Children's Home run by Young Foundations Limited in Darlington

Good

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

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 The registered manager and staff team have created good links with statutory agencies. Sharing of information and gaining an understanding of the way in which other agencies work help to ensure that young people are safe.  Recording systems are robust, accurate and clear, allowing important information about the young person to be available to the staff team and other people working with them.  Young people in the home say that they feel safe because of the way in which the registered manager and the staff team listen to them and support them.  The registered manager and staff team support education well and young people are achieving.  Young people are supported to have contact with their families. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that they are fully informed and involved in decisions relating to the care of their young people.  Young people are involved in the planning of their care and contribute to

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

their plans on a regular basis.  The home is supported by a strong in-house psychological service that enables young people to reflect on their past and to develop coping mechanisms.  The registered manager and staff team understand how to build positive, enabling relationships with young people.  Recruitment is robust and involves the young people, ensuring that their views are listened to.

p.3

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

p.4

Requirement Due date

12(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with reference to ensuring that health and safety is maintained and that fire doors should be to standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure

p.4

Requirement Due date

(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. 20 May 2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children's home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs.

p.4

Requirement Due date

(2) The registered person must ensure that

p.4

Requirement Due date

(a) at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first aid qualification (Regulation 31(2)(a)). 19 August

p.4

Requirement Due date

13(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that

p.4

Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential, and (b) promotes their welfare.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to ensuring that there is adequate training for staff

p.4

Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to

p.4

Requirement Due date

(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills 19 August to meet the needs of each child.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees

p.5

Requirement Due date

(a) undertake appropriate continuing professional development; (b) receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and (c) have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year (Regulation 33(4)(a),(b),(c)). 24 June 2016

p.5

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint, to identify effective practice and to respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice, to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. In particular, the registered manager should evaluate each restraint to ensure that it is appropriate ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 49, paragraph 9.59).  Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other

p.5

Recommendations

children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and to carry it out. In particular, all sanctions should be recorded in the home’s record and on the young person's file ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.38).  The registered person should have a workforce plan that can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should detail; the necessary management and staffing structure (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s

p.5

Recommendations

statement of purpose the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications) the process for managing and improving poor performance the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33(4)(b)) and appropriate records for staff in the home should be kept. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home's manager ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.8).  Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or moving to live independently. This should include supporting the child to develop

p.5

Recommendations

emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home's support and, when the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.27).  Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record–keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4).

p.6

Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private company and provides care and accommodation for up to five young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties, or learning disabilities, or mental disorders.

p.7

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.7

Recent inspection history

29 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.7

Recent inspection history

3 March 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

p.7

Good

The home is situated in a quiet residential area of the town. It is large and well equipped, offering space for communal and individual activities. Young people are helped to keep safe by a caring and committed staff team. The young people develop positive, trusting relationships with the staff and the registered manager. This enables them to explore their feelings and to develop new strategies to support their emotional well-being. A young person said, ‘Staff are brilliant. I feel happy talking with them when I am happy or sad.’ Behaviour management and care plans are personalised and developed with young people. This allows staff to know how each individual young person will display behaviours and how to provide support. Staff take time to understand how young people make decisions and what can help them to make positive choices. The plans are regularly reviewed with young people and updated by staff as necessary.

p.8

Good

Education is well supported by the staff team through their willingness to be flexible with transport and their commitment to working in partnership with schools. As a result, young people who are in school placements are achieving above their expected grades. Staff and young people are aspirational when discussing the future. This enables young people to stay committed to their education provision even at times of trauma and disruption. One young person has a member of staff with her in school at all times. This enables her to feel supported and to learn in a productive environment. When young people are not in education placements or at work, the staff team ensures that its time is occupied, by identifying potential opportunities for study or work experience. Activities both inside and outside of the home are well supported. Young people enjoy playing instruments and undertake art projects as well as using facilities

p.8

Good

within the community. This adds to their sense of achievement, and this is recognised within the home by examples of artwork on the walls. The young people are at a stage when independence needs to be encouraged while their emotional needs are recognised. This, for some young people, needs to form a larger part of the day-to-day planning. Staff recognise the importance of family contact for young people. The team work hard with young people to build and sustain relationships with family. The result is a high level of family support for the young people. A parent said, ‘I feel they bring families together.’ Another parent commented, ‘They are very good at what they do. Exceptional, in fact. They support us as well as [Name].’ Young people are aware of how to complain if necessary and are consulted through meetings on a group and individual basis about the care that they receive. A young person explained how they had followed the complaints procedure and

p.8

Good

received an outcome. This enables young people to feel valued and listened to.

