Children's Home run by North East Autism Society in Durham

Unique reference number SC458415 Inspector Steve Pearson Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person North East Autism Society Registered person address Units 15 & 16 Lumley Court Drum Industrial Estate; Birtley CHESTER LE STREET County Durham DH2 1AN Responsible individual John Joseph Phillipson Registered manager POST VACANT Date of last inspection 11/02/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 24/07/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness adequate

Outcomes for children and young people good Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe good Leadership and management inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

Management arrangements are inadequate. The registered persons are not employing sufficient staff with the necessary experience and qualifications to care for children. Shift rotas are not being planned effectively. This means children are frequently being cared for by staff who are inexperienced, who are also unqualified and have not completed their induction training or passed their probationary period. There is therefore a lack of assurance children's welfare is being promoted appropriately.

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Overall effectiveness

The home does not have a Registered Manager since they left three weeks ago. Planning for their departure failed to address the need to have a new registered person in place beforehand. Ofsted were unable to monitor the management arrangements because, contrary to legal requirements, the registered persons failed to inform the regulator about the changes before they took effect.

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Overall effectiveness

Other shortfalls including the monitoring of the quality of care; the lack of detail in the Statement of Purpose and the failure to inform Ofsted about significant changes in this document mean that the quality of leadership and management arrangements is unacceptable. The overall impact on young people is mitigated by the fact that the home has high staffing levels and the managers have assessed the staff as being sufficiently competent before permitting them to work unsupervised. 3 of 11 Young people have positive outcomes as a result of the care they receive. They become happier and more confident and their behaviour improves. Parents and placing authorities are also pleased about the quality of care provided.

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Overall effectiveness

Although the leadership and management arrangements are inadequate, the quality of care, safeguarding arrangements and outcomes for young people are much more positive. This is reflected in the overall effectiveness rating of the children's home. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for short breaks for up to six young people with learning disabilities.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2014 Interim good progress 20/11/2013 Interim not judged

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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) establish and maintain a system for monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 at least once in every 3 months (Regulation 34 (1)(a)) 07/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the system for monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 provides for consultation with children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities. In particular this means recording the views of these people in the three- monthly monitoring reports (Regulation 34 (3)) 07/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

4 (2001) ensure that the children’s home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its Statement of Purpose. In particular this means an accurate description of the registration status of the manager of the home (Regulation 4(6)) 25/07/2014 5 of 11 (2001) ensure that there is at all times a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working at the children’s home. In particular this means there must always be a member of staff on duty who has completed their induction period and passed their probationary period and who is qualified to level 3 in the Children & Young People's Workforce Diploma (Regulation 25(1)) 25/07/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

4 (2001) ensure that the Statement of Purpose consists of all the matters listed in Schedule 1. In particular this relates to items 8, 9, 13b, 15a and 15b, 19 and 22. (Regulation 4(1)) 24/08/2014

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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 emotional needs of each young person are recorded in their residential placement plan (NMS 3.7)  ensure the home’s location and design promotes children’s health, safety and well-being. In particular this means providing sufficient ventilation in the kitch (NMS 10.2)  identify in the written annual development plan for the children's home any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirm the continuation of the home’s current operation and resource. (NMS 15.2) 6 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people gain significant benefits from their time at the children's home.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Children become more confident and their behaviour improves over time. The staff were able to demonstrate at the inspection how one young person was visibly more relaxed now and had developed trusting relationships with the care staff. Another young person had been very settled from the moment they were admitted to the children's home. This was because of the quality of preparation work conducted by the staff before the young person first came to stay in the home. The young person was therefore relaxed and settled despite them never having been away from home before.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Social workers and parents are also pleased about how young people progress. For example, one social worker said, 'The school has said there is a big improvement in the child's concentration skills.’ Another social worker said, 'The young person's behaviour has improved since accessing the short breaks service.'

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people gain a sense of being in control and a sense of fun because the staff enable them to play and take part in activities that the young people are personally interested in.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people gain a sense of identity because the staff take photographs of them during their time at the home and collect these in a personal scrapbook. These serve as mementoes for when each young person is older.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people gain confidence and a sense of being valued because the staff seek their views about their care and listen to what they say. They act on feedback from young people regarding their opinions and suggestions. For example, the staff hold a young people's meeting every two weeks at which they seek the opinions of the young people and record their views and suggestions. They then try to implement what they have requested. The staff use each child's preferred system of communication to help ensure they capture their views accurately.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people also make good progress in terms of social development. They make friendships with other young people at the setting and gain a sense of fun and enjoyment through playing with them.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They make good progress in terms of education and the staff support them to learn relevant skills through a range of activities inside the home and in the community. 7 of 11

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Quality of care adequate

Effective arrangements are in place to help young people settle when they first come to stay at the home. This was summed up by one social worker who said, 'We met the manager and staff several times to discuss the young person's needs. The young person also had several visits and the manager met the parents and me to make clear what the child's needs were. They recorded these issues in a care plan which I was then invited to read and approve.' A member of staff also pointed out that sometimes young people have a community support worker who knows them well. In these circumstances the staff encourage the support worker to work alongside the residential staff in shifts at the children's home to help the young person settle in.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people behave well and they get on well with the staff and with other young people. The staff provide young people with a wide variety of leisure activities both within the home and in the community. This enables them to feel stimulated and to have fun.

