Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 1 SC369840 Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by the local authority and offers care for two children who may have experienced early childhood instability that has led to trauma and/or associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in February 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 September 2021

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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: SC369840 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/09/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Full Good 20/11/2018 Full Outstanding 01/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child had been living in the home for three months. Another child had been admitted on an emergency basis the evening before the inspection. One child was spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and homely. Changes have been made to improve the appearance of the home, meaning the requirement set at the previous inspection has been met. Both children’s bedrooms are suitable, and staff are supporting the child who recently came to the home to choose items to personalise their room.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with all the staff. Through discussions and observations, it is clear that staff care for children, want them to keep safe and to do well. The child said that they got on well with all the staff and that it was the ‘best home’ they had lived in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Children are registered with health professionals and appointments are made as necessary. The staff team has shown perseverance in ensuring that one child has made some progress in receiving dental treatment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a range of activities. Staff have arranged a number of different activities, such as go-karting, going to the gym and fishing. It has been difficult to get the child to maintain commitment to engaging in activities with staff as the pull to spend time with their peers is stronger. However, the staff team continues to search for alternative interests and incentives to engage the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made progress in a number of areas since living in the home. Staff are teaching the child skills to encourage independence, their emotional regulation has improved and spending time with family has also developed. The child’s parent spoke of positive communication from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. The move is carefully timed to minimise the effect a change in caregivers has on the child. The manager ensures that routines are quickly established and that the child is supported by consistent staff members during the first few days in the home. Contact is made with other professionals quickly to ensure therapeutic support is available. This allows the child to build relationships and settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is not in full-time education and has not consistently engaging in education provided in the home. Previously, the child would not participate in any education. However, the child has progressed from short bursts of study to being able to focus for an hour at a time in online sessions. This is a significant achievement for this child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 4

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improvement to be good

The number of missing-from-care incidents has recently increased. The staff are working with other professionals to understand the level of criminal exploitation that the child is being exposed to while they are missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a very good understanding of children’s risks and have very detailed plans and strategies to follow when incidents take place. They go to significant lengths to increase levels of engagement with one child, and generally the child communicates with staff during the day when they are away from the home. Once communication is lost, staff make numerous attempts to find the child, searching known areas or waiting for the child when they have said they would return. Staff spoken to during the inspection confirmed that they know what to do when the child goes missing the home, and links with other professionals are strong. However, at the time of this inspection, the actions were not effective in reducing the number of missing-from- care incidents.

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improvement to be good

There is some evidence that the child has behaviours associated with drug misuse. Staff have worked hard to provide a supportive environment for the child to want to stop using drugs. As a result, a drug and alcohol support service has agreed to work with the child and is currently working through a programme of support.

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improvement to be good

The child has good relationships with staff and is able to speak about any concerns.

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improvement to be good

The manager has good links with the local authority designated officer and other important safeguarding officers. There is regular and good communication about issues of concern, such as missing-from-care incidents, and the police are regularly consulted on emerging risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a permanent, experienced and qualified manager. He is also registered for another home run by the local authority. He is supported by an assistant manager and a team of staff who are either qualified or taking qualifications. There is one part-time vacancy at the home. Any shortfalls on the rota are covered by staff picking up shifts or by staff from the sister home. This means that children are cared for by staff who they know well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers show ambition and high expectations for children. It is clear from conversations and observations that staff genuinely care for children and want them to achieve as much as they can. Others professionals spoken to also spoke highly of the level of care provided by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and weakness of the home and has a comprehensive workforce development plan. The plan is ambitious for the children and demonstrates how the staff will deliver the care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 5 Staff are recruited using safe recruitment practices and appropriate checks are made of people who want to work at the home. This means that children are less likely to be placed at risk of harm from people who work there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervisions take place regularly. They provide an environment where staff can reflect on their practice and talk about incidents in the home. They are also used to discuss continued professional development and to identify areas of learning. Staff supervision identified one area of training that needs to be updated. This was also evident in the home’s training matrix. The area of learning was relevant to the child’s current risks, and up-to-date training may provide additional strategies for reducing risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose is up to date and reflects the home’s ethos and how to achieve it. It contains details about the home and information about the staff who work in the home. Regulations state that if the provider has a website, the statement of purpose should be published there. The version currently online is dated May 2020 and significantly out of date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent visitor regularly visits the home. However, in their report, the independent visitor fails to clearly state their opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being, as required by regulation. Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 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, The 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that action is taken that has a positive effect on reducing the number of incidents of missing from care and the risks associated with being missing from care. 18 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 18 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 7 support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(x))

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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. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, in addition to any evaluative text, ensure that the visitor gives their opinion clearly on the above two matters in their report. 21 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that website unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. (Regulation 16 (4)) 21 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff have up-to-date knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for signs of criminal exploitation. Staff who received training a number of years previously should be considered for refresher training. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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: SC369840 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of Stoke-on-Trent, Swann House, Boothen Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 4SY

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Inspector

Mark Broomhead, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC369840 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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