Children's home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 1 SC033056 Registered provider: Coventry 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 owned and operated by a local authority. It provides a residential short-break service for up to four children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Currently, 31 children access this service.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2014.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/04/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Good 10/02/2020 Full Inadequate 22/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, two children were receiving a short break.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their short-break stay, receive a warm welcome and settle quickly. Staff ensure that children’s bedrooms are personalised for each child’s stay with a creative name plaque and bedding that has been chosen specifically for them. This helps children to feel comfortable in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff are very positive. Staff are energetic and enthusiastic about their roles, and their passion shines through. Staff understand each child’s individual needs very well and ensure that their needs are met. For example, one child who is registered blind is supported by staff who describe the surroundings so that he can understand what is happening around him. As a result, the child has developed trust in the staff caring for him and is less anxious at bath time and on transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consulted about their care using their individual forms of communication. This helps staff to understand children’s personalities, likes and dislikes so that they can plan activities that children will enjoy. During the inspection, children went swimming, made Valentine’s Day cards and made pancakes. Children enjoy trips to local theme parks, craft activities and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress during their short-break stay. Staff work towards individual targets for each child to ensure that they enjoy their experiences in the home. One child had a very limited diet when he first stayed in the home but will now try new foods. This progress demonstrates how stays in the home are having a positive impact on children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with children’s families. Communication is strong, and parents are consulted and kept up to date with their child’s progress. Parents are invited to activities in between their child’s stay, which helps to continue the positive relationships. For example, the home hosts seasonal parties for all the families that they support, and during the inspection, all families were invited to go swimming together. Parents value the care that their children receive and are very complimentary about staff’s practice. Parents said that they trust the staff to care for their children and can relax knowing that their child is being well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive transitions in and out of the home. Transition visits help staff to learn about the children before they stay overnight. Staff use information about each child to make decisions about the group of children who have a short break together. However, these decisions are not recorded in the child’s plan. This makes it difficult to understand how the decision is made and if this decision is kept under review. Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 4

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

Staff care for children with a range of complex needs. Staff understand the risks associated with each child’s care and how to manage risks well. For example, clear processes are in place for manual handling, and all staff receive training so that they can support non-mobile children safely.

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

Staff manage a lot of medication in the home. There are robust processes in place to ensure that medication is stored and administered safely. Occasional errors have occurred, but prompt action is taken to correct this, and additional support is given to the staff involved to ensure that they are competent to give medication. No children have come to any harm from the few errors that have occurred.

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

Staff are ambitious for children and are not afraid to support them to take managed risks. Children enjoy a range of exciting activities, such as swimming and outdoor pursuits, that require robust risk management. Clear risk assessments are in place so that children can try new things and extend their skills in a safe way.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour well. Understanding children’s communication and presentation helps them to identify when children are becoming upset before the situation escalates. Physical interventions are rarely needed, but when they are used, they are completed safely by trained staff.

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

Managers and staff show a good understanding of safeguarding. They are vigilant to signs of harm, and when they are concerned, they quickly share that information with relevant professionals. They take part in professional meetings and share their knowledge to help keep the child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a very experienced, qualified manager who has worked at the home for several years. She is dedicated to her role and is passionate about providing the best care possible for the children. She is well respected by staff, professionals and children’s families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is fully staffed, with a high proportion of staff having worked at the home for a long time. Staff are happy at work and genuinely care about the children they care for. The positivity from managers and staff helps to create a very welcoming, caring environment for children to stay in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Experienced staff receive regular supervision and appraisals. However, not all new staff make sufficient progress in the induction period. Although there is a clear process in place, on one occasion, the manager’s oversight of progress was lacking, reviews had not taken place in agreed time frames and it was unclear whether the staff member was undertaking the tasks required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes partnership working with schools, social workers and other professionals. Communication is consistently good, and feedback is very positive. Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 5 The home is registered as a short-break setting and, as such, can only accommodate children for a maximum of 75 days in any 12-month period. Despite this, there have been two occasions when children were accommodated for more than this time frame, meaning that the provider has acted outside of the conditions of their registration. In addition, the manager failed to challenge the local authority when it did not fully consider the implications of the additional night stays on the child’s legal status. Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for the home to only accommodate children for a maximum of 75 days in any 12- month period, in line with the home’s registration as a short- breaks provider. It also relates to ensuring that the manager provides sufficient challenge when local authorities do not fulfil their legal obligations when children receive in excess of 75 days of short-breaks care in a 12-month period. 10 April 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person in a short-break setting should ensure that the short-break service offers the chance for children to develop friendships by carefully matching groups and, where possible, by arranging for children to frequently stay with the same group. This specifically relates to ensuring that decisions about matching children into groups take into account their individual needs and that decisions made are included in children’s plans. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 40, paragraph 8.20)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. This specifically Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 7 relates to ensuring that managers provide sufficient oversight and challenge to

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Recommendations

ensure that staff progress with their induction plans. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: SC033056 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Coventry City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coventry City Council House, Earl Street, Coventry CV1 5RR

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Inspector

Vicky Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC033056 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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