Children's Home run by South Tyneside Council in South Tyneside

Unique reference number SC032697 Inspection date 24/01/2014 Inspector Nicholas Murphy Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/06/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is registered to offer care and accommodation for six children who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by the local authority.

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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 satisfactory progress .

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Progress

At the last full inspection in June 2013 the home’s overall effectiveness was judged to be good. The Registered Manager has addressed all the statutory requirements and recommendations made at that inspection, improving practice in several areas. The young people’s admission and discharge register now meets requirements, and staff training records accurately reflect all developmental work they have undertaken. The monthly monitoring visits by the independent person include reports of consultation with parents, providing information which may identify areas for improvement. However, these reports are not always provided to HMCI, Ofsted within a reasonable timescale, limiting the ability of the regulator to provide effective oversight. Additionally, the Registered Managers’ own monitoring of the home’s operation does not provide evidence of any consultation with parents or placing social workers. This limits the opportunity to use the views of these significant people

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Progress

Most young people are making good progress. Some are doing exceptionally well, with clearly mapped-out aspirations to move into further and higher education. Others have made improvements in most areas of their lives in relation to their starting points when they were admitted. Young people are generally in good health. Although most choose to smoke, they understand the risks and some have taken advantage of the smoking cessation support which the home offers. The staff encourage young people to have a voice, both in what goes on day-to-day within the home and also in relation to decisions about their individual care. For example, since the last inspection the home has changed its incentive scheme following consultation with young people.

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Progress

The home keeps young people safe. Young people do not often go missing. When this does happen, staff set aside time to discuss the incident with the young person, focusing on the risks to their safety. As a result, young people have a better awareness of the harm they may suffer in such situations. In general, young people relate well to each other and staff. One young person said, ‘I get on ok with the other young people, there are no real arguments, sometimes the odd tiff but that happens everywhere.’ Bullying is rare, there is little need for physical restraint and sanctions are used purposefully to shape behaviour.

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Progress

The home is well maintained. The efforts made by staff to keep the environment looking good helps the young people to have respect for their home. The staff pay close attention to the emotional health of young people, providing support and comfort when young people are anxious or distressed. One young person said, ‘If you need to talk to someone, or want help with your college work, there’s always someone there.’

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Progress

The home has sound residential placement plans which guide the programme of care for each young person. However, documentation from placing social workers is sometimes out of date or missing entirely. It is therefore difficult to be assured that the assessed needs of young people are being met in accordance with the local authority plan. Additionally, the minutes of statutory reviews of young people’s care are not provided to the home within a reasonable timescale. Informal notes of reviews made by staff who attend are not always placed on the young persons’ file. As a result, important decisions made at reviews are not consistently included within young peoples’ plans and cannot be actioned with accuracy or accountability.

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Progress

The Registered Manager provides clear leadership to the staff team, promoting consistency and giving the welfare of young people the highest priority. The homes’ resources are deployed to maximise quality of care. For example, some young people have challenges which require extra staff support and supervision. In these situations the Registered Manager rosters additional staff, this ensures that the other young people can still enjoy a full range of activities.

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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 the written reports of visits by the independent person are provided to HMCI, Ofsted, specifically by the end of the month following the month of the visit (Regulation 33(9)(a)) 28/02/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that, as appears necessary, the person conducting the visits under this regulation, interviews with their consent and in private, the children's parents and relatives in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home (Regulation 33(4)(a)) 28/02/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain in respect of each child who is accommodated in the children’s home a record in permanent form which includes the information, documents and records specified in Schedule 3, in particular the placement information record, up-to-date care plan, and minutes of statutory reviews. (Regulation 28(1) (Schedule 3)) 28/02/2014

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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 the results of all statutory reviews are recorded on the child’s file. (NMS 25.8)

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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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