Children's Home run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 1 SC028905 Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to four children who have experienced instability which has resulted in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in February 2024. The manager has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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: 25 January 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/01/2023 Full Good 15/02/2022 Full Good 22/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and two children have moved on. Children’s experiences and progress are mixed. Children have made good progress in some aspects of their lives. However, children have not always received the help and care that they needed.

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improvement to be good

There has been a significant increase in the number of incidents between staff and children. This has caused fractured relationships and, on occasion, has resulted in children harming each other and staff. As a result, children said that at times they have felt unsafe. Serious incidents have also had an impact on children’s future care plans. One child had to move from the home without notice and another child’s plan for returning home has been delayed. These unplanned endings and the disruption to care plans do not support children to feel stable and secure or to have a positive experience in the home.

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improvement to be good

Despite difficulties, children are supported by a resolute staff team that provides nurturing care. The child living in the home has positive relationships with staff. They said that they liked living in the home, that they now felt safe and had staff they could talk to if they had any worries or concerns. They rated the home ‘eight out of 10’.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff understand the importance of children’s education. When children have difficulties attending school, staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that bespoke plans are put in place, so that children still have access to education. This supports children’s educational progress. Staff have taken action to ensure that one child has an education, health and care plan. This will support the child to get the help and support they need to succeed.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend their routine health appointments and seek specialist health support when required. In addition, staff have supported children to get health diagnoses and treatment. This helps to improve children’s physical and mental health.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children enjoy a range of activities, in and out of the home. This includes trips to animal parks, the bowling alley and the cinema. Staff also support one child to walk their dog regularly. This helps children to have fun and do things that are important to them. External professionals were complimentary about this and said ‘staff went above and beyond’ to support one child to see their animals.

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improvement to be good

There have been significant improvements to the home environment. Since the last inspection, the home has undergone refurbishment. The home is spacious and clean and is now a welcoming place for children to live in. Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 4

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always able to de-escalate children’s heightened behaviours. Some high-risk incidents have occurred. As a result, there have been a significant number of police call- outs to the home and children have not always felt safe living there. Managers recognised that staff were unable to keep children safe in the home together. As a result, an alternative home was sought for one of the children.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well. They have a good understanding of the children’s risks and needs, and the actions they need to take to keep children safe. However, children’s written behaviour management plans are of variable quality. They lack clear guidance on the actions staff should take to keep children safe. This can lead to inconsistent practice which does not help children to feel, and be, safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort to keep children and others safe. While managers have oversight of all incidents, they have not ensured that staff are always spoken to following incidents when physical intervention has been used. This has an impact on the manager’s ability to fully review the incident and ensure that it was necessary and proportionate, and to identify any areas where staff practice should improve. This shortfall was raised as a requirement at the last inspection and has not been met.

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improvement to be good

The manager usually ensures that allegations are promptly shared with the appropriate professionals. However, on one occasion, the manager did not seek guidance from the local authority designated officer, in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures, when a child made an allegation against an adult working in the home. The child quickly retracted their allegation; however, this lack of transparency and partnership working does not help to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond quickly when children go missing from the home or are away from the home without authority. Staff follow missing-from-home procedures. They search for children and consult with local police until children are found. When children return, staff warmly welcome them. This ensures that children can talk to staff about the reasons they went missing and share any concerns they may have.

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improvement to be good

Staff talk to children about important topics, such as internet safety, bullying and keeping safe. Police have also visited the home to talk to children about how their behaviours can impact on others and on their own lives in the future.

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improvement to be good

Managers follow safe recruitment practices. As a result, they have confidence that the staff working in the home are suitable to work with children. Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The leadership and management of the home require improvement. While some changes have been made to address the shortfalls identified at the last inspection, managers have failed to take sufficient action to meet all the requirements, and these have been repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, a new leadership team has been put in place. The manager is caring and wants children and staff to do well. However, due to the elevated levels of incidents in the home, he has at times been overwhelmed and this has had an impact on the quality and timeliness of his oversight. An enthusiastic and effective deputy manager supports the manager. Together, they are working hard to improve the quality of the leadership and management in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager has implemented new monitoring tools to improve their oversight in the home. However, these are not always effective. For example, when managers have identified that staff have not been spoken to following physical interventions, they have not made attempts to rectify this. This does not support staff development and has an impact on the manager’s oversight of the care that children are receiving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Because the manager is new to the home, there was a delay in their completion of the review of the quality of care. There were no children living in the home at the time, so impact on children was minimal. However, there is an impact on the manager’s understanding of how the care that children receive affects their progress and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been occasions when there have been delays in the manager reporting safeguarding concerns to Ofsted. This means that the regulator may not have up-to-date information to have oversight of care in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say that they feel supported by the managers in the home. They say that managers are approachable. Staff receive regular practice-led supervisions and annual appraisals. Team meetings are reflective. These practices support staff development and promote teamwork, and generally help children to receive consistent care. However, managers have not ensured that all staff have child-specific training, such as in autism and self- harm, and training on the home’s therapeutic model of care. This means that staff may not have the knowledge and skills to meet children’s needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers use feedback and complaints to inform changes in practice and improve the quality of care given to children. Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the managers taking appropriate action when children make allegations. Additionally, that child protection policies are reviewed to consider the actions managers need to take when children make allegations. Furthermore, that behaviour management plans contain all identified strategies to enable consistent practice and mitigate risk.

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Requirement Due date

Part of this requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. 23 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 7 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that monitoring systems are effective in identifying shortfalls in practice. In addition, managers must ensure staff have the training to enable them to meet children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

Part of this requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. 23 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 23 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 8 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. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that all records of restraint are consistently in accordance with regulation 35. The manager must ensure that staff are spoken to following any physical intervention.

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Requirement Due date

Part of his requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the manager must ensure that children receive well- planned care that does not have a detrimental impact on their future care plans. In addition, the manager must ensure that when children leave the home, staff always promote positive endings. 23 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that Ofsted and other relevant persons are notified, without delay, if one of the situations specified in regulation 40 (4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months. The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the quality standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. The registered manager

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Recommendations

should ensure that they forward a copy of the quality of care review report to Ofsted Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 9 within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: SC028905 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford, Staffordshire ST16 2DH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Toby Williamson-Smith

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC028905 11 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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