Children's Home run by Essex County Council in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 1 SC044975 Registered provider: Essex County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority home is registered to provide care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. It provides a solo placement for one child and a shared provision for up to four children.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted, suitably experienced and has been in post since 2017.

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

Date of last inspection: 5 December 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Good 19/04/2021 Full Good 04/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has lived at the home until June 2024. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home in the solo provision. The child was in hospital for the duration of the inspection and therefore was not spoken to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff plan good transitions for children moving into and out of the home. Children who move in are welcomed by staff. A transition plan includes visits to the child and a visit by the child and their parents to the home. Staff provide information to the child in an age-appropriate way. They receive a book about the staff and support plans that are written individually for the child. Endings are planned and positive when possible. For one child who moved out, staff supported a similarly well-planned transition to their new home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children with individualised goals and aspirations from their starting points. For one child, this included supporting her to make her own bed, to rely on staff less for minor tasks and to be more independent with self-care routines. These targets were relatable and achievable for this child. Staff create professionally written plans that are child friendly, which helps children to know their targets and work towards achieving them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s health and well-being needs, including their mental health. Children are supported to attend all medical appointments and maintain healthy routines and lifestyles. This includes specialist input when needed, such as support from a dietician. Therapeutic interventions are led by an in-house psychotherapist to support children’s emotional well-being and development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to. Staff strive to gather feedback from children, which is then responded to and acted on when possible. Children’s views are clearly recorded in logs and records. However, children’s meetings are not provided regularly.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff and managers work with social workers and parents and actively involve them in decisions which affect their children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Major renovations to the home commenced in June 2024 and were ongoing at the time of the inspection. The remainder of the renovation work is ongoing. The solo provision is decorated and furnished to a high standard and is clean and tidy throughout.

p.3

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

Children are supported to feel safe. Staff know their safeguarding responsibilities and duties. Staff know the children they support well and have a good knowledge of children’s strengths and vulnerabilities. This helps children to feel valued and well cared Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 4 for. The home uses a new therapeutic model to children’s care and are beginning to embed this into their practice with staff. This is assisted by the psychotherapist.

p.3

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

Physical intervention is only used as a last resort. When incidents occur, staff responses are proportionate and justified. Staff compile detailed records of these incidents, which includes a manager’s evaluation and debriefs with children and staff. Children’s debriefs are recorded in a child-friendly document so that children can review and see what happened and why. This helps children to understand why a physical intervention has taken place.

p.4

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

The manager has established effective working relationships with a range of external professionals. This has helped professionals to share information about children to coordinate plans or interventions. Staff have worked particularly closely with health professionals to ensure that one child’s complex mental health needs were supported.

p.4

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

Staff use risk assessments and behaviour support plans for children. These help staff to understand and respond appropriately to children’s specific vulnerabilities. However, assessments are not updated actively so do not always reflect a child’s current circumstances. Without up-to-date and accurate information about children’s risks and behaviours, there is a risk that staff will not respond effectively to children’s behaviour when incidents occur.

p.4

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

Staff act appropriately when children go missing from the home. They work with other agencies, including the police, to help children to return safely. Records of missing-from- home episodes are detailed but individual episodes are not recorded separately and do not contain a clear evaluation of each incident. Effective evaluation feeds into care planning and can help staff and managers to identify factors such as triggers, patterns of incidents and gaps in training.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She is committed to the home and children. The manager is assisted by a deputy manager, who also is committed to the role. The responsible individual has good expectations and high aspirations for the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a stable workforce with a satisfactory level of experience. The home does not use agency staff frequently. Having consistent and familiar members of staff helps children to build trusting relationships with the adults around them.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is positive. This includes responses from social workers, reviewing officers and a psychologist. External feedback about the home is positive in relation to children’s care and in respect of the staff and managers.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager follows safer recruitment processes. New staff receive a suitable induction. Comprehensive training is delivered online and face to face. This training has included bespoke sessions to meet children’s individual needs, such as specialised self-harm Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 5 inputs. Staff said that lots of training has been provided following the home’s change in care provision. The staff said that the training helps them to feel supported to care for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive helpful and meaningful supervision. The in-house psychotherapist is starting to offer support to staff, such as one-to-one consultation with staff and group reflective supervision.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have improved the reporting of serious incidents. All allegations relating to a member of care staff are reported to the local authority designated officer. All follow-up actions have been managed appropriately.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a complaints policy, which is noted in the statement of purpose and children’s guide. However, the options for children to raise complaints are not clear, and the written form was made for disabled children but has not been updated since the home varied its registration. Children need to understand how to raise complaints if they wish and know that they will be taken seriously.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from staff is mixed. Some staff said they are happy in their roles; however, other staff spoke less positively. Staff feedback details tensions between individuals or groups of staff. Some staff raised concerns that insensitive comments have been made, which they feel have not been responded to sufficiently. Overall, the workforce is not following the ethos and culture outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 6

p.5

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team when appropriate. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)) 31 December 2024

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the risks to each child are continually and actively assessed and that arrangements are in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluation of missing-from-care incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well.

p.6

Recommendations

This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 7 able to take up issues or make complaints with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

p.6

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: SC044975 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Essex County Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Market Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH

p.8

Inspector

Daniel Rankin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC044975 9 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: http://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