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

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:

 The registered manager has been in post for almost a year, and has made considerable improvements to the home and the service provided. He has considerable experience and leads the staff team well, with confidence, skill and clear thinking. He has had support from the responsible individual and other senior managers in the local authority, and this has helped the service to develop.  The staff team is also skilled and experienced. The staff have united behind the new registered manager and supported him well. There have been very few changes in the staff team and this is positive, in that it provides continuity and consistency. Staff have been able to work more consistently and now offer good care to the children and young people who they look after.  Most of the children and young people have done well at school or college. They have mostly had very good attendance and have clearly made progress with their education. The staff have supported these education

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The children's home provision is good because:

placements when the children and young people have had challenging behaviour and have helped to move them to more suitable schools when this was appropriate.  The staff put a good deal of effort into working with families. This allows the children and young people to maintain and develop good relationships with their families. Some of the children and young people have been able to return home and others have increased contact, including overnight contact.  The staff have made good efforts to refer children and young people to external professionals when they have needed specialist services. These include workers who specialise in relationships, emotional health, drugs and alcohol misuse, and sexual health. The children and young people have benefited from these support services and continue to spend time with these workers.  Care planning has been good. All the children and young people have clear

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The children's home provision is good because:

care plans, and are working towards goals and targets that they have helped to identify. This is done in partnership with placing social workers, families and other professionals, and it works well. The children and young people also take part in this planning, and this is positive.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to completing more proactive safeguarding work around child sexual exploitation, bullying and going missing with all children, the registered person must ensure that staff— 12(2)(a)(ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe. 01/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children who go missing are properly reported to the police and that return from missing interviews take place, the registered person must ensure that staff— 12(2)(a)(vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare. 01/10/2016

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a local authority and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to eight children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Good

The registered manager has made a number of changes at the home over the period since the last full inspection, and these have contributed significantly to the children and young people at the home making better progress and having a more positive experience of living at the home.

p.6

Good

The most important change has been that the number of emergency admissions to the home have been controlled. This issue was largely responsible for the home being unsettled at the last full inspection, and it contributed to the children and young people having neither a good experience nor making sufficient progress.

p.6

Good

In the period since the last full inspection, four children have been admitted to the home. Only two of these have been emergency admissions, and they have not been disruptive to the other children and young people living at the home. During this period, four children and young people have left the home. One young person returned home after a planned move, which is positive. Another young person moved on to a semi-independent living situation at their 18th birthday in a very well-planned transition. One young person who was admitted in an emergency was moved on and placed in a foster placement after a very short period, which again is positive. The fourth young person to leave made threats to the other children and young people in the home, and was moved immediately. While this is not a good outcome, it was clearly the right course of action. This young person clearly did not want to be at the home. They had been admitted in an emergency and

p.6

Good

they should have been moved on more quickly to a more suitable placement.

p.6

Good

The children and young people who have been admitted to the home in planned moves have had good experiences and have made good progress.

p.6

Good

There are good relationships between the children and young people and the staff. They can approach and talk to the staff easily, and enjoy spending time with them. The staff take children and young people out to do shared activities, and also encourage them to mix with their friends in the community.

p.6

Good

All the children and young people currently living in the home have excellent attendance at their schools and are making good progress, despite some ongoing behavioural concerns. The staff are supporting these placements well and working closely with school staff to ensure that the placements continue. Staff have supported one young person to change to a more appropriate school, and this has also worked well.

p.6

Good

The staff have also done some good work with the families of these children and young people. This has meant that relationships are improved and a number of the children and young people now have more positive contact with their families and have increased levels of contact. Both of these developments are very positive.

p.6

Good

All of the children and young people spend time talking to various specialist workers, and staff try hard to promote these services. All the children and young people have been referred to workers who specialise in emotional health and also in positive relationships. Others see workers who are involved in youth offending and in sexual health.

p.7

Good

There is clear evidence that the children and young people take part in planning their care and help staff to complete care plans and risk assessments. They also attend their planning meetings. Staff also arrange regular group meetings where they are able to discuss various topics with the children and young people. Two social workers and one parent who were contacted by the inspector all said what a good job the staff were doing. One social worker said that staff ‘go the extra mile’.

p.7

Good

The children and young people are prepared well for independence. Staff are organised about helping young people to learn the necessary skills for adult life and take time to encourage the practice of these skills.

p.7

Requires improvement

The inspector was aware during this inspection that a serious incident, which had occurred at the home since the last inspection, is under investigation by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does investigate incidents of this kind, the actions taken by the setting in response to the incident were considered alongside the other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspector’s judgements.

p.7

Requires improvement

Staff do understand risks and assess these well. They put controls in place and have clearly done some work with the children and young people around various risky behaviours and other dangers. However, insufficient work has been carried out and this has meant that some children and young people have been at a greater risk than they might have been, had more work been carried out.

