Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 1 Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent 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 the local authority and registered to provide care for up to two children with emotional and social difficulties because of early childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2020.

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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 Requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 13 December 2022

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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: 2484586 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Good 06/07/2021 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Good 15/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. Two children have left the home since the last inspection. Both children had positive experiences leaving the home. One child was supported to return to live with their family. The other child was supported to move to a placement that could better meet their needs. The inspector spoke with the child living in the home and spoke with a child who recently moved out as part of the inspection. Shortfalls in help and protection and the leadership and management of the home have impacted on the overall progress and experiences for children.

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improvement to be good

The staff support children to maintain meaningful relationships with people who are important to them and speak positively about the manager and some staff. However, some new friendships made by children have resulted in incidents taking place, including significant damage to the home and increased risk for children. Repairs and redecoration have taken place. However, there are some minor repairs outstanding.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff have not been able to promote children’s engagement with attending school or accessing education. Therefore, children have not achieved educational outcomes or made progress with their learning since the last inspection. The manager and staff have tried different strategies to encourage children to engage with education. When these have not been successful, there has been no effective review of their plans. Therefore, children spend most of their day out of the home without a clear, structured routine in place.

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improvement to be good

The child living at the home has been there for several years, and she has made some progress from her starting points. Since the last inspection, the manager and staff have supported the child to understand and promote her cultural needs. For example, the manager and staff have supported the child with caring for her hair and exploring food and other cultural practices in line with her ethnicity. This support has assisted the child to experience better self-esteem, improved physical presentation and positive emotional well-being. The manager and staff also advocated on behalf of the child to receive further support to explore her family history to contribute to her life story and promote her identity development. As a result, a requirement made at the last inspection has been met.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers support children to improve their physical and emotional health and well-being. Staff support children to overcome barriers to attending health appointments. Children enjoy a varied and balanced diet. Managers and staff have monthly consultations with a clinical psychologist. This is used to improve care planning and has been effective in improving the care that staff provide to children. This allows staff to understand the reasons behind children’s behaviours to provide child-centred care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 4

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

Risk has not always been well managed. Children have developed friendships with other children from the community who were not identified as a positive peer influence. These associations resulted in a significant increase in the children going missing from home and engaging in antisocial behaviours, causing damage to the home and other homes in the community. The manager and staff have worked with other agencies to reduce this risk and disrupt this behaviour.

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

One child who was at risk of exploitation online was given a new device that increased the risk she was exposed to. Despite this, the child’s risk assessment was not updated, and no strategies were put in place to ensure her online safety.

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

Incidents of self-harm are rare. When there have been incidents of self-injurious behaviour, staff actions have been appropriate and support for the child has been sought. However, the manager did not ensure that one child’s self-harm risk assessment was updated after incidents took place. Consequently, the risk assessment did not appropriately reflect the child’s current situation or risk. This practice does not keep children safe or promote their welfare.

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

Children’s missing-from-home protocols do not provide clear and consistent guidance to staff when children go missing. Records when children go missing are not well recorded, including what actions staff took to locate them. There have been several occasions when staff did not follow plans when children went missing. While children were not harmed on these occasions, this practice places children at risk of being harmed.

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

During one incident, a child’s family member was aggressive to staff. Despite this incident being upsetting for children who witnessed what took place, and a risk to staff, the manager failed to make a notification to Ofsted. This prevents the regulator’s oversight of incidents.

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

The manager and staff take allegations seriously, and children are at the centre of their investigations. This practice prioritises children’s safety and makes children feel safe and valued by staff and the manager.

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

Physical interventions are rare and used as a last resort. When staff intervene to manage children’s behaviours or to keep them safe, the manager has debriefed with children and staff. This response ensures that children’s behaviours are managed safely, and any practice issues are identified and addressed promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 5

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good

A suitably qualified and experienced manager leads the team. The manager has a good knowledge of children’s starting points and what they have accomplished since living at the home.

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good

Internal monitoring has not identified some of the shortfalls identified at the inspection. External monitoring is poor. The quality of the monthly reports by the independent visitor varies and occasionally does not meet the statutory requirement. The visitor rarely comments on whether children are safeguarded effectively, and if their welfare is promoted. The manager and responsible individual have plans in place to address this concern.

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good

Recruitment practice is not sufficiently robust. This is because managers are not professionally curious about gaps in staff employment records or ensure that sufficient checks are undertaken and obtained before new staff commence employment in the home. Weaknesses in safe recruitment of staff mean managers cannot be sure they only recruit suitable staff to care for children.

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good

Following a period of instability in the home, there have been a number of bank staff used to support the permanent staff team. One member of staff said that staff morale was low.

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good

Staff are qualified and have up-to-date appraisals. Staff are suitably trained to manage the children’s identified and diverse needs. Team meetings and supervision sessions take place monthly and are now used as a place for reflection and learning. Important issues are tracked and discussed, and children are at the centre of these discussions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager and staff ensuring that children are supported to overcome barriers to attending education, and engage with their learning. 1 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; 1 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 7 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to the registered manager and staff ensuring that children have up-to-date risk assessments which appropriately reflect their current risk and strategies to reduce risk.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager and staff taking action to safeguard children as set out in children’s plans.

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the manager uses internal and external monitoring to identify priorities for improvement to the quality of care for children. 1 December 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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d)) 1 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. 1 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 8 The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that the independent person sets out clearly in their report whether children are safeguarded effectively and their well-being is promoted.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.1)  The registered person should ensure that the home is well maintained, with any repairs undertaken as soon as possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2484586 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: City of Stoke-on-Trent

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Swann House, Boothen Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 4SY

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Inspector

Nateisha Cardoza-Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2484586 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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