Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 1 SC403895 Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority. The home provides care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties. There is a permanent registered manager at the home who is suitably experienced and qualified. They are the registered manager of two homes.

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Information about this children’s home

The home had no children living there between June and November 2024. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The child was present and met with the inspector.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 16 April 2024, Ofsted carried out a full inspection and judged the home inadequate. A compliance notice under Regulation 13 was raised. A monitoring visit took place on 30 May, where the compliance notice was reissued. A further monitoring visit took place on 9 July; at this visit the compliance notice was judged to have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/04/2024 Full Inadequate 23/01/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home is receiving good care that meets their day-to-day needs. Staff have helped the child settle in at the home and have embedded routines as part of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to enjoy different activities and outings, for example baking and going to the park and cinema. Staff encourage the child’s enjoyment of helping and involve them in household tasks to develop their skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers recognised the importance of sustaining the child’s school placement, and staff take the child to school each day. The child is finding school a positive experience. There is good partnership working with school staff. Staff have registered the child with local health services, and relevant appointments have been made. Staff talk to the child about the importance of keeping healthy, and they are helping with the child’s anxieties about accessing healthcare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consult with the child on a day-to-day basis, seeking their views and helping them to make choices. Through consultation, the child has made choices about items for their bedroom and places to go on trips. Staff have begun to talk to the child about accessing advocacy support, but this work is in its infancy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is building good relationships with core staff at the home. Core staff know the child well and understand their needs and interests. However, due to a high level of staff absence, there have been times when unfamiliar staff have cared for the child. This has reduced the consistency of care provided at times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home environment provides a suitable space for the child to live. The child has chosen the decor for their bedroom, and they have lots of age-appropriate toys, books and games. However, the outdoor space has some debris and litter. There is a lack of care and attention by staff to keep this space tidy.

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

Staff understand the risks for the child and know how to provide care to keep them safe. Staff supervise the child in line with their care plans. This is balanced with allowing the child space and time in independent play and activity. This is in keeping with working towards the child’s care plan of moving to a family setting.

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

Staff provide guidance to the child that helps them understand what is expected of them. Staff successfully use de-escalation techniques to manage the child’s behaviour. Managers have sought advice from a specialist trainer, regarding the use of physical interventions, to further develop the care plans for the child. Plans are frequently reviewed and updated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 4 There have been no allegations or incidents of children going missing from the home. This is considered in the child’s plans, and staff know what action to take in these situations. There have been no complaints at the home. The manager is working towards sustaining improved relationships with the neighbours, and this has been effective.

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good

There is a relatively new staff team at the home. Staff are enthusiastic in their care and interaction with the child. However, the overall morale of the staff team is low. Managers have recognised this and have taken some action to address staff feedback. However, managers do not yet understand the staff culture sufficiently to effect change in morale.

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good

There is a high level of staff sickness absence at the home. Managers have taken action to stabilise the core staff team by assigning staff from another home to the team. However, this has been ineffective due to further staff absences.

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good

The manager has developed monitoring systems at the home. However, there are times when actions arising from their monitoring are not completed in a timely way. For example, actions have not consistently been implemented following oversight of incidents. Furthermore, managers have not identified or addressed the use of negative language in the child’s records, such as ‘being silly’.

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good

Supervision sessions take place regularly for both staff and managers. The training provided to staff covers a broad range of topics. Overall, staff complete the required training to equip them for their roles. However, the workforce development plan is not up to date and does not reflect the current staff developmental needs in caring for the child.

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good

The manager has good partnership working with other professionals. The manager communicates and shares information in a timely way. The manager is a strong advocate for the child in progressing their care planning.

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good

Leaders and managers are child focused and are aspirational for the child’s experience and outcomes. Overall, managers recognise the areas for development and are taking action to address the barriers encountered. Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 5

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that —

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Requirement Due date

the home has sufficient staff to provide consistent care to the child;

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Requirement Due date

staff are suitably trained and experienced for their roles; and

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Requirement Due date

actions arising from their monitoring are undertaken without delay. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. The home should be a homely and domestic environment. This includes ensuring that the home’s gardens are nice spaces for children to use and are free from debris and litter. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion, and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62,

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Recommendations

paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that there is a workforce plan that can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). This must reflect the current staff team and their development plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC403895 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre glebe Street, Floor 2, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH

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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC403895 8 regulates and inspects 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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