Children's Home run by Duty of Care Limited in Durham

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Children and young people are settled and are making good progress in all areas of their lives.  Children and young people are able to maintain good contact with their families and in some cases this is improving significantly.  Children and young people are able to contribute well to the running of the home and happily help staff with day to day household tasks.  The home is well kept and looked after, it has a cosy, homely atmosphere.  Staff keep children and young people very safe. There have been very few incidents of concern.  The management team have made a significant effort to improve standards of care in all areas. This includes a review of policy and procedures and a review of recording systems.  Children and young people have excellent relationships with staff and with each other.  Placement plans are comprehensive and detail all areas that require action. They are working documents that are kept up to date.

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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 staff work in close partnership with the child’s local authority. Particularly to ensure personal education plans are up to date and fully acted upon and any independent return interviews are carried out. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 11, paragraph 2.3)

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Recommendations

Ensure staff offer children and young people good quality key work and life story work to enable children and young people to understand who they are and where they come from. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 16 paragraph 3.14)

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Recommendations

Ensure staff carry out effective care planning and record progress children and young people make. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 56 paragraph 11.2 )

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD). The home is privately owned.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.4

good

Children and young people are able to build excellent relationships with staff. This is evident in the easy way they can approach staff, talk and make jokes with them. The home is relaxed and homely and the atmosphere is calm and respectful.

p.5

good

Key workers prepare comprehensive placements plans for each child. The work around these plans is good but could now be further developed. Key work could be expanded to include more formal sessions which would complement the good informal work which already takes place. Key workers could also do more life story work with children and young people to enable them to more fully understand their backgrounds. A recommendation has been made to address this.

p.5

good

Staff do monitor progress from the children and young people’s starting points but this is not very well evidenced. More work could be done around recording progress and this would help staff, children and young people understand what progress is being made and would enable further planning for additional work. A recommendation has been made in relation to this.

p.5

good

Staff have mostly liaised with other professionals well, but on a couple of occasions this could have been better. On the one occasion a young person went missing the return interview was conducted over the phone which is not appropriate. Also staff have not ensured that one young person’s personal education plan was completed. A recommendation has been made in relation to this.

p.5

good

All the children and young people are making progress at school but one young person was a little unsettled at school. Staff are talking to the school about this and also talking to the young person concerned about the possibility of making a change. This demonstrates how the staff take steps to improve the young person’s experience while living at the home.

p.5

good

Overall, children and young people are making very good progress. Some of them have made significant changes to improve their behaviour. All of them are reported to have grown in confidence and self-esteem. All of the children and young people now attend clubs and activities in the local areas and enjoy a range of interests including horse riding, dog walking and baking.

p.5

good

Young people are aware of health issues such as healthy eating and have chosen to eat heathier food and take regular exercise. Staff have supported and encouraged this by providing advice and guidance on cooking and eating habits and by participating in exercise regimes with them. They enjoy a range of outdoor activities such as walking, fishing and bush crafts and enjoy doing these with staff. One young person had started jogging with a staff member with the aim of competing in a five kilometre run later in the year.

p.5

good

The social worker of one young person said she felt the young person she had placed was making very good progress and that staff support him well.

p.6

good

The mother of one of the young people was full of praise for the home and the staff saying she was ‘really pleased’, her child had made ‘really good progress and come on in leaps and bounds’. She said staff were ‘fantastic’ and went on to say that she was pleased that there were plans for her child to stay until they were eighteen as they really enjoyed living there.

p.6

good

All the children and young people have clear contact plans and staff support them to see many of their family members. Some of the young people have made particularly good progress here and have significantly better family contact than they had prior to living here.

p.6

good

Staff support children and young people well to practice independence skills and this is evident in day to day life. One young person offered to help with the washing up without being asked while I was there.

p.6

good

Children and young people at this home are kept very safe. Since the last inspection there has only been one episode of missing from home and this was dealt with well. On that occasion, staff actively searched for the young person and were able to find and return them to the home quickly. There have been no other safeguarding incidents at the home.

p.6

good

Staff are good at manage challenging behaviour. Children and young people at the home who had challenging behaviour prior to living here have settled well and generally do not show any challenging behaviour. Staff use a restorative approach when there are minor difficulties and this works well. Very few sanctions have been used and no restraints have been necessary. Staff prefer to rely on negotiation, requests and the use of praise and encouragement. This approach has undoubtedly helped the children and young people to settle well. This positive environment has been built by staff who are skilled at forming good relationships with children and young people. Staff are consistent in providing realistic and fair boundaries and expectations. As a result of this, children and young people freely contribute to household chores and take appropriate responsibility for their own independence.

p.6

good

Young people who have previously smoked or drank alcohol have now stopped. This is clear progress and allows these young people to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

p.7

good

Staff recruitment is robust and safe. The children and young people were able to take a meaningful part in the recent recruitment of the new manager. This not only gives them a say in the running of the home but allows them to feel safe and comfortable living there.

p.7

good

Staff have received good training around safeguarding and are clear about safeguarding procedures should they need to use them. Staff are clear about the use of the internet and monitor this closely. The risk assessments made by staff are comprehensive and realistic and contribute well to safeguarding.

p.7

good

Overall, the children and young people are kept very safe by staff.

p.7

good

The previous registered manager left the service on 31 March 2015. The organisation has appointed a new manger to the home who started work on 5 May 2015. The deputy manager became the interim manager in this intervening time. The newly appointed manager is appropriately qualified and is experienced in working in children and young people’s residential care and has previously been a registered manager of a children’s home. He has applied to be a registered manager for this home.

p.7

good

Since the last inspection, the management team have worked hard to improve standards. This has been a positive time for the home. The management team have reviewed all policies and procedures and have revised the recording systems. They have put in an extensive training package for staff and have continued to offer excellent regular supervision and support to all the staff. All the previous requirements and recommendations have been met. Good quality internal monitoring reports have been submitted every three months and these contain evidence of good quality consultation with the children and young people.

p.7

good

All staff are trained in the administration and recording of medication and this is now carried out appropriately. There is appropriate consent for all medical issues on each child and young person’s file. Children and young people are no longer required to sign for their pocket money and to sign other institutional records. All staff have a full induction and the manager has now devised their own induction workbook which is comprehensive. The manager has completed a development plan for the home and recent work in the home has ensured a bathroom curtain has been fitted as requested.

p.8

good

Managers have clearly given priority to the needs of children and young people. Placement plans are kept up to date and form good working documents which help staff plan with the children and young people. This has meant that all the children and young people have made significant progress during their time at the home.

p.8

good

Staff say that they are well supported by management and are clearly enthusiastic about their work. One staff member said, ‘I love it here, it’s like a second home’. Another staff member said, ‘we can do things with the kids, you can make a difference’. Staff supervision is carried out regularly and is in-depth and the staff training package is comprehensive. There is clear evidence that staff and managers work well with external professionals. One young person has recently been referred to an appropriate external counsellor and ongoing discussions with the children and young people’s schools are positive. The newly appointed manager is taking time to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the home and will then be able to identify areas to develop.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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