Children's Home run by East Riding of Yorkshire Council in East Riding of Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 1 SC035543 Registered provider: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates this home. The home provides care for up to six children. The aim of the home is to prepare children for independence. Where appropriate, staff support children to return home or to foster care.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since November 2022. At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/10/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they enjoy living in this home and feel they have a trusted adult to talk to if they have any worries. Children were observed to be relaxed and confident with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and ensure they have positive care routines. The stable and predictable home environment created by staff helps the children feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to access services for both their physical and mental health. Children attend their routine appointments and are registered with universal health services. Staff work with a psychologist and reflect on the support offered to the children. This means the children have individual support around their emotional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to build relationships with children and encourage them to engage in different activities. One child said the best thing about the home is that you get to enjoy lots of activities. Staff capture these moments in photos for the children to look back on. This provides children with mementos to treasure in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home are supported to achieve their full potential in education. Staff also support children who find attending education a challenge. Staff use incentives to promote attendance and create alternative learning opportunities to encourage children’s interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with information regarding how to make a complaint. Staff also support children to make their views known when they are not happy with decisions related to their day-to-day care. This helps children feel valued and confident about sharing their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a positive welcome when they move into the home. The manager makes child-centred decisions about children coming to live in the home. One child explained that they felt well supported by staff, which helped them feel happy and settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their family, and staff value the importance of these relationships. Staff work with the children’s social workers to improve the quality of family time. This means children maintain family links, which maintains their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s home has been newly decorated, which contributes to the homely environment. One child helped staff paint their bedroom in their favourite colours. This supported the child to take ownership of their individual personal space. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 4 However, another child’s bedroom lacked suitable furniture to store clothes. This impacts on the child having a sense of belonging and feeling valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child stated that they did not like the pantry being locked. It was also found that the children’s games were in a locked cupboard. The manager has not considered whether these restrictions are necessary. Consequently, not all areas of the home are freely accessible to children.

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

Staff help children to be safer and provide them with clear boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Staff support the children to understand behaviours that cause them harm. This helps the children understand how to keep themselves safe and helps to reduce associated risks.

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

Staff work hard to reduce the impact of bullying and have plans in place to support children’s relationships. When relationships between children have been volatile, staff offer children greater support. This means children are better able to manage their differences with peers, resulting in fewer incidents between children. One child’s social worker said that staff work hard to support the children around bullying.

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

Physical interventions are used only if necessary. On these occasions, children and staff have the opportunity to reflect on and learn from these incidents. This helps to repair relationships, and it also helps all concerned to learn how to reduce the risk of future restraints being used.

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

On occasions, when staff have concerns regarding risks associated with substances, staff use the strategies in children’s risk assessments and plans to reduce these risks. This includes sensitively undertaking room searches.

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

Children have not gone missing from the home since the last inspection. However, if a child were to go missing, the staff understand the procedures they should follow to facilitate their return home.

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

Children’s risk assessments are kept up to date, and staff understand children’s individual risks. On occasions, staff have been unable to reduce the impact of significant incidents and have required the support of police. Recording of some of these incidents is not always clear, and there are gaps in some records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. The manager makes child-centred decisions about children coming to live at the home. Plans also consider the needs of children already living in the home. This has helped children to develop relationships, and some children are now enjoying undertaking group activities together. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 5 The manager and staff communicate well with other agencies involved in caring for the children. Professionals spoke about how staff and the manager provide weekly summary updates regarding children’s progress. One social worker said the manager is a strong role model and spoke positively about the regular communication from the home. This supports effective care planning for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home does not have a full staff team and relies on sessional workers to ensure the children’s needs are met. The manager ensures that a small number of regular bank staff are used to reduce the impact on the children. The manager is working with leaders to address vacancies and improve staff retention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings have taken place monthly and provide a forum for sharing information and reflecting on practice. Staff have also welcomed the support from specialist services, which helps them reflect on incidents and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about support from the team and their manager. One staff member said the manager is very supportive and really cares about children and staff. However, not all staff, including sessional workers, are receiving supervision or appraisals in line with the home’s policy. This limits the manager’s ability to identify training needs and address any issues or inconsistencies with staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has made changes to strengthen management oversight. This helps him to identify actions required to improve the quality of care for children. However, this does not extend to overseeing the administration of medication. This could mean that errors are not identified and shortfalls in practice addressed effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is not progressed in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Some staff have not completed their safeguarding training, although the manager has taken action to reduce the impact on children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(c)(i)(ii)) 14 July 2023

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (2) (a)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have the required training to meet children’s needs. Staff should also ensure that the recording of incidents is clear, and actions taken by staff are consistent with children’s needs. 14 July 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 14 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised. (Regulation 21 (1)(b)(c)(ii)(iii)) 14 July 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements for the administration of all medication and ensure that oversight of the administration and management of prescribed medication is robust and able to independently identify any safeguards. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: SC035543 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, County Hall, Cross Street, Beverley HU17 9BA

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Inspector

Gina Lightfoot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035543 9 inspects 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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