p.9

Good

The home is a safe and secure environment with all fire checks and maintenance checks taking place regularly. All visitors have their identification checked and are signed in and out of the building. The home is well decorated, and the previously identified institutional feel is no longer prevalent. Refurbishment is ongoing, due to damage within the building as a result of disruptive behaviour. One young person’s bedroom door, which is a fire door, is in need of immediate repair. The staff reported this in a timely manner, but it remains unfinished. The registered manager followed this up during the inspection. Young people go missing from the home for short periods, but there is a clear and thorough process that staff follow, ensuring that young people return as soon as possible. Such incidents are reducing, but, when they do occur, staff follow young people and support them to return. When appropriate, staff are aware to report

p.9

Good

young people missing to the police. The staff and registered manager have a positive working relationship with the police. A local officer said, ‘They have limited missings and we have very little need to attend the home.’ The registered manager meets with the police and with other providers in the area to share good practice and to maintain good communication links. This ensures positive partnership working to keep young people safe. Risk management and care plans are updated regularly by staff but are not always signed off by the registered manager. This similarly applies to records of restraint, which are completed by staff and signed off by the manager but not always evaluated. This means that staff are not given direction as to the appropriateness of the intervention, and a learning opportunity is missed. Physical interventions are required when young people are finding it difficult to regulate their own behaviours and emotions. De-escalation techniques are used

p.9

Good

whenever possible. Following an incident, records are completed but not always in a timely manner. Detail is occasionally sparse and it is difficult to get a full picture of what happened, leading up to and following incidents. The actions taken within the interventions are clear. Learning from the incident, for staff and young people, is not always evaluated and therefore does not inform future practice. The registered manager and the staff team have changed their approach to responding to negative behaviour, using a more restorative approach. Sanctions are still used on occasion but are not recorded fully, appearing in one document but not another. The result is that monitoring of the appropriateness of sanctions cannot be undertaken, and their effectiveness is not known. Staff and the manager have positive relationships with other professionals who offer additional support to young people. A social worker said, ‘[Name] has made a

p.9

Good

lot of progress while there.’ Another social worker commented, ‘Communication from the home is very good.’ In addition to their own in-house psychological support, the team work closely with local services. An external psychiatrist said, ‘I have nothing but praise for the staff.’

p.10

Requires improvement

The registered manager is an aspirational manager who is suitably qualified and has considerable experience working in children’s homes. He is supported by an experienced and motivated senior management team. The manager has a clear sense of both the strengths and weakness of the home, but has not, as yet, produced a workforce development plan. There is a training matrix in place but this needs updating. In particular, the number of staff with an up-to-date first aid qualification needs addressing, as the number of staff holding a current certificate does not allow for a qualified person on each shift. The monitoring systems available to the registered manager are not being fully utilised throughout the home. The result is that the registered manager and deputy have a full knowledge of what happens within the home and can discuss all aspects of practice, but this does not transfer to evidence of management oversight, and

p.10

Requires improvement

many different records were not signed off. Staff are supported through regular recorded supervision by the deputy. However, the annual appraisals are out of date, and this needs addressing to ensure the continued development of staff. The registered manager and deputy have a close working relationship and communicate regularly on a day-to-day basis. Supervision of the deputy is undertaken by the registered manager. However, this is not regular or of sufficient quality to enable the manager to have full information about the staff and young people and, subsequently, guide practice. Recruitment practice is robust. Young people are included in the process and their views recorded. This develops a sense of belonging and ownership of the home for the young people. The staff care for young people with complex needs and this is not always evident in the training and support for staff. The registered manager

p.10

Requires improvement

needs to ensure that the staff have a training programme to enable them to deal with the range of needs of young people living at the home at any time.

p.10

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’.

p.11

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 children looked after 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

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

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

p.11

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 that 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 whom 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

p.12

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’.

p.12

Information about this inspection

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 . 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 .

p.12

Information about this inspection

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

p.13

Information about this inspection

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

p.13

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

p.13