Children's Home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council in Middlesbrough

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:

 Young people receive good-quality, nurturing care to encourage them to build trusting relationships with staff.  Some young people have lived at the home for many years and continue to make good progress.  Young people make continuous good progress in education, obtain exam qualifications and have clear plans for their future.  Young people live in a homely and comfortable environment which is shortly to be renovated to make further improvements.  Staff know the young people well through spending individual time with them on a daily basis.  The staff team is proactive in ensuring that young people are kept safe and well.  Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the risks associated with each young person. Detailed risk assessments are in place that outline the actions to be taken.  The registered manager inspires staff to improve the lives of young people at the home.  There is now a strong management team in place that provides more intensive

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The children's home provision is good because:

monitoring of the quality of care provided.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the young people in their care through observation and engagement with each young person; the home's staff; family/carers, where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each young person. This is particularly in respect of the collation of compliments and comments from young people, staff, family and professionals. This will inform the management review of service improvements. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.23)  Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities

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Recommendations

presented by the home's location and strategies for managing these. Specifically, this refers to looking at the areas in close proximity to the children's home and the risks that they present to young people, to make the existing locality risk assessment more localised. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Information about this children's home

This service is a local authority home. The home provides accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

8 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

3 February 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

The staff team knows the young people well as a result of spending individual time with them on a daily basis. Staff provide nurturing care and practical support, and offer encouraging advice and guidance. Young people build trusting relationships with staff. This promotes an open and honest exchange of information. They begin to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions, which helps with their emotional well-being. The staff team is fully aware of young people’s care needs. The individualised care plans have input from young people and give clear guidance to staff members. Staff provide young people with consistency of care, with one young person saying that this helps her: ‘We have clear boundaries and we know what we need to do.’ There is a detailed young person’s guide which forms part of a young person’s introduction. It helps new young people to feel welcome and to settle more easily at the home.

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Good

Some young people have lived at the home for many years. It has a warm, friendly, homely atmosphere. There are photographs of young people around the home, and the young people provide redecoration ideas and have personalised their bedrooms. They take ownership of their home. Many staff members have been consistent for the young people. This provides a stable environment, and young people develop a sense of belonging. One young person said, ‘staff are like family’.

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Good

Most young people have full-time educational provision and the majority have good attendance records. They make progress educationally. Staff offer praise, give support and celebrate young people’s achievements. This gives young people confidence and they develop clear ideas about their future plans and ambitions. For those not accessing full-time education, staff offer constant encouragement, support and incentives to try to improve school attendance. Staff regularly attend school meetings and develop good links with school staff. This ensures that attendance issues are dealt with promptly and a consistent approach is taken. Young people use educational computer programmes at the home. This offers additional teaching and learning opportunities in order for young people to reach their full potential.

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Good

Young people are encouraged to make choices, and they choose menus, assist with shopping and plan weekly activities. Staff assist young people with their dietary needs linked to their faith. Young people are confident that they will be able to follow their religious practices as the staff ensure that permissible foods are always available when planning menus or going out to restaurants. Through monitoring, staff ensure that young people eat a well-balanced diet. Young people begin to make healthy choices and follow active lifestyles as a result of staff’s encouragement. Young people have taken part in a sponsored run with staff. This strengthens relationships with staff, promotes exercise and increases their involvement in the local community.

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Good

Regular feedback about young people’s progress and wellbeing helps staff develop good relationships with their family members. This has led to improvements in the relationships of young people with their family which results in increased contact. This is important for those soon to be leaving care as it benefits them from enhanced family support.

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Good

Young people know how to make a complaint. They feel confident to make their views known and have recently felt able to complain about a change in staff rotas. This resulted in the manager reviewing the situation. One young person said, ‘Staff listen to what we have to say.’ This empowers young people to raise any further concerns.

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Good

Staff work with young people to develop independent living skills using specially tailored workbooks. Young people develop new skills and speak of feeling confident about their next move.

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Good

Staff advocate on behalf of the young people to ensure that the right care-leaving placement is sourced. Outreach work is provided and staff remain in contact with young people. This offers them reassurance and ongoing emotional support.

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Good

The staff team is proactive in ensuring that young people are kept safe and well. The vigilant staff team acts pre-emptively if it thinks that young people are putting themselves at risk through absconding and going missing. This includes following young people to ascertain where they are spending their free time. Staff are observant when young people talk about peers and the areas that they go to. This knowledge helps staff to keep young people safer as checks can be completed.

