Children's Home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 1 Registered provider: Leeds City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated and managed by a local authority.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. The home uses a therapeutic model of care to support children.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager is experienced and registered with Ofsted in July 2023.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2023 Full Good 18/08/2021 Full Outstanding 03/04/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit greatly from the strong emphasis and importance given to building positive relationships with staff. Over time, children begin to trust the staff and respond well to the consistent advice, guidance and care provided. Staff use a therapeutic model of care and provide a highly nurturing approach. This helps the children to feel cared for and safe so that they can make progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in many areas of their lives. They have improved their relationships with their family members and built attachments and relationships with the staff. The children have improved their social skills, and they can better manage their emotions. They have also developed their independent living skills and started attending school.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from structured routines. They know when they are attending school, have appointments, visiting family and friends, or have planned leisure activities. These consistent routines provide the children with a sense of certainty. This helps the children to feel more secure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly see their family members and others who are important to them. Staff ensure that the children rebuild and maintain these essential relationships. Staff support all children’s visits to see their family members, including those who live some distance away. Staff recognise how crucial these family connections are and the important role they play in the children having a clear view of their own identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take pleasure in spending time with friends and family and going shopping, bowling and to the cinema. This summer, children have enjoyed new experiences that have included going on trips to theme parks, to London, outdoor pursuits and going on holiday. This helps the children to broaden their life experiences of the world around them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged and supported to take part in learning how to look after themselves. They routinely help to clean and tidy their bedrooms and participate in cooking and doing their laundry. This helps the children to develop necessary independent life skills appropriate to their age.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s wishes, feelings and views are valued by staff. Their opinions are taken on board and include matters that affect their everyday lives. This influences the care that the children receive. They have daily discussions with staff, and they take part in regular meetings. This results in children having a real say about things that matter to them. This includes the activities they wish to do, the decoration of their home, seeing their family and plans for their future. Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 4 Children live in a positive environment. The house is well furnished and decorated throughout. Rooms are personalised, including the lounge and children’s bedrooms. There have been some incidents where damage to the decor and furnishings has occurred. Repairs are undertaken promptly, which helps to ensure that the home is a positive place to live.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child is attending school, college or an alternative provision. Staff understand the importance of education and continue to support the children to increase their attendance. This is having a positive impact for some children. However, for a child who has a reduced timetable, there is no structured plan to increase the lesson time and subjects studied. This falls short of ensuring that there is a coordinated approach to make sure all children attend full-time education to better support their continued learning.

p.4

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

Keeping children safe is a crucial focus for staff. The staff are trained to use the provider’s chosen therapeutic model of care. They receive training that supports them to safeguard children so they know how to manage the children’s behaviour and act when children go missing from the home. The staff use the strong and trusting relationships that they have built with children, along with a therapeutic approach. This ensures that the staff are equipped with the right approach, skills and knowledge and take the necessary action to keep children safe.

p.4

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

Children benefit from the restorative approach that the staff use. This assists the children enormously when they become upset and struggle to manage their emotions. There is a focus on reinforcing the achievements of children. Children respond well to receiving lots of praise and incentives for positive behaviour. After a period where a number of serious incidents occurred, the use of this consistent approach by the staff has started to have a positive impact, with children becoming more settled.

p.4

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

Staff know the children well and fully understand each child’s vulnerabilities and associated risks. Staff follow the agreed strategies that help to protect the children from harm. There are clear, written risk assessments, care plans and other safety plans that are reviewed routinely. The staff can easily identify the matters that individual children find upsetting. Subsequently, they are able to quickly respond. This assists children to feel supported and safe.

p.4

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

When escalating incidents occur that include the children missing from the home, the staff support the children to recognise the impact of such behaviour. Children take part in coaching and other direct-work sessions with staff. This enables the children to better understand the dangers and consequences of their actions. The manager and staff work well with all agencies. This team-around-the-child approach has helped to identify alternative interventions and preventative measures to better support the children. As a result, these incidents have declined in frequency. Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the senior team provide the staff with strong and clear leadership. The manager and deputy lead by example, role modelling the therapeutic model of care that is disseminated throughout the staff team. Children benefit greatly from this consistent care approach.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager gives direction and support and has established high expectations of the staff. This enables the staff to provide good-quality care to the children. In turn, staff make sure that they put the children at the heart of all that they do.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective communication systems exist. These include daily handovers, weekly staff meetings and therapeutic meetings. This makes certain that the care of the children is organised and that the staff clearly know what they are doing.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak passionately about their work with the children. They demonstrate their commitment to providing the best care. Staff say that they work well as a team and are very well supported by managers. This is reinforced with routine formal supervision sessions that include discussions about the staff’s well-being and their individual development. This enables the staff to conduct their roles and duties and care for the children well.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff collaborate well with professionals. Social workers and other professionals confirm this strong partnership working. Staff recognise the importance of sharing information. As a result, children benefit from consistent care and support approaches from all the adults involved in their lives.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider ensures that the staff routinely attend their essential mandatory training. This includes first aid, safeguarding and behaviour management. In addition, the staff receive more specialist training in such areas as child sexual exploitation, county lines and cannabis awareness. This provides the staff with the knowledge and skills to care for and keep the children safe.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Thorough internal and external monitoring systems exist. When deficits are detected, they are quickly addressed. The requirements and most of the recommendations made at the last inspection have been implemented. This helps to maintain the good-quality care that the children receive. However, one recommendation has been carried forward. This relates to ensuring that the language and terminology in the children’s records is constantly child-friendly.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose plainly sets out the ethos of the home and how it will care for the children. The home does admit children in emergency situations, and in recent months, several children have moved in and out of the home. In addition, there have been some staff changes. Careful thought and consideration have been given to the competing needs of the children who live in the home and those moving in. However, the manager has not anticipated and considered the Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 6 impact on children, given the number of changes that have occurred in a short space of time. Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 7

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the information about the children is helpful, and that child-friendly language is used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 14.4, page 62)  The registered person should consider the impact of change on children when changes are in close succession, including admissions, discharges and staffing alterations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.6 page 15)  The registered persons should make sure that children who are not in full-time education have a detailed plan to increase their education timetables and include key subject learning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 5.2 page 26)

p.7

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: 1223201 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Hall, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 1UR

p.8

Inspector

Debbie Foster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1223201 9 regulates 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9