Children's home run by Norfolk County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 1 Registered provider: Norfolk 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 run home offers crisis and emergency placements. The provider’s aim is to care for children with complex needs associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and behaviours that are difficult to manage. The home offers short- to medium-term placements for children between the ages of five and 17 years.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2022 Full Good 19/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 3

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improvement to be good

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection, having done so since December 2022. The child has highly complex needs, which, at times, prove challenging to meet. Staff have built positive relationships with the child and are highly resilient. However, several shortfalls in relation to the home environment, responses to safeguarding concerns, staff training, and the effectiveness of care planning mean that, at present, the child is not receiving a consistently good enough quality of care.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is extremely sparse, with very little furniture or stimulation for the child. The need for this is clear and relates to behaviours that result in significant risk to the child. Considerable work has taken place to ensure that the building is safe for the child to live in, and staff have tried numerous ways of making the environment more homely and suitable. However, more could have been done to achieve this, and others involved in the child’s care raised this as a concern. Despite acknowledging the concerns about the environment, managers do not have a clear plan in place to change this. This means that steps taken to try to improve the environment and plans for further actions are not clear.

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improvement to be good

There is a large team of professionals involved in the care of the child. Mental health services work closely with staff to help them to develop new strategies to meet the child’s needs. While some of these have been implemented, this has not always been done consistently. The child’s plans contain some strategies, but other approaches that staff use are not included. This has affected how consistently staff work with the child.

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improvement to be good

The child has not been in education for a significant period. However, staff work with the child to provide them with a level of structure and routine and engage them in learning activities. The manager has worked closely with the wider professional network to try to identify a suitable education provision and advocates strongly for the child in this area.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that the child’s physical health needs are met. The child has a recurring health need and staff have worked with the local doctors’ surgery, resulting in an agreement that the child is seen at the home. This has ensured that that the child is able to access the medical treatment they need quickly and in a way that meets their individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to engage in a good range of activities at home and in the community. The child has recently enjoyed trips to the cinema and gone bowling and canoeing. Community activities are well planned and managed by staff to ensure that they can provide the child with a variety of activities while still being able to keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 4

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improvement to be good

Several safeguarding concerns have been reported to managers by staff and others involved with the child. Most of these have been responded to in line with the home’s safeguarding policy. However, records of responses are not always clear. This makes it difficult for the manager to have effective oversight of actions taken.

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improvement to be good

One recent safeguarding concern raised by staff was not reported to other professionals in line with the home’s policies. This meant that the concern was not looked into promptly and delayed the necessary actions being considered by the relevant professionals.

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improvement to be good

There are significant risks present for the child. The plans in place to manage these are generally clear, and staff work in line with them. However, some identified risks are not included in the child’s safety plan. Consequently, the strategies in place for staff to manage these risks are not clear.

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improvement to be good

There have been frequent incidents of highly aggressive behaviour and significant property damage. Staff respond to these appropriately and use different techniques to try to support the child at times of distress and help them to calm. Staff show an exceptionally high level of resilience in managing such incidents.

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improvement to be good

A significant number of incidents have necessitated the use of physical intervention. These are proportionate and used to keep the child and others safe. The manager has good oversight of these incidents and works with staff to identify any learning that can be taken from them.

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good

The manager is highly experienced and is qualified to level 5. She has high aspirations for the care that the child receives.

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good

Staff are provided with a range of training, and the manager has sought to identify additional training that is specific to the needs of the child. However, some staff have not completed training in relation to safeguarding and communicating with disabled children. In addition, agency staff do not all have experience of working with disabled children and are not provided with training in this area. This has failed to ensure that staff have the appropriate knowledge and skills, and reduces the likelihood that they will meet the child’s needs.

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good

A wide range of professionals are involved in working with the child. Feedback from professionals was mixed. The manager recognises this and has recently implemented new working group meetings to try to ensure that ideas and strategies suggested by other professionals are more-consistently implemented. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 5 At times, professionals working with the child have struggled to identify ways of ensuring that the child’s needs are met. However, the manager has not sought advice from professionals or organisations outside of the immediate professional network. As a result, potential opportunities to identify new ways of meeting the child’s needs may have been missed.

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good

The high number of staff needed to support the child necessitates the regular use of agency staff. This has led to some challenges to the consistency of care provided. However, the manager has worked with partner agencies to ensure as much consistency as possible and reduce the impact for the child.

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good

Managers provide a high level of support for staff. Staff said that the manager places a priority on their well-being in, at times, highly challenging circumstances and is always available for support and advice. Regular supervisions and team meetings include detailed discussions about the needs of the child and how staff are working to meet these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 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, 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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there are clear plans in place to improve the home environment, that these plans demonstrate the steps that have been taken, and are used to monitor progress. 18 December

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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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)) 17 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 7 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff, including agency staff, receive appropriate training that is relevant to the needs of children, including, but not limited to, safeguarding disabled children. 18 December

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans give staff clear guidance to help them to provide children with consistent care. 24 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they take the initiative in identifying professionals who must play a part for the children and engage with those relevant people proactively, advocating for the children in their care. In particular, consider contacting professionals outside of children’s immediate network to consider what support and advice they may be able to provide in meeting challenges faced in the care of children. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 12, paragraph 2.7)

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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: 2652383 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Norfolk County Council, County Hall, Matnieau Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Joe Matkar-Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2652383 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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