Children's home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 1 SC488679 Registered provider: Leeds 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 owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

An interim manager has been in post for seven weeks. He has not yet submitted his application to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

This children’s home was judged as inadequate at the full inspection on 12 and 13 March 2023. This was because leaders and managers failed to take appropriate action to protect the children from serious harm. Ofsted issued three compliance notices under regulations 12, 13 and 25.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was undertaken on 2 May 2023. Compliance notices were reviewed and the inspector found sufficient evidence for the notices to be lifted. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2023 Full Inadequate 16/11/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Full Outstanding 08/01/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting relationships with staff and feel listened to. Staff focus on seeking children’s views, wishes and feelings. Consultation with children is individualised and undertaken in line with the children’s wishes. Some children do not want to attend meetings or take part in key-work sessions. Instead, they prefer to ‘chat’ to staff. They speak to staff about their worries and concerns. One child said: ‘Since the new manager arrived, we actually feel listened to. Now we are heard, and our views are acted upon. We even get feedback.’ Staff advocate effectively on behalf of children to ensure that their rights and entitlements are protected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home previously provided support to enable children to return to their families or foster care arrangements. The purpose of the home has changed since the last inspection. It now provides children with medium to long-term placements. When children are ready to move to alternative placements, staff support them to visit their new home. They work closely with other professionals and family members to ensure that these transitions are successful and a positive experience for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from individualised care and support plans. When children’s needs change, the staff respond to these changes and develop effective strategies to support children. This helps children to continue to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication with professionals and family members has improved since the last inspection. Staff now provide weekly updates that reflect the children’s achievements and progress as well as any concerns that have arisen. One family member said: ‘The home keep in contact every day. They ring and tell me all the good things and share the not-so-good things. It’s like a second family for us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children personalise their bedrooms. However, they are not routinely provided with lockable storage where they can store items that are precious to them. Staff help children to keep their rooms clean and tidy. Although the home benefits from a cleaner, staff encourage children to take part in domestic tasks, such as cleaning and laundry. This supports children to learn valuable life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children meet weekly to plan the menu and decide on the activities that they would like to take part in. Staff use these activities to provide children with opportunities to learn new skills, for example budgeting, travel training and time management skills. This helps children to develop independence skills for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have bespoke education plans. Although staff encourage children to attend their education sessions, this is not always successful. When attendance and engagement in education decreases, the staff work quickly and creatively with education professionals to identify plans to support children to re-engage. Two children have now left school and the staff are supporting them to enrol on college Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 4 courses of their choice. A social worker said: ‘They are wanting to focus on maths and English. This is massive that they have that focus now.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individualised health plans. Staff work with children and other professionals to support children’s health outcomes. For example, for one child they need to know in advance when an appointment is due and what will be expected during the appointment. Staff use a planner for the child that details this information. When children do not engage in health appointments or plans, staff explore the barriers that children face. However, the staff have not received training in all of the areas required to support the children’s health needs, specifically in relation to children’s sexual health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular contact with their families and people who are important to them. Children and staff welcome visitors to the home. Staff facilitate private areas in the home for these visits, if children want this. When children’s loved ones live away from the local area, staff take them to and from their visits. This allows children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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

Children’s risk assessments contain their known risks and vulnerabilities. The manager meets regularly with the police and social care to review and update children’s plans. This ensures that all professionals are supporting children in a meaningful way that keeps children safe. The staff demonstrate that they know and understand the risks to children’s safety. One child said: ‘I feel safe living here. I am planning on staying until I am 18 then moving to independent living.’

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

Missing-from-home incidents have reduced. Staff have developed clear missing- from-home plans in consultation with children and other professionals. Staff are proactive in looking for children when they are missing and they work effectively with other professionals to ensure that children return home safely. A social worker said: ‘I feel confident that they are safe living here.’

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

Staff consult with children following periods of being missing. This provides an opportunity for staff to review the effectiveness of the plan and support children to understand the risks of going missing. Staff explore children’s reasons for going missing and work together with children to overcome these. A staff member said: ‘Young people should feel that our commitment to finding them is the same as if they had a parent.’ As a result, episodes of going missing have reduced and children now maintain contact with the staff when they are missing from home. This is significant progress for children and reflects the trusting relationships that are built.

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

Individualised positive incentives for good behaviour are given and recorded. This encourages children to follow the rules of the home. Staff have established clear boundaries with children. This has resulted in behavioural incidents reducing in frequency and intensity. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 5 While there have been no incidents of physical intervention in the home since the last inspection, the manager has yet to establish a clear reviewing system for this practice. This was identified as a shortfall in the previous inspection. As this has not yet been achieved, this shortfall has been reissued.

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good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified for his role. He is supported by two deputy managers who are familiar with the operation of the home and the children’s needs. The staff team is consistent and well established. Staff and children spoke positively about the impact that the manager has had since he started his role. One staff member said: ‘We now have clarity. There is a clear mission about what we are doing and why we are doing it.’

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good

The manager has introduced a new monitoring system to help him assess and evaluate the quality of care that the children receive and the progress that they make. This is not fully effective, and the manager does not have a clear recorded overview of the home’s strengths and areas from development. For example, one child’s health record was not fully up to date.

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good

Not all staff hold a relevant qualification for their role. Two members of staff have now exceeded the deadline for obtaining this qualification, and another member of staff was unable to evidence their qualification. The previous manager did not take sufficient action when recruiting this member of staff to ensure that they were suitably qualified.

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good

Staff access training courses relevant to their role. However, two staff members have not completed all refresher training in line with the organisation’s mandatory training programme. This means that not all staff have the up-to-date knowledge and skills to meet the children’s specific needs.

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good

Staff now receive regular supervision sessions, although the quality of these sessions is not consistent. Not all staff have the opportunity to reflect on the children’s care and progress during supervision sessions. The manager does not review all supervision records to ensure that he has a full understanding of staff practice and performance. This is a missed opportunity to continually improve the quality of care for children.

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good

The manager advocates well for children. He appropriately challenges professionals when their response to children’s care planning has been poor. He has developed positive relations with professionals, which has created a focus on working together to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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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)(c)(h)) 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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 has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for 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.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate 28 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 7 qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(b)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the recording of children’s cultural needs and sexual health.

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Requirement Due date

This also specifically relates to the need for information about children to be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 28 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 8 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 (1)(a)(b) (3)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely and domestic environment. This includes ensuring that the garden is maintained to a good standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with appropriate furniture, such as a lockable cabinet or drawers to store personal items securely, including any personal information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive regular supervision of their practice, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC488679 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Hall, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 1UR

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Inspectors

Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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