Children's Home run by Southend-on-Sea Young Men’s Christian Association in Southend on Sea

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 1 Registered provider: Southend-on-Sea Young Men’s Christian Association Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local charity affiliated to a national charitable network. It provides care for up to three children aged between 11 and 17 who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in June 2023. The provider is recruiting for another manager. At the time of this inspection, there was no manager in post.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, no children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out in an unplanned way. Despite the staff providing a caring and nurturing environment, both children’s needs became more complex and could no longer be met at the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who moved on most recently told staff that they felt safe at the home. They made progress with their education and health. The child’s social worker said, ‘The staff have a really good working relationship with the local authority. The child made a lot of progress since moving in.’ The children had trusting relationships with the staff, and staff knew them well.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, welcoming and spacious. It provides a warm and nurturing environment for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The responsible individual and staff team are committed to and enthusiastic about children’s learning. The responsible individual liaises well with external educational professionals to plan education provision. One child who left the home undertook GCSE exams and an ASDAN qualification.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff supported children’s relationships with their families well. They worked creatively to support children’s complex family relationships.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encouraged children to develop their independence skills in areas such as cooking, washing and cleaning. Staff supported an older child to meet the targets in their pathway plan to prepare them for independent living.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child engaged with their initial health assessment, had their immunisations and gained weight while living at the home. Staff engage children in conversations relating to age-appropriate subjects, such as smoking cessation, substance misuse and peer influences.

p.3

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

The provider responds to allegations against adults effectively and swiftly. This helps to ensure that only suitable adults work at the home.

p.3

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

On occasion, children’s experiences of and exposure to risk have been of concern. Staff have worked collaboratively and effectively with other professionals at these times. This has increased safeguards and given all professionals involved a clearer understanding of emerging and identified risks. Staff’s skills and understanding led to one child becoming increasingly safer since they moved into the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 4 One child was frequently going missing before they moved to the home. This frequently led to the child’s whereabouts being unknown. Since moving to the home, the child did not go missing once. This shows that the child had a sense of belonging and had built positive relationships with staff. A social worker said that the home was a protective factor for her child.

p.3

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

Behaviour support plans are exceptionally detailed and are reflective of known risks. The plans are underpinned with therapeutically informed guidance. This enables staff to have a clear and consistent understanding of how to support children at times of crisis. Such strategies helped the child who recently moved on to keep their anxieties low and increased their engagement with staff.

p.4

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

Staff have supported a child to engage effectively with the youth offending team. This has had a positive impact on outcomes for the child and increased the child’s understanding of the importance of crime prevention.

p.4

good

The registered manager gave notice in April 2023 and left the post in June 2023. The provider has not acted urgently to recruit a new manager. Currently, there is no manager or deputy manager appointed. The recruitment process to appoint both is ongoing. The responsible individual is overseeing the home in the absence of a manager.

p.4

good

The manager, who has left, and the responsible individual took effective action to address four of the five requirements and two recommendations from the last inspection. This has led to improvements in the overall environment of the home and quality of care provided to children.

p.4

good

All staff receive a comprehensive in-house induction. Overall, the training offered to staff is varied and relevant to their roles. However, substance misuse training has not yet been delivered to all staff, which was raised as a requirement at the last inspection. Progress has been made to enrol some staff on the relevant level 3 qualification. However, not all staff are enrolled on a course to attain a relevant level 3 qualification. This does not ensure that all staff are suitably qualified or on track to achieve the required qualification. Failure to provide specific training that is relevant to children’s needs means that staff are not as well equipped as they could be to respond to concerns.

p.4

good

Staff and the responsible individual failed to record some incidents relating to a child. The responsible individual has not consistently notified Ofsted of serious incidents. This shortfall reduces Ofsted’s oversight of how effectively the provider manages these incidents.

p.4

good

The responsible individual knows the children who have lived at the home exceptionally well. The responsible individual and the staff team are child focused. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 5 The responsible individual has ensured that staff understand and use a therapeutic resilience model and tool effectively in working with the children. As a result, children have received the support and care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose.

p.4

good

Staff say that they receive good-quality supervision from the responsible individual. Team meetings take place regularly, which are reflective and well attended by staff.

p.5

good

The home is appropriately staffed at the present time. However, several staff members have left since the last inspection. Rotas are planned to provide a mix of experienced and qualified staff on each shift. Staff are suitably recruited.

p.5

good

The reports of the monthly external monitoring visits are of good quality. They include feedback from children and professionals and detail actions and recommendations to drive progress.

p.5

good

One complaint was made by a child. This was investigated effectively by the responsible individual. Appropriate actions were taken in response to the complaint and the complainant. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 18 August 2023

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that: staff have suitable training and support to ensure that they can meet children’s needs; staff are enrolled on a course to attain a relevant level 3 qualification and actively supported to achieve it within the required time frame. 18 August 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)) 18 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 7

p.6

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: 2696017 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Southend-on-Sea Young Men’s Christian Association

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newlands, 85 Ambleside Drive, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2FY

p.8

Inspectors

Lianne Bradford, Social Care Inspector Emily Stevens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696017 9 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

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

p.9