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Quality of care adequate

The manager and staff enable young people to exercise choice wherever possible. The young people have a variety of communication systems and the staff can communicate with them as they have had relevant training. The staff enable young people to take a full part in how the home should be run and to have a say in their own care plans. They enable young people to have a full say in their choice of food at mealtimes. This helps young people feel valued, empowered and confident.

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Quality of care adequate

The staff also support young people to raise concerns if they want to. Guidance about how to make a formal complaint is available in a child-friendly format appropriate for young people who have communication difficulties.

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Quality of care adequate

The staff are effective in enabling young people to be healthy. While primary responsibility for health rests with parents and carers, the staff provide young people with a healthy diet, they administer medication appropriately and expertise is available from specialists such as an occupational therapist and speech and language therapist when necessary. The staff are not being supported sufficiently to meet each young person's emotional needs as these are not adequately described in residential care plans.

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Quality of care adequate

The children's home is in an appropriate location. The premises are clean and well- maintained. The kitchen has no natural ventilation because the windows are not designed to open. This means the kitchen is uncomfortably warm in summer and cooking vapours and smells are not removed effectively.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

8 of 11 In surveys all young people said they feel safe and all parents strongly agree their child is safe.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The staff promote good behaviour and have never needed to use physical intervention when caring for the young people. They receive regular training in how to respond safely to challenging behaviour and this includes how to restrain a young person safely if necssary.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The staff also receive regular training in how to safeguard the welfare of children. They are clearly aware of how to respond appropriately to any allegations, suspicions or evidence of abuse.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The children's home has good staffing levels and this helps to ensure safe levels of monitoring of young people's behaviour. The necessary level of staffing is recorded in each young person's care plan and the manager ensures the necessary levels are kept to.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The premises are safe. Professional technicians regularly service the electrical equipment, gas appliances and equipment for preventing, detecting and extinguishing fires. 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 inadequate

There are numerous shortfalls regarding leadership and management, and some of these are significant. The cumulative effect is that the leadership and management arrangements are inadequate.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The quality of forward planning is poor and management arrangements are weak. The home does not currently have a Registered Manager. The previous Registered Manager resigned three weeks ago due to internal promotion. The registered provider has appointed an interim manager who took up the position when the Registered Manager left. The interim manager has appropriate qualifications and experience. Ofsted has not received a full application yet so it has not been possible to formally assess the new manager's fitness for the position.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Despite a legal requirement to do so, the registered persons failed to inform Ofsted of the planned departure of the Registered Manager before they left. This meant Ofsted were unable to be aware of and monitor the management arrangements.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Despite having sufficient time, no arrangements were put in place to enable a new Registered Manager to be in place before the previous person left. Their departure meant only two of the six remaining permanent staff were qualified, had completed their induction training and had passed their probationary period. 9 of 11 For approximately one in three shifts, young people are being cared for by staff who are insufficiently experienced and who have not completed their induction training or passed their probationary period. There is therefore insufficient assurance that young people are being cared for appropriately. Only a third of the current staff working with young people is suitably qualified. At the inspection, no evidence of unsafe care during these shifts became apparent. The staffing levels are appropriate. The management of the home has conducted an interim probationary assessment of these staff. They have completed their in-house induction and this is half of the

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Leadership and management inadequate

The home has a Statement of Purpose which describes the function of the home and how it operates. The document does not provide the range of information required by legislation. This means social workers and other people who may need to read the document are not being provided with sufficient information about the home. Ofsted has not yet received a complete Registered Manager application from the interim manager. Ofsted has therefore not been able to assess their suitability for registration. Despite this, the interim manager is falsely described in various parts of the Statement of Purpose as being the Registered Manager. It is illegal to operate a children's home in a manner which contravenes what is written in the Statement of Purpose.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The Statement of Purpose was revised and updated a month ago. The update includes information about the four new staff who have been recruited in recent months and the new manager. Despite a legal requirement to do so the registered persons did not inform Ofsted about the changes. This meant the regulator was not able to evaluate or monitor significant changes in the operation of the home.

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Leadership and management inadequate

In accordance with legislation, an independent person visits the home once a month to assess and report on the quality of care provided. The reports are comprehensive and the visitor makes recommendations where necessary. The manager of the home also evaluates the quality of care provided. They send questionnaires to young people and their parents and social workers on a regular basis. They also conduct a formal quarterly review and, in accordance with legislation, send their review report to Ofsted. So far, this monitoring has not covered the new range of criteria required from when the legislation changed four months ago. However, a new recording format is in place to capture this information at the next assessment due in two months. There is potential for this monitoring to miss some shortfalls in the quality of care. This is because the views of young people, parents and placing authorities are

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Leadership and management inadequate

The home has an annual development plan setting out its longer term aims and objectives. There is insufficient assurance about the future operation of the home. This is because the plan does not confirm the purpose and resources of the home and whether these will continue or change for the year ahead.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The staff feel well-supported by the management of the home and they receive 10 of 11 regular formal one-to-one supervision. This provides them with the opportunity to discuss any concerns and learn valuable knowledge and skills relevant to the care of children with learning disabilities. The staff are also provided with training in a wide range of relevant topics. New staff enrol to study for a relevant qualification in caring for children within an appropriate timescale after commencing employment at the home. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management inadequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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