Children's home run by Staffordshire County Council in Stafford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 1 SC375911 Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority-managed resource centre provides short-break care for up to four children with learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She has applied 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 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: 11 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Outstanding 28/02/2019 Full Outstanding 08/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The service reopened in January 2023 after being closed for over a year, since November 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there were two children receiving short-break care and one child was receiving an outreach session. The service is currently supporting 17 children and their families. Each child has a tailored support package to meet their needs, which includes overnight stays and outreach sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff welcome children into a safe, comfortable and calm environment for short breaks. The setting is spacious, warm and welcoming. The communal areas are clean, nicely decorated and comfortably furnished. There is specialist equipment available to meet the children’s health needs and cater for their disabilities. There are pictures of children and staff around the home. There is a sensory room, playroom and an arts and crafts room, where children can relax, have fun and spend time together. Children’s bedrooms are bright and airy. They are beautifully decorated, in themed styles, such as pirate, sugar and spice, and butterfly. This means that this is an environment where children can have fun, feel comfortable and where they want to spend time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build excellent relationships with children. Inspectors observed staff to be nurturing, patient and kind with children. They know the children well and have exceptional knowledge of the children’s likes, dislikes and preferences. Staff are attuned to the children’s differing communication styles. Staff use a variety of different communication tools, such as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), communication books and Makaton to ensure that children can communicate their preferences. There are also communication boards around the building to support children who have communication difficulties to have their say.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are referred to the service, the manager ensures that all children have a thoughtful and meaningful introduction to the home. The manager and staff carry out home and school visits and the children are invited to visit for tea before they stay overnight. This helps children to get to know the staff and become familiar with their surroundings, which helps them to settle and feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have positive experiences when they stay at the service overnight or attend for outreach. Staff support children to participate in a range of activities in the home and in the community, such as arts and crafts, garden parties, orienteering in a local forest and going out on day trips. This helps children to have fun and socialise with others and supports them to build relationships with staff and peers. One parent said the activities on offer enable their child to have new learning opportunities and develop new skills that they would not be able to experience outside of the centre. Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 4 Staff support children to develop their independence skills. Each child has individual targets that help them to become more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have built excellent relationships with children’s families. Parents spoken to by inspectors were overall incredibly positive about the quality of the care their children receive. One parent said, ‘The centre and staff communication are amazing. [Name of child] has opportunities I cannot support with due to her complex needs.’ However, some parents spoken to did express their anxieties over last-minute cancellations, the recent closure of the service, and the impact that this had on their child and family. The manager is working hard to allay parents’ fears and rebuild confidence in the service. There have been no cancellations since the home reopened.

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

The manager and staff are effective in ensuring that children are safe during their short breaks. The staff team know the children extremely well. They have a good understanding of their risks and know how to manage these. Staff support the children with their social interactions through high supervision levels and consistent, familiar routines. This helps children to feel safe. As a result, incidents in the home are rare.

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

There have been no allegations or complaints. There have been no incidents of children being away from the home without permission. Staff were clear on their roles and responsibilities on the protection of children and keeping them safe from harm.

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

Staff communication is effective. Detailed handovers ensure that staff discuss children’s needs and vulnerabilities. Children’s written plans, including behaviour support, risk management and health plans, are comprehensive and are regularly reviewed. This ensures that staff have up-to-date clear guidance on how to support children and reduce risk.

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

Staff use positive approaches to support children’s behaviour. They focus on positive rewards for children and therefore do not use consequences. Staff use highly effective de-escalation techniques to support children when they are in crisis. As a result, staff rarely use physical intervention. There has been one occasion when restraint was required as a last resort to keep the child safe. The manager has thorough oversight of all incidents. She ensures that staff and children are spoken to following all interventions. This supports the manager to review the incident effectively, ensuring any intervention used is necessary and proportionate.

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

Staff hold workshops with children on important topics such as internet safety, anti- bullying and how to make a complaint. This helps children to be informed and keep themselves safe.

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

Overall, medication processes are safe. Medication is stored safely. Staff are appropriately trained in medication administration and the manager carries out Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 5 annual competency tests for staff. The manager completes monthly audits, which help to identify any errors. There has been one medication error. The manager ensured that there was reflection on staff practice to prevent reoccurrence.

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

Children stay in a well-equipped, safe environment. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks. Personal evacuation plans are in place for all children. There are regular fire drills to ensure that staff and children know how to exit the building in the event of an emergency. However, while the manager completes an annual assessment of the location of the home, and there is evidence that there has been consultation with local safeguarding partners, this is not clearly reflected in the location risk assessment. This means that staff may not have up-to-date information on the risks in the local community to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager has been in post since the home reopened. She initially managed the service on an interim basis. She has now taken on the manager’s role permanently and has applied to register with Ofsted. This has supported the continuity and stability of the service following the period of closure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the service’s strengths and areas for development and has plans in place to further develop the staff team’s skills and the environment. The manager has effective monitoring systems in place. She uses these well to continually review and drive forward improvements in the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high ambitions for the service and how it can support children who use it. Staff receive a variety of training opportunities. Before a new child starts to visit the service, consideration is given to any specific training that is required for staff to support the child effectively and safely. This means that children receive care from staff who are suitably skilled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children. She is curious and raises concerns with professionals to ensure the best interests of the children are met. The home always requests feedback to continually improve the service for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they feel supported by the manager. Supervision is now taking place regularly. This provides staff with a safe space to reflect and discuss the children who attend the centre, staff welfare, training and development. As a result, staff morale has improved. Overall, the feedback received from staff is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals is positive. Social workers were complimentary about staff communication and feel that the service has a positive impact on children. Parents said children are safeguarded effectively and feel confident that the centre meets their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose clearly demonstrates the aims and objectives of the home. This helps parents and placing authorities to have a clear understanding of Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 6 the service’s aims. However, it lacks detail on how the service intends to meet specific needs, in particular, children’s communication difficulties. In addition, it does not include details of staff who provide clinical support to the setting. Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, when establishing the home, that it is suitably located so that children are safeguarded effectively and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. In particular, the manager should ensure that any consultation with safeguarding partners is clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that they develop and keep under review a statement of purpose (regulation 16 and schedule 1). This should be child-

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Recommendations

focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. Specifically, the statement of purpose should include details of the experience and qualifications of any staff commissioned to provide education or healthcare. It should be specific to this service and detail how the home will manage children’s communication difficulties. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 14, paragraph 3.5)

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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: SC375911 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Staffordshire County Council, 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford ST16 2DH

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Inspectors

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Jade Bradburn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC375911 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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