Children's Home run by Stockton on Tees Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

Unique reference number SC035222 Inspection date 26/02/2013 Inspector Steve Pearson Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 15/05/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The children's home is provided by a local authority and is registered to care for up to three young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

At the previous inspection, Ofsted rated the overall effectiveness of the home to be adequate and made one requirement and five recommendations. These have now been met. As a result, the registered persons are more effective at identifying and addressing shortfalls in the quality of care because internal and external monitoring is more thorough and accurate. The Registered Manager now also records a comment on every young person's sanction. This is particularly helpful if any young person may have commented that they felt the sanction was unfair. The staff are now able to follow care plans more easily because the documents make clear what has to be done in the future to help meet young people's needs and historical information is recorded separately.

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Progress

There were no young people present at this inspection as they were at their places of education or employment. The care provided by the Registered Manager and staff has helped young people to make significant progress since the previous inspection nine months ago. Consequently young people have made good progress and achieved very positive outcomes in a significant number of areas including health, education, employment, behaviour and relationships. Internal and external monitoring is robust and this provides for a good capacity for continuing improvement. The Registered Manager and external visitor assess the quality of care on a monthly basis and they identify actions necessary to address any shortfalls. In subsequent monitoring they check that the actions have been followed through to completion. For example, external monitoring has been helpful in ensuring improvements in the décor of the bathroom and kitchen.

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Progress

Young people also have a significant say in the running of the home and in the content of their own care plans. Young person meetings are held once a month and the same member of staff chairs each meeting so there is good consistency. Again, previous actions are checked on at the start of each meeting. The staff also ensure they have regular one-to-one discussions with young people to give them the opportunity to express what they think and feel. This helps young people to feel involved because their views are respected.

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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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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