Children's Home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 1 SC040733 Registered provider: Salford 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 run by the local authority and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children currently live in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/08/2022 Full Good 03/05/2022 Full Inadequate 01/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children and place their well-being at the centre of their practice. This means that children can develop trusted relationships with staff. Positive and nurturing relationships support children’s progress and general well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support family time and make sure that this is safe and in line with children’s plans. Children’s friends are welcomed into the home, including for overnight stays. This allows children to develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to supporting children’s educational plans. Staff have supported one child, who is out of education, with a daily tutor. There is a clear plan in place for a return to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health and well-being. Children benefit from specialist help to support their individual health needs. Over time, children learn to develop skills to manage their own health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A professional speaking about one child said, ‘They are making progress and are supported with family time, emotional health, and education. Staff go above and beyond.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children’s moves into the home are planned. Planning considers the child’s individual circumstances. However, the process does not consider the impact on the other children living in the home. The planning also fails to consider the staff’s ability to meet the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Complaints procedures are clear. Children understand how to make a complaint and are given the outcome of their complaint. This means children feel that staff listen to their concerns.

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

Risk assessments reflect children’s individual needs. Assessments include the views of children, parents and professionals. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to reduce risk. There are clear strategies in place to manage risks.

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

Staff are effective in reducing incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff follow clear and comprehensive plans. They are proactive and search to locate children. A parent said, ‘They are keeping my child safe.’ The manager has put extra activities in place for one child. Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 4 A skilled and trained staff team supports children to manage issues such as self- harm. Staff are effective in managing incidents of self-harm. They seek advice and guidance from professionals. The enables children to safely manage their feelings.

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

Staff sometimes hold children to keep them safe. When this happens, it is done as a last resort. Debriefs take place following these incidents, which helps children to understand the reasons for the hold.

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

Staff talk with children and support them to understand how to keep safe. These discussions help to prevent potential harm. They also take place when children have put themselves at risk.

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

Careful recruitment ensures that staff are suitable and safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has had a period of instability. Children have experienced inconsistency due to changes in the management and staff teams. The home has a new registered manager, deputy manager and a full staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is effective in her role. The members of the management team understand the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They have regular audits and development plans. They have ambitious plans in place to develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from an experienced and trained team. Staff receive training in subjects that are specific to the children’s needs, such as autism spectrum disorder and self-harm. This inspection found shortfalls in safeguarding refresher training. The manager has plans to address this issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are well attended and used as an opportunity to reflect on practice. Staff use these sessions to enhance their knowledge of children’s individual needs. This strengthens processes such as responding to self-harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision sessions. These are practice led, evaluative and used to reflect on incidents. This further promotes improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The environment is homely and a nice place for children to spend time. There are some shortfalls in the home environment. For example, some areas require redecoration, carpets need to be repaired or replaced and communal bathrooms need modernising. The provider should also ensure that any damage, such as to doors and walls, is promptly repaired. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home is maintained appropriately for the children to live in. This specifically relates to redecoration, repairing or replacing carpets, modernising communal bathrooms and ensuring that any damage, such as to doors and walls, is repaired in a timely manner. 28 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are procedures in place for welcoming and introducing each child to the home and that they are sensitive to the needs of the child at the time of arrival. Specifically, impact risk assessments should include a plan to identify if the staff team has the skills and experience to meet that child’s individual needs before they move into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.7)  The registered person should ensure that staff complete refresher training in safeguarding. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5) Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 6

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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: SC040733 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5DA

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Inspectors

Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC040733 8 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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