Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 1 SC036023 Registered provider: Sheffield 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 a local authority and is registered with Ofsted to provide short breaks for up to eight children with learning and/or physical disabilities. However, there is a variation of the registration to allow two children to live at the home until suitable placements are found. This means that, currently, short breaks are not operating. One child lives at the home and another child stays overnight at the home several nights per week on a shared-care basis.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2018.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/10/2022 Full Inadequate 28/01/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 3

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improvement to be good

Children do not always receive effectively planned care to meet all of their needs. One child’s care plan does not provide staff with enough information about the child’s cultural and religious needs. The child’s care plan is also vague about some of the child’s behaviours. This means that the staff may not fully understand all of the child’s needs and how to support them appropriately. Staff, including managers, are not sufficiently involving, and supporting, a child’s parent to be involved in their child’s care and support. There are also opportunities missed to support the child with getting to know, and developing relationships with, their extended family members. However, both children enjoy time with their parents and staff support the children to do many different activities together. This helps to create positive shared experiences and for one child is supporting with growing their relationship.

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improvement to be good

Not all children receive a good level of education. One of the children is not receiving any education and there has not been sufficient action taken to challenge this with the relevant organisations. The other child, who lives at the home, receives consistent education, which is integrated well into their overall care from the home’s staff. The home is not always well maintained and does not feel homely in all areas. There are areas of the home and garden that require attention and redecoration. In the nook area, there are fittings in the environment that negatively affect the homely and nurturing appearance of the home. There was also no means to protect the privacy and dignity of children when using one of the shower rooms. This was addressed during the inspection. Children do not have accessible relevant information about the home. The children’s guide has not been adapted to make this suitable for any children living at the

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improvement to be good

home. From children’s starting points, there is evidence of steady positive progress. Children are accessing a range of activities that they enjoy. Some of these activities help the children to learn new skills and experiences. Children attend medical appointments, which helps in maintaining their physical health. Staff have made improvements in recording children’s overall progress and goals they are working towards.

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improvement to be good

There continue to be shortfalls in checking the suitability of all agency staff. Action taken has been ineffective in relation to determining the suitability of agency staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 4 and whether all agency staff have the required skills and knowledge. This does not keep children safe. Managers do not make sure that records show all of the action taken in response to allegations about staff practice. This means that it is unclear whether managers take prompt and appropriate action to investigate allegations and address concerns to help to reduce the risks to children’s safety. Staff do not complete and review assessments to make sure that the restrictions in the home are necessary and proportionate to keep one of the children safe. The placing authority has not provided written consent for the use of video monitoring for one child to make sure this is appropriate to reduce the risks to the child’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Children’s missing-from-home protocols continue to lack information needed about who to contact in the event of the children going missing. Staff are committed to caring for the children, including in the most challenging circumstances. They use the strategies in children’s individual risk assessments to try to defuse incidents and help children to manage their feelings positively. The overall number of incidents occurring is reducing. When restraint is used, this is proportionate to the level of risk to the child or others and used for the shortest time possible. Staff understand the warning signs and indicators that would raise concerns about children’s safety. They understand the action they should take to report any safeguarding concerns.

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good

There is no clear vision or expectations for staff and the home. The home suspended short breaks in order to care for two children until suitable placements are identified. While this has been a difficult and challenging time for staff, there has been a lack of proactive, aspirational practice in driving change and progress from the home’s leaders. Managers are not able to maintain effective oversight of the home and the care provided to children. Management capacity has been affected by the home changing its function and the long-term reliance on agency staff to care for children. This means that there are no formal audits occurring to help the manager better understand and evaluate the quality of care, and the manager’s oversight is reliant on discussions with staff. There is no evidence of management footprint in the documentation in the home. The manager does not routinely review all incidents. This means that they are

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good

unable to identify good practice and lessons learned to improve the care of children. The home has a stable and committed team of permanent staff who know the children well and have built positive relationships with them. These staff have lead Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 5 roles that enable them to take on additional responsibilities, which helps to develop their skills and the home. Staff, including agency staff, receive training and supervision. They attend regular team meetings and, if they are unable to attend, they read the minutes of team meetings. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)) 8 August 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

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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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)(c)(h)) 8 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they have in place a system to check and verify the experience, training and other relevant checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service checks and references, of agency staff members.

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Requirement Due date

Prior to an agency staff member working in the home, the registered person must ensure that they have taken the necessary steps to verify that the agency staff member has the required skills and experience for the role.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must review all agency staff recruitment files, to ensure that they have followed safer recruitment practice as outlined in the regulation. A record of the findings must be made and any identified actions undertaken. 8 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 8 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 8 if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)).

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any areas of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

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

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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 (c)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 8 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(b)) 8 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

that subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(d)) 8 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, where there is a possibility that a child will run away or go missing when in the community, the plans contain contact details for all relevant professionals and agencies who should be contacted if the child goes missing from care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.24) Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 9  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children living there, and is a homely, domestic environment. The home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the home produces a children’s guide, which must be age-appropriate, provided in an accessible format, and explained

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Recommendations

to each child to make sure they understand it. In particular, the children’s guide must be relevant and applicable to the care being provided by the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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: SC036023 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspectors

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Parveen Hussain, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC036023 11 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

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

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