Children's Home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire

Inspection report children's home: 2508344 1 Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A local authority owns and operates this home. The home cares for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. There were two children in the home at point of this inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The home is led by a committed and experienced manager who is registered with Ofsted. The registered manager is currently on maternity leave and an acting manager is in post.

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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 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: 10 January 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2508344 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2023 Full Outstanding 26/10/2021 Full Outstanding 25/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2508344 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a large comfortable home. They have been able to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their own individual needs and personalities. The children benefit from a comfortable and relaxed home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to form trusting relationships with children from the outset of their placement at this home. This is achieved by the staff having a caring and nurturing approach and understanding the children’s needs very well. This, when required, assists staff to have difficult conversations with children and explore any worrying issues that may be impacting on them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making progress in all areas of their lives. Professionals and family members can identify areas of key progress and the positive impact that this has had on the children overall.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of education for children’s futures. They are aspirational for the children in their care. They actively promote children to engage in their education provision and continue to do so even when children are reluctant to attend. For one child, this has meant that they progressed from not attending school when they arrived at the home, to attending and achieving higher than expected exam results.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children can struggle to manage their emotions. Due to the therapeutic approach of staff, children can explore their emotions and start to understand their reactions to events. Over time this has helped the children to develop coping strategies and become more resilient.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain close links with their family. Staff do all they can to promote family time for children and this includes family members coming to the home. One child can look after the family dog at the home for short periods of time as the significance of the dog is recognised and the child treasures this time.

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

Partnership working with all agencies is a real strength. All professionals working with the manager are overwhelmingly complimentary about the level of communication they have with them. The manager has been integral to coordinating a multi-agency approach to safety planning that has aimed to keep the children as safe as possible.

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

Transitions into and out of the home are usually undertaken with meticulous planning. However, a child has come to live at the home on an emergency basis. Staff have sought to provide each child with the support they need to keep them Inspection report children's home: 2508344 4 safe. However, incidents have increased, and the children have been at increased risk of harm.

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

Staff are proactive during incidents and respond accordingly to any issue that arises. Children are always debriefed after incidents but there is no evidence this is being extended to staff. Debriefs can assist staff to reflect on their response to the children and explore if they could enhance their support in the future.

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

Children do go missing from care. The staff follow missing from care procedures, these include the police and family being alerted. The manager has been proactive in reviewing the missing from care incidents. They were able to identify that police involvement heightened a child’s behaviour to the extent where she was experiencing additional trauma. The manager worked hard with police and child to explore the role and impact of the police on their behaviour. For this child, it has meant that new agreed strategies were implemented when found by police. By following the plan, this has stopped escalations being so regular for the child.

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

The staff are committed to understanding the behaviours of children. They meet on a regular basis to review the presenting behaviours of each child and reflect on known or emergent behaviours. Essential reports are updated so that all responses to the children remain individualised. These also provide staff with appropriate guidance and techniques to safeguard the children.

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good

The registered manager is away from the home. The home is being led, in their absence, by an acting manager. The acting manager is suitably qualified and has the relevant experience for this role. The acting manager has been in post since August 2023. The acting manager and deputy manager are caring and committed. They work well as a team. They have led the staff team through a difficult period. They have been successful in maintaining high staff morale despite some turbulence. The manager and deputy’s passion and enthusiasm to make a difference to children’s lives is commendable. This motivates staff, who feel very well supported and valued.

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good

There have been some challenges, since the last inspection, with staff retention. Staff have left and new staff have been recruited. The manager is keen to ensure that staff have the right skills and knowledge for the role. Once staff are in post, it has taken time to ensure they have the required skills and knowledge. In addition, the continued development of the staff team has remained a key priority. This assists staff to adapt a responsive and caring approach to the children.

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good

There has been a significant incident in the home involving two children. The staff failed to follow the children’s plans. This resulted in children not being adequately supervised and safeguarded. The manager was ineffective in their oversight of this incident and did not complete some critical tasks. Inspection report children's home: 2508344 5 There is a medication process in place. However, on one occasion there has been a medication error. The error was acknowledged. However, no action was taken to explore how the error had occurred or ensure that the member of staff involved received updated training or oversight.

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good

Overall, the manager follows safer recruitment practices. However, one member of staff did not have the necessary checks in place to ensure children are safeguarded. The manager has taken action to rectify this situation. Inspection report children's home: 2508344 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 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

Manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(iv)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that staff follow children ‘s plans to safeguard them. 08 January 2024

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h)) 08 January 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2508344 7 This specifically refers to ensuring that the manager follows good employment practice. It also refers to the manager ensuring that medication errors are reviewed and acted upon.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate;

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff being debriefed after measures of control have been used. 08 January 2024

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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 children's home: 2508344 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Derbyshire County Council, County Offices, Matlock, DE4 3AG

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2508344 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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