘The staff really care about me and support me, they are genuine people.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 4 Staff and managers make plans so that children have a positive welcome into the home. This supports children to settle and helps reduces their anxieties. Staff support children to see their families. One parent said, ‘The staff offer good care to our child. Staff support our child in the family home when they visit so we can enjoy quality family time together.’

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improvement to be good

Staff understand associated risks for children and understand that some children living in the home are exposed to risks from substance misuse, criminal activities and exploitation. Children’s risk assessments are written to address these concerns, but lack clear detail about actions that should consistently be taken by staff to mitigate known risks.

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improvement to be good

Some children misuse substances. Staff responded appropriately and sought immediate medical assistance when one child’s presentation concerned them. The child is now accessing specialist help and has a strong multi-agency team offering support. However, although staff had previously had concerns about this child, additional checks, such as room checks, were not carried out with any level of frequency. This was a valuable opportunity missed to address the issue sooner.

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improvement to be good

Staff consistently share information with relevant people when children go missing from the home. However, missing from home records do not show if staff always check children’s possible locations when they are missing. Staff promptly report children missing to relevant professionals when necessary. However, children’s safety plans and risk assessments are unclear regarding what the required actions of staff are when children go missing. This results in an inconsistent response from staff to ensure children are effectively safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

There is a semi-independent living provision located near to the children’s home. Some of the children spend time in the property with the young people who live there, despite the efforts of staff to discourage this. Staff from the children’s home provide support at this provision at times of crisis or to manage unwanted behaviours. Children have been present in the semi-independent living provision when incidents have occurred. Staff and managers maintain this has not impacted on the children. On several occasions, police assistance has been required at the semi- independent provision. On one occasion, police removed children from the semi- independent provision and returned them home. However, staff were unable to prevent the children returning to the semi-independent provision. Senior managers have now taken actions to reduce opportunities for children accessing this provision. Management oversight of the semi-independent provision is also under review.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions are minimal and only used when needed to keep everyone safe. Physical intervention records do not record conversations with children and staff following an incident. This does not provide children and staff the chance to share any concerns they may have. This also does not provide leaders and managers with the oversight needed to try and reduce reoccurrence of such incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 5 The manager takes actions to ensure that any allegations are shared with appropriate parties. However, safeguarding notifications continue to be sent late to the regulator. This does not provide Ofsted with assurances that the provider has responded appropriately to any safeguarding concerns relating to children.

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improvement to be good

All children said they feel safe in their home. Staff work to ensure that risks to children are reduced and that children access individual support. One professional said, ‘Staff and managers work collaboratively with professionals from our service. Staff are welcoming and communication is good.’

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improvement to be good

Staff offer children the opportunity to have discussions with staff and are provided one-to-one time to share their views. Staff have targeted discussions with children in key-work meetings where staff raise concerns to help children understand associated risks to keep them safer.

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good

The registered manager post is currently vacant and the home is managed by a temporary acting manager. Management oversight in the home is ineffective, with a lack of monitoring and review systems to oversee the quality of care provided.

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good

The acting manager has not had clear oversight of all incidents involving children. Discrepancies in risk assessments and gaps in physical intervention records mean the acting manager cannot be assured that the response from staff has always been appropriate and proportionate. Records are not always clear, which means it is difficult to understand the level of risks affecting children.

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good

Staff are provided with training and all staff have to complete a mandatory training schedule. However, the current recording systems make it difficult to track what training staff have completed. This means it is unclear if there is the correct amount of appropriately trained staff working at any one time to meet children’s needs.

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good

Leaders and managers ensure that staff supervisions are held regularly, but these meetings are not all documented and records are not shared with staff. This means that any actions in relation to children’s needs and the personal development of staff are not agreed and signed by staff.

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good

Staff said they like working in the home. Staff feel well supported by leaders and managers and appreciate recent changes in working hours, which has happened in an attempt to improve work-life balance for the staff.

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good

The home has sufficient staff to support meeting children’s needs. An increase of night staff means staff can now actively look for children who are missing from the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 6 Staff said that regular team meetings provide them with helpful specialist training about how to support the children’s individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that risk assessments and children’s care plans provide staff with clear steps and guidance. These steps should be consistently followed to help staff to mitigate any risks to children both 7 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 8 when missing and within their own home and surrounding buildings.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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)(a)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should have monitoring and reviewing systems in place to ensure consistency in recording and to have full management oversight of any incidents and any risks posed to children. 7 July 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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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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)(b)(e)) 7 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of— 24 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 9 the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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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

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (2)(3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 7 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vii)(viii)) 7 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 10

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all children are aware of the complaint procedures. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have a record of supervision held in line with the home’s procedures. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 13.3)

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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: SC472449 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Square House, 30-40 Church Square, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire DN15 6NL

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Inspectors

Gina Lightfoot, Social Care Inspector Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472449 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 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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