Children's home run by Suffolk County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 1 Registered provider: Suffolk 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 provides care for children aged between 11 and 17 years with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022. The manager was not present for this inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2023

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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: 2696325 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. One child recently moved out; they had been settled at this home for almost a year. This child experienced a planned move to a new home as part of their care plan and social progression. Staff have stayed in touch with the child to help them maintain familiar relationships while they settle into their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children’s moves in and out of the home sensitively. Children are prepared by visits to the home, spending time with staff and being given information about the home before they arrive or move on. For the child currently living in the home, a plan was made to bring in staff from their previous home for a few weeks, to best support this child’s move through existing relationships. This helped the child to build new relationships with this home’s staff members at the child’s own pace.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home has been out of education for two years. Since moving into the home in September 2023, they have started attending an alternative education setting full time. Staff are supporting the child to make this move back into education well. The school’s headteacher said that the child is ‘exceeding expectations’ considering their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are helping the child to build positive family relationships. The child had not seen their family for a significant time before living at the home. Since moving in, the staff have helped the child to see their family in safe ways. The child is now making regular phone calls to family members as well as making plans for spending time with their family on special occasions, when previously this was not possible. Family members said their child is now getting the ‘right support’ and is ‘happier in themselves’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to feel listened to most of the time. The child has made one complaint and shared an additional view about how they felt at the home. Although leaders took action to address the child’s worries, it was not clear how the outcome of the changes made were communicated with the child.

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

Children become safer living at this home. There have been no missing-from-home episodes since the last inspection. Children who live at the home often have needs that make them more vulnerable when out in the community. For the child currently living in the home, staff understand how to manage the high-level risks that this child faces in the community. Staff understand these risks well and know the specific strategies to follow for this child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 4 The child has court-ordered restrictions in place. Since moving into the home, staff have been committed to reducing the level of support required by this child. Consequently, some of this child’s restrictions have reduced and fewer staff are required to support the child every day. This is helping the child to gain a sense of family life again and have experiences that will support them to continue to reduce restrictions placed on them.

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

Staff understand the risk that the internet may pose to this child. Staff undertake regular checks on devices and internet access at home. Staff are working with the local authority’s care plan on how the child can access mobile devices and the internet. This is helping to keep to the child safer.

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

Staff record daily positive events to demonstrate each day the progress that the child is making. However, it is not clear how staff communicate these positive messages to the child. When consequences have been used for behaviour, these are often proportionate and help the child to learn from their behaviour. However, on two occasions, staff have used consequences of a longer duration that were not reparative in nature.

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

The child currently living at the home has not needed to be held by staff to keep them safe. However, the child who previously lived at the home needed to be held on some occasions to keep them safe. Since the last inspection, the frequency of these episodes has reduced. The manager generally has good oversight of restraint records. The manager has identified learning for staff when restraints have been used that could have been approached differently. However, staff debriefs are not clearly recorded. This does not help to demonstrate staff’s learning from restraints.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the time of this inspection, the registered manager had not been in work for four weeks as part of a planned absence. In addition, another significant member of staff was also not in work for some weeks, which was unplanned. This meant that the inspection was supported by a different manager. The two requirements from the last inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the manager’s planned absence, the home has been supported by a registered manager from a sister home with oversight from the service manager and responsible individual. The supporting manager was present throughout the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they feel well supported by the registered manager. They said that he is approachable and has good relationships with staff and children. Staff also said that they still received support, despite the absence of the manager, from other leaders in the service. This helps to provide consistency for the staff and the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are either working towards or have a relevant childcare qualification within the required timescales. They undertake the organisation’s mandatory training. Staff said that this training is regularly refreshed to ensure that their practice knowledge Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 5 remains up to date. They have benefited from training on trauma. Staff receive training that helps them to better understand the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular team meetings and have supervision that they find helpful. The supporting manager has actioned plans to provide supervision while the registered manager remains absent. The way in which the manager records supervision sessions has changed this year. The records viewed are detailed. However, not all supervision records could be found for some months for several staff members. This does not help leaders to have good oversight of staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. In particular, children should understand what actions have been taken when they have made a complaint or shared their views about the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff recognise and celebrate children’s achievements. In particular, show how the child is directly praised and rewarded over time and how this is communicated to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.7)  The registered person should ensure any consequences used to address poor

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Recommendations

behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, ensure that staff debriefs are clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the

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Recommendations

needs of the children assigned to their care. In particular, ensure that supervision records are completed, are up to date and accessible by the leadership team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2696325 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Floor 4 Gold, Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX

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Inspector

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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