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

Unique reference number SC035222 Inspection date 20/08/2013 Inspector Steve Pearson Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/02/2013 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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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

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a very good children's home. The Registered Manager and staff are effective in helping young people to develop positively. Their impact on improved outcomes for young people is significant.

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Overall effectiveness

High quality care is provided by a small and consistent team of staff result. This results in young people achieving good outcomes in behaviour, emotional and physical health, education and employment. The assessment and planning for leaving care is less positive although young people due to leave soon feel sufficiently confident.

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Overall effectiveness

Relationships between the staff and young people are very positive, there is minimal staff turnover and the young people feel they know the staff well. This helps them to feel safe and secure.

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Overall effectiveness

The staff feel supported by the Registered Manager and deputy. Supervision is not sufficiently robust because the staff do not receive a copy of the supervision record to which they and the Registered Manager must then add their signature.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is not seeking written consent from the placing authority where appropriate restrictions are put on young people's access to a telephone. This weakens the accountability for such measures.

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Overall effectiveness

As a result of the inspection Ofsted has made one requirement and two recommendations.

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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 person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that where young people are unable to access a telephone on which to make and receive calls in private without having to seek permission from the staff, this is approved of by the placing authority. In particular this means gaining signed approval of the restriction from the young person's placing authority. (Regulation 15(7)(a)) 18/09/2013

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 ensure that young people are supported to leave care. In particular this means maintaining an up to date assessment of the needs identified in this standard and making clear the expectations of residential staff in meeting these needs (NMS 12.1)  ensure that at the end of each supervision session the supervisor and member of staff sign the record of issues that have been discussed. (NMS 19.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people gain confidence and a sense of identity through being able to do the things they want to do. For example, one young person said, 'I can do the things I want to do like see my mates and take part in activities that interest me.' Another young person said they felt more confident now because the staff had given them more trust and independence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are healthy and for some there has been a dramatic improvement in emotional health, resulting in significant improvements in behaviour and self- confidence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people take part in community activities including attendance at a youth club, membership of the local library and regular attendance at school, college and in voluntary and paid employment. This has also resulted in improved levels of confidence and development of social skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Attendance levels in education and employment are very good and young people have succeeded in gaining important qualifications.

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Outcomes for children and young people

They also gain emotional wellbeing through being able to have contact with their family and friends. Significant developments have been made here as well due to the Registered Manager and staff identifying this as a key area of need.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Older young people feel sufficiently confident about their leaving care plans and their readiness to move into independent or semi-independent living accommodation. However, the home's own assessments and care plans associated with leaving care are not clear or comprehensive. There is therefore a risk that young people will leave the home less well-prepared than might have been possible.

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Quality of care

The Registered Manager and staff provide a high quality of care.

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Quality of care

They are proactive in seeking and responding to the views of young people. One young person summed this up by saying, 'we have monthly meetings and the staff ask us what we think. They then try to do what we ask as long as it's reasonable.' Where it is necessary to promote safety, young people cannot always make phone calls unless they ask permission from the staff. There is a lack of accountability because signed approval for this measure is not sought from the placing authority.

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Quality of care

Young people behave well and are mature in their attitude to each other and to the staff. There is no risk-taking or criminal behaviour. One young person who spoke highly of the quality of care said, 'the best thing about here is the staff…they really try to help us.'

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Quality of care

The Registered Manager and staff are effective in promoting good emotional and physical health. Young people receive effective support from external agencies such as those promoting knowledge about emotional health, smoking cessation and emotional health. Young people also stay fit because the staff enable them to take part in a range of activities which involve physical exercise. One young person said, 'I like it here because of the activities and holidays we go on.'

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Quality of care

The team of staff are also very effective in enabling young people to do well in education. There are strong links with schools, colleges and places of employment. They fully support young people to do well in exams such as GCSEs and in vocational qualifications. They also encourage attendance through helping with transport arrangements and by sitting with young people in class, if necessary. In their pre- inspection surveys, all young people said, 'the staff always make sure I go to school and college.' One young person said at the inspection, 'I feel I'm doing better in education now compared to before I lived here.' The home itself is clean, well-maintained, comfortable and homely.

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Quality of care

Young people are cared for in line with their statutory care plans and residential placement plans. These are up to date and explain what young people's needs are and how they are to be met.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager and staff are effective at promoting safety. All young people who answered a pre-inspection survey or spoke to the inspector said, 'I feel safe.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

The team are very effective at promoting positive behaviour and young people have made very significant improvements in behaviour during their time at the home. As a result, the staff rarely need to restrain any young person or give them a sanction for unacceptable behaviour. Where restraints or sanctions are necessary, the staff record them recorded clearly and comprehensively. This was summed up by one young person who said, 'restraints are useful if us children are a danger to ourselves and others.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people said that there was no bullying and they all got on well with each other. They rarely go missing and if this does happen, the staff respond appropriately and record the incident comprehensively.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The premises are safe. Professional technicians regularly service the electrical equipment, gas appliances and equipment for preventing, detecting and extinguishing fires. One member of staff has special responsibility in promotion of health and safety and they are suitably qualified for this role. The department of environmental health has awarded the home a maximum rating for the quality of its food hygiene.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Appropriate recruitment arrangements are in place which help to ensure that staff employed to work with children are suitable.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

The aims of the home are described clearly in its Statement of Purpose and the Registered Manager ensures that the running of the home is consistent with this document. Young people receive an informative and child-friendly guide to the home when they are preparing to move in.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager and deputy are qualified to level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services. All of the residential staff are also appropriately qualified. They gain further knowledge and skills through attendance at a wide range of training courses. These have been specifically designed to meet the needs of those working with young people in residential care.

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Leadership and management

The home is adequately resourced and levels of staffing are appropriate to meet young people's needs. This was summed up by one young person who said, 'there are always enough staff on duty.' Planning of the home's future is also robust and is based on a comprehensive annual development plan.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring of the quality of care is also good and includes monthly assessment by an external person, as required by legislation. The Registered Manager also monitors the quality of care on a monthly basis. Both types of monitoring are evaluative and recommendations are made where necessary. These are then followed up at the next assessment to ensure progress has been made. This provides for a good capacity for continuing improvement.

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Leadership and management

Staff generally feel supported through the supervision process and they receive one- to-one sessions once a month. However, the system is not fully robust because the Registered Manager is not offering each person the opportunity to sign the record of issues discussed. The Registered Manager is also not adding their signature to the document.

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Leadership and management

Records about young people are held securely and they are clear and up to date. Young people can add their own comments to their case notes. This helps them to feel respected and involved.

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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 main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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