Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Unique reference number SC068000 Inspection date 17/02/2011 Inspector Deborah White Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 18/11/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children’s Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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About this inspection

This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

This children's home provides care and accommodation for up to three children, of either sex, aged 12 years to 17 years.

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Brief description of the service

The home is located on a housing estate within walking distance of the town centre. The ground floor is made up of a lounge with a television and computer, a dining area with a computer game console, a kitchen, and toilet facilities. Upstairs there are bedrooms, a bathroom and the staff office. There is an enclosed garden with outdoor furniture.

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Summary

The overall quality rating is satisfactory.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

The purpose of this interim inspection was to look at the actions and recommendations from the last inspection and all the key national minimum standards for staying safe.

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Summary

Outcomes for being healthy; enjoying and achieving; positive contribution; economic wellbeing and organisation will be looked at during the next full inspection.

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Summary

The home have met most of the actions and recommendations from the last inspection to improve the home's performance and outcomes for children. Children enjoy living at the home and feel supported. Relationships between children and staff are positive and all children are included in the home's social group.

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Summary

Safeguarding records are not good enough to ensure all welfare events relating to children are clearly documented, to demonstrate that all practices are carried out in line with associated regulations and good practice guidelines. Staff are not adequately trained in using fire fighting equipment and the records for room searches do not reflect children are fully involved in the process.

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Summary

There is one action and one recommendation not met from the last inspection and two new recommendations arising from this visit.

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Summary

Three children currently live at the home of whom two were present during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Actions from the last inspection to improve health and safety in the home are met. Accidents are fully recorded to show the right measures are taken to promote good health, and well-being, and fire records now show that fire safety equipment is checked regularly.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Actions to improve staff supervision and the home's monitoring are met. Staff regularly talk to the manager, and each other, about how they are performing to help them improve their skills and knowledge. The monitoring systems cover all the required areas and safeguarding records are signed by the Registered Manager. A recommendation to have a development plan is also met. This ensures the registered persons know how they intend to improve outcomes for children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

However, an action not met is to ensure staff have regular training in the use of fire fighting equipment to enable them to respond to a fire emergency if necessary.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Recommendations to keep children healthy are met. Medication charts are signed and all staff have first aid training. A recommendation to properly record sanctions is met and where a sanction has been used inappropriately, this has been challenged by the Registered Manager.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A recommendation not met is to ensure children's views are recorded where room searches are carried out. This is so every child knows the reasons why staff have gone into their bedroom and looked through their private belongings.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's privacy is generally respected. All children have their own bedroom that they can secure if they wish to do so. Staff knock before entering bedrooms and there are procedures in place to advise children and staff under what circumstances a bedroom search may be carried out. All toilets and bathrooms have suitable locks fitted to ensure children's privacy and dignity are not compromised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children know how to complain and all complaints are taken seriously. There are systems in place to look for missing children, who are vulnerable, to ensure their safe return. Working together protocols with local police have helped build positive relationships with the police and children living at the home.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children know what constitutes bullying behaviour and what they should do if they feel threatened. Children are happy to approach staff about being bullied and feel staff will intervene to keep them safe. Records are kept of bullying behaviour to allow for the registered persons to monitor any trends in bullying at the home. Staff know what constitutes child abuse and receive regular child protection training. Procedures are in place to advise staff about how to recognise possible abuse and how to support children who disclose welfare concerns.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Records for child protection do not always make it clear if an event is a suspicion of abuse or bullying between peers. For example, some bullying incidents are recorded in the child protection log but no referral to the duty social worker has been made. Records show that the police were contacted as a result of the bullying, so the child was safeguarded, but the threats were made by the child's peers from outside the home and not by a potential abuser.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Similarly, the log used for restraints on children has entries made that may not fit into the home's definition of what constitutes a restraint on a child. One incident recorded says a staff member used physical contact to calm a child, which appears to be a gesture of reassurance as opposed to the child being restrained in any way. Another example suggests a restraint was used for compliance but the explanation of the measure used does not suggest any physical force or actual restraint was used.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff and children have positive relationships and interact well. Children know the home's behavioural expectations and are happily included in the home's social group. A child said 'All the staff are good, you can talk to any of them. There is no bullying or restraints, and we all get on okay. I'm very happy here and I think we get looked after very well'.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Careful monitoring of visitors protects children from potential abusers. All unknown visitors have their identification checked and verified. A visitors book is signed so the Registered Manager can monitor who comes into the home and why.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Std. Action Due date

26 ensure that the Registered Person makes arrangements for persons working in the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention (Regulation 32(1)(d)). 30/04/2011

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure the record of room searches includes how the young person has been informed about the search (NMS 9).  ensure there are clear procedures that are known, understood and followed by staff for responding to allegations that includes the recognition of what constitutes abuse (NMS 17)  ensure that physical restraint is only used to prevent likely injury or likely serious damage to property and not as a means to enforce compliance (NMS 22.7)

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