Children's home run by Hull City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 1 Registered provider: Hull 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 owned by the local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

It can provide care for four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties or with special educational needs. Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitably qualified manager registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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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

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2024

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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: 2633602 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2024 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 08/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are happy living in the home and demonstrate this through their relationships with staff, each other and the manager, as well as through the respect they display for their environment. All children have made progress from their starting points. They display an ambition to meet their goals as a result of living at the home and the encouragement staff give them to reach their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress with their attendance and development in school. The manager has advocated to ensure that all children are registered in an education provision with appropriate adaptations to meet their needs. When children are not in education during the week, they are encouraged to engage in fitness and educational activities that promote positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is promoted by staff and has improved since living in the home. They have access to all health services, such as a GP and dentist. There is a therapeutic link worker who comes to the home weekly to promote and signpost specialist services for children. As a result, the children are now more engaged in their therapy and are learning more about their feelings and emotions. Where appropriate, children are encouraged to arrange their own health appointments, but staff attend for emotional support when requested.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff begin to promote independence skills with children at the earliest opportunity to prepare them for adulthood. Transition plans consider children’s thoughts and feelings and are reviewed regularly to ensure that children only stay at the home when this is the most appropriate place for them. When children move on from the home, this is done in a planned and child-centred way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s family time arrangements are supported and encouraged by staff. The manager works to identify and develop children’s support networks and to ensure that they have a constructive relationship with those in the network to facilitate family time. Where children may return to living with their family, arrangements are made to increase the exposure and time spent together to work towards this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a high standard, and everyone contributes to its cleanliness and maintenance. Children are involved in building furniture for the home and staff take on additional shifts to contribute to maintenance, such as painting. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 4

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

Children say they feel safe living at the home and can identify adults they trust to confide in and support them. Staff understand and follow individualised risk assessments for children, which has resulted in most risks to children being reduced.

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

When actions are taken by staff that children do not like, such as room searches, children understand that these are done in their best interests. Actions taken by staff to keep children better protected are done with their consent, when possible, or are discussed with children in full afterwards.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home have significantly reduced. Since the last inspection, there have been two recorded incidents where a child has gone missing. When children do go missing from the home, staff know how to respond and are not complacent in their approach. This helps to ensure that children are found quickly and returned to the home.

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

Staff are consistent in setting boundaries for children, even when children refute these, such as when technology is turned off in the home. When children receive consequences for their behaviour, these are educative in nature and relate to the behaviour displayed.

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

Children know how to make complaints. When children have raised concerns, they are managed in line with policy. Children are given a full outcome and this is explained to them thoughtfully by the manager.

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

The manager has formed positive relationships with the police. However, it is not always clear to staff when to involve police to manage incidents. When incidents do occur, which is rare, these are investigated fully. Appropriate actions are taken and notifications are made to professionals, when needed.

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

The inspector identified that staff do not always dispose of medications belonging to children in a timely way, or have assurance that medications were stored within temperature ranges. The manager took immediate action during the inspection to rectify this. Records demonstrate that staff do administer medications in line with prescription.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and children have strong relationships with the manager and feel supported. Staff said, ‘I am proud to call her my manager.’ Other professionals are equally positive and commented on the strength of the management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are at the centre of the ethos of the home. Staff and the manager have provided children with the opportunity to engage in activities based on their likes and Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 5 dislikes and have a focus on building positive experiences and memories with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager delegates audit processes to staff, which instils a sense of ownership of the service. Staff are confident in their roles and their ability to demonstrate that they provide a good service to children. Supervision takes place regularly and reflects on staff’s development and the progress of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals. These effective working relationships are viewed as constructive by professionals. When the manager challenges a decision, this advocacy is seen as constructive by fellow professionals. This approach has secured positive outcomes for children. There is no doubt that the manager has created a culture where everyone sees external scrutiny as a development opportunity and a constructive tool.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are recruited using safer recruitment methods, and there are currently no vacancies at the home. Staff said they are happy working at the home, and turnover is low.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager aims to strengthen quality assurance processes and has raised some improvement areas with regard to leadership, such as how incidents are captured in one place. The manager has sought training to ensure that key work and daily logs are written in a child-centred way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that suitable arrangements are in place to manage and dispose of any medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should agree with their local police force, procedures and guidance on police involvement with the home to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour and criminalisation of behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 47, paragraph 9.40)

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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: 2633602 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2633602 8 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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