Children's Home run by Derby City Council in Derby

Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 1 SC488596 Registered provider: Derby City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by Derby City Council. It provides care for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home can offer care provision for up to four children.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an experienced manager leading the home, and they are registered.

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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: SC488596 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/08/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is spacious and comfortable. They have recently been involved in designing and decorating several shared living spaces. This has given the children a sense of ownership of the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect their tastes and interests. As a result, children settle quickly at the home and feel proud of it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make good progress. For example, the manager advocated for one child, who had been out of education for some time, to have a tutor. As a result, this child made considerable progress and achieved qualifications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child has been supported by staff to move out and live with a foster family. This was in line with the child’s care plan. Appropriate transition planning by the manager enabled this child to experience a positive ending to their time at the home. This child shared how much they were going to miss the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have warm and reciprocal relationships with staff. Regular discussions happen with children about matters that are important to them. Children can easily identify staff they can trust and go to for help. As a result, children are choosing to spend increasing amounts of time at the home with staff. For one child, this has reduced time spent in the community. As a result, this has made the child less vulnerable to risks of criminal exploitation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are thorough, informative and updated regularly. They are individualised to children and offer clear guidance to staff on how to work effectively with children. Staff understand how adverse childhood experiences can affect and impact on each child’s behaviour. Consequently, children are cared for by staff that understand their needs. Staff have a good understanding of how to manage and respond to children’s challenging behaviour. This helps to keep children safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not currently offered the opportunity to influence their care through regular children’s meetings. Staff have previously been unsuccessful in motivating children to attend. This is an area that the manager wants to develop.

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

Children’s behavioural incidents are managed well by staff. Regular management oversight ensures that staff and children are given the opportunity to have a debrief. Required follow-up actions are undertaken quickly by the manager. The manager works effectively with relevant professionals and refers children to specialist services in a timely way. However, on one occasion, the manager did not inform Ofsted of a serious safeguarding concern within the home. This prevented Ofsted from ensuring that the safeguarding practices were meeting regulatory expectations. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 4 Risk assessments for children are thorough and child-centred. They offer staff clear advice on how to practically keep children safe. Staff understand how to support children when their behaviour is challenging or when they go missing from the home. The manager adapts strategies to manage risk when these are not effective.

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

Changes to plans are well communicated and understood by staff. As a result, missing-from-home incidents are reducing, and children are rarely involved in physical interventions.

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

There have been incidents where children from this home and a neighbouring children’s home have started small fires outside the property. Although staff were supervising the children, they did not use the correct fire equipment to extinguish the fires quickly. Plans are now in place to work collaboratively on managing these shared risks. The location risk assessment is not yet updated to reflect these risks.

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

There have been several errors when prescribed medication has been administered to children. Staff have not followed agreed processes to prevent this from happening again. Therefore, mistakes have continued to be made. This could potentially have put children at risk of harm or negatively impacted on their well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a suitably experienced and committed manager. He cares deeply about the children and has developed good relationships with them. There is good communication and delegation between the manager and deputy manager. The manager clearly understands the areas of development for the home, and he has plans in place to address these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home and feel well supported by the manager. They value the manager leading by example and being able to learn from their practice. Staff are offered regular supervision, where their well-being is prioritised. Staff shared that there is good team morale and that colleagues support each other. Staff retention is improving. As a result, children are receiving more consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides staff with the necessary support to do their role effectively. Staff are enrolled on required training. The manager can clearly track staff learning, including timescales for required qualifications. This promotes a culture of learning because staff are enabled to fulfil their roles effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses an effective auditing system to assess the quality of care being provided to children. Monthly oversight allows him to track children’s progress. This information informs care planning. There is good multi-agency working. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 5

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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 registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them;

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, medicine should be administered to children in an agreed and safe way. 10 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff follow safety procedures when a fire occurs at the home. 10 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 6 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all significant events in the home are promptly notified to Ofsted. 10 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the location risk assessment includes the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided, particularly through implementing children’s meetings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 7

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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: SC488596 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Treasurers Department, Council House, Corporation Street, Derby DE1 2FE

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Inspectors

Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Teresa Godfrey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC488596 9 and 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 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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