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Good

Staff have developed close links with the local police. Good information sharing helps to establish whether there are any child sexual exploitation concerns linked with the young people’s associates or locations visited. The locality risk assessment needs to incorporate this information. Currently, there are no young people subject to child sexual exploitation.

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Good

Staff oversee the safe use of the internet. Some young people are carefully monitored and supervised. They are provided with information about the potential risks associated with the internet and social networking. Focused key-worker sessions take place with young people to ensure that they are aware of potential dangers. Young people are in a stronger position to keep themselves safe as a result of the education provided by staff.

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Good

Staff are aware of the young people’s whereabouts at all times and telephone them at regular, pre-arranged intervals to ensure that they are safe. Staff undertake visual welfare checks if no telephone contact is made. This strong and robust approach ensures that young people are protected from harm and abuse. Young people are discouraged from going missing from home as a result of the staff team’s actions.

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Good

Missing from home episodes have significantly reduced as a result of a young person moving to independent living. Staff are remaining vigilant to ensure that they do not increase as a result of a new admission to the home. The staff team and the police make a coordinated response and approach. An independent person completes return to home interviews. This enables the manager to obtain feedback to look at possible patterns in behaviour.

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Good

Detailed risk assessments outline the actions that staff need to take to keep young people safe. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the risks associated with each young person. This ensures consistent, prompt and effective action helping young people feel safe and secure.

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Good

Staff use de-escalation skills well and young people apologise for any inappropriate behaviour. Each young person has a personal incentive scheme. Rewards are given when young people are working well towards achieving their goals. Sanctions are minimal and are only used when other options have been unsuccessful. Young people are given plenty of praise and this promotes positive behaviour.

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Good

Staff receive training from the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. This helps them to identify signs of child sexual exploitation, radicalisation, and safeguarding children from suicide and self-harming behaviours. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding issues, including whistle-blowing procedures. They take action when needed to safeguard young people. Young people feel protected by staff.

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Outstanding

The manager has been in post since November 2015 and obtained registered manager status in April 2016. She has the QCF level 5 diploma in leadership for health and social care and children and young people’s services – residential management. The manager has 13 years of residential childcare experience and has worked at the current home for many years. Young people have a good relationship with the manager. She is ambitious for the young people, takes pride in their achievements and offers constant positive reinforcement to them. The manager has a visible presence in the home to ensure that she has up-to-date knowledge of the young people. This enables her to make child-centred decisions when considering new referrals. Careful planning, prior to admission ensures that new young people are suitably matched with the existing group. The committed manager recognises her weakness in that she is modest about her

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Outstanding

own achievements and the positive developments she has made within the home. However, she inspires the staff continually to improve the lives of young people. The staff speak highly of the manager, and of the support and encouragement that she offers them. A staff member said that one of the good things about working at the home is ‘good colleagues who offer support and guidance to each other’. A staff restructure has provided an experienced deputy manager and two senior residential staff posts. There is now a strong management team in place that provide more intensive monitoring of the quality of care provided. Care plans and risk assessments are undergoing more rigorous scrutiny. This ensures that young people receive high-quality care that is evaluated to identify any patterns and trends which may impact on their outcomes. Supervision and team meetings take place on a regular basis. The manager encourages staff discussions about young people and for staff to reflect upon their

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Outstanding

practice. The manager uses her extensive knowledge of child psychology, which she uses when looking at the experiences and behaviours of young people to help to inform staff practice. This approach inspires staff to develop their knowledge and new skills. Staff are empowered to make improvements in their practice, and endeavour to change and improve the lives of young people even further. The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of her team. She recognises the commitment of the staff and has nominated them for a team award. This recognition motivates staff. The staff support each other and new staff instantly feel welcome. Extensive links with professionals provides the manager with the knowledge of who to contact when advocating for young people. She is further supported by a group of regional managers that share good practice and impart knowledge. Feedback from professionals, parents and staff needs to be more effectively collated to

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Outstanding

inform the management review of service improvements. The full complement of staff now ensures young people receive continuity and consistency in their care. The manager strives to improve the practice of the team even further and is building a cohesive and strong team.

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 ‘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 0300 123 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, work- based 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

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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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