Children's home run by City of Wolverhampton Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 1 SC378153 Registered provider: City of Wolverhampton

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Full inspection 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 short breaks for up to six children aged between nine and 17. The children may have experienced childhood adversity that has resulted in emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2013. He holds a relevant level 4 diploma.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/06/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 19/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was staying for a short break. The child spoke with the inspector and gave positive feedback about both their stay and the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff form good relationships with children. They create positive experiences when children are having short breaks. One child said that they enjoy spending time with staff as they are funny. Children are provided with trips, including bowling and going to the cinema. Staff advocate well for children with external professionals and further support children to voice their own opinions. Children have been encouraged to share their views with social workers about areas such as internet use and independence. This has led to their views being listened to and positive changes taking place for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff are committed to children having the best educational outcomes. Staff supported one child with their routine both during and outside short breaks. They have provided wake-up calls and support the child to get to school on occasions when at home. As a result, the child has made better progress in school because of staff consistency.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders ensure that children coming to stay at the service are suitably matched. One social worker told the inspector: ‘The safety of the young people is always paramount, and the home always ensures that children who are compatible are placed together during that period. In my opinion and from my experiences, thorough risk assessments are completed before the children are accepted.’ This has contributed to the positive experience that children have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs. There are clear plans around children’s individual health conditions which ensure that health needs are well met. Staff carry out effective work with children around understanding their own emotions. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been supported to understand their condition and how they can manage this. One parent said: ‘Staff have also been working with them about expressing their feelings and they have become more expressive since their time there. I feel this is because when they do express their feelings, this is listened to and responded to, so they feel valued.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills. Children are supported to cook meals in the home in preparation for adulthood. One child had been provided with a step-by-step plan for travelling on public transport. The child is now making independent journeys by themselves. Parents have praised staff for their support in developing children’s independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is warmly decorated and homely. Following a leak in the building, the kitchen has been refurbished with new equipment. The home has a beauty room which children have requested to use. However, staff have not consistently provided access to Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 4 the room. There is no current reason why children are not able to access this space. Leaders are now responding to this appropriately.

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

No allegations have been made against staff since the previous inspection. This shows the trusting relationships which children have with adults in the home. Children are provided with a clear understanding of the complaints process upon arrival, and this is regularly discussed throughout their stays to ensure that they know who they can speak to. However, when a complaint was made by a child, there was little evidence of this complaint being followed up.

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

Staff support children in understanding how to keep themselves safe. Staff carry out work with children on topics including keeping safe online, child exploitation and keeping safe in the community. Children engage well with these sessions and develop a better knowledge of what to do in individual situations. Children take part in regular quizzes and create posters which show their understanding of what they have been taught.

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

Leaders manage concerns raised between children promptly. Appropriate action has been taken, with a recent concern where professionals and families have been well consulted to ensure safe risk management plans were in place. As a result, it is ensured that children remain safe during their stays.

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

Missing-from-care incidents have decreased. However, when they occur staff mostly respond well. Where practice can be improved, this has been promptly identified and acted upon by the manager to ensure that good practice is maintained. Recording in reports and risk management plans is not consistently clear. Leaders are working with staff on this as a development area.

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

Notifications to Ofsted are not always made in a timely manner. This has prevented the regulator from being aware of matters at the earliest opportunity to ensure necessary action has been taken by the provider.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and has been in post for 12 years. He is working alongside the new responsible individual to ensure his knowledge remains current. The inspection was led by one of the operations managers and the responsible individual due to the manager being off. Staff speak highly of support from managers; one staff member said: ‘Management are supportive of staff, communicate effectively and enable staff to thrive by providing access to training and suitable support.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have a good understanding of children’s progress in the home. The manager regularly gets involved in day-to-day activities in the home. He also supports children on their journey of developing independence skills. This has helped him form positive relationships with children in the setting and to understand their individual progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 5 Staff are well trained in line with children’s needs. Staff are enthusiastic about learning key areas relevant to their role to deliver a good level of care. Oversight of training is strong, and the manager ensures staff are enrolled onto training when a specific need arises.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems are effective. The manager uses a monthly monitoring tool and the responsible individual’s audits to aid his oversight of the home. Leaders are developing new systems to ensure that they are consistently efficient.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of staff is not consistently robust. On one occasion, leaders had not verified why a staff member had left a previous role and did not gain their full employment history dates. It was not clear how leaders had been assured that the staff member was safe to work with children in the service. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 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

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (2) (3)) 12 March 2025

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Recommendations

 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, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that just as in a family home, children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of

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Recommendations

the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. Information on restraint and deprivation of liberty is contained in the protection of children section of the Guide from paragraph 9.41. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10) Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 7  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.3)  As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC378153 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: City of Wolverhampton

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wolverhampton City Council, Office Of Chief Executive & Policy Coordinator, Civic Centre, St Peter’s Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1SH

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC378153 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.

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Inspector

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