p.7

Requires improvement

There has been a number of incidents of bullying in the home. One young person was moved out of the home after their bullying became more serious, and threats were made to various children and young people living at the home. The police were involved and it was their intervention that ensured that the young person was not allowed back into the home. The young person who was moved wanted to leave the home. The young people currently in the home do become involved in some low-level bullying. The dynamics between the children and young people currently at the home are difficult, at times. Their relationships seem to change quickly and easily, and some bullying is evident from and towards different children and young people at different times. Staff have addressed these issues in various ways, but the inspectors consider that more proactive work could be done to address these issues. All the children and young people have been referred to

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Requires improvement

workers specialising in positive relationships, and this may well have a beneficial effect.

p.8

Requires improvement

There have been some concerns around child sexual exploitation and one alleged incident of actual child sexual exploitation which is currently under investigation. Staff have responded well to this incident and have reported the matter correctly. Staff have done some work around these issues with the children and young people but, again, more could and should have been done in a proactive way.

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Requires improvement

Some of the children and young people have been missing from the home, and this is currently increasing slightly. Some of these missing incidents were, in the past, wrongly recorded with the police as absences. This means that insufficient efforts were made by the police and staff to locate the missing children and young people and independent return interviews were not offered on their return. This issue of reporting has now been resolved by the registered manager meeting with local police officers, and so should not be an issue going forward, but some children and young people have not been safeguarded as effectively as they should have been. More proactive work around the risks of going missing could have been done by staff, as well.

p.8

Requires improvement

Because of these omissions and errors, two requirements have been made. One is to ensure that any child or young person who goes missing is properly reported and offered an independent interview on their return. The second is to ensure that more proactive work is carried out around the various risks and dangers associated with bullying and child sexual exploitation, including work around social media and going missing.

p.8

Requires improvement

One young person who has recently moved to independence is in the middle of an assessment. The registered manager has built into plans that this should continue and that any work identified from this assessment will also be carried out, even though the young person is now an adult. The incident leading to this assessment is still under investigation and plans have been put in place for transition workers to support this young adult through any consequent actions, if required. It is also positive to note that staff, including the registered manager, continue to support this young adult with regular visits. The young adult had been at the home for a considerable period of time and has excellent relationships with staff, so is reassured during this difficult time.

p.8

Requires improvement

The staff offer consistency of care and clear expectations and boundaries to the children and young people. The children and young people have said that they feel safe at the home, but that they do not like the bullying.

p.8

Requires improvement

The current group of children and young people is engaging in increasingly risky behaviour and, although it is only a small increase, staff will need to make a clear and decisive effort to ensure that it does not continue. Planning around these issues was evident, and other more specialised agencies had been engaged to provide additional services to address them. Staffing levels have been increased and more activities have been offered in an attempt to deal with these concerns. This is all positive.

p.9

Requires improvement

Staff generally do not use sanctions, but ask children and young people to engage in reparation, where appropriate. They have rarely had to use any physical interventions and when they have, they have been at a very low level.

p.9

Requires improvement

There have been some complaints from four of the children and young people. These complaints were all about the young person who threatened them on one occasion. Staff involved the police and the young person concerned did not return to the home. This quick and decisive action ensured that the children and young people making the complaints were happy that action was taken to address their issues positively.

p.9

Requires improvement

Recently, there has been an extremely serious incident in the local area that involved a young person from another children’s home. This young person was known to most of the children and young people at this home. Staff have offered appropriate support and help, as a number of the children and young people were distressed and upset by this incident. Staff have increased supervision levels and have been more vigilant in the wake of this incident.

p.9

Good

The registered manager is experienced and has the appropriate qualifications. He has been in this post for a little under a year. He started this job when the home was in a difficult situation after the previous manager left at short notice. The staff had been looking after increased numbers of emergency placements and this was disrupting the placements of other children and young people. Staff morale was also low.

p.9

Good

One of the staff members interviewed by the inspector said that the new registered manager had ‘transformed’ the home. They went on to say that he was ‘strong and approachable’, and had united the staff and ensured that they were working in a more consistent and effective way.

p.9

Good

The registered manager has taken time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and has worked hard to ensure that the standard of work has risen and that ongoing development continues. The home meets the aims and objectives set out in the statement of purpose, and this is largely due to the registered manager and other senior managers limiting the emergency admissions this year. This demonstrates that the registered manager has a clear understanding of the work and that he is able to be assertive. He was able to decline a request for an emergency admission in the week prior to this inspection. This was undoubtedly the right decision, given the current situation at the home.

p.9

Good

The registered manager says that he places a high priority on staff supervision and it is clear that all the staff receive regular, comprehensive supervision and support, as well as good levels of training. The staff are experienced and longstanding, and they are all qualified. Their commitment and consistency are an important part of how improvements have been made at this home.

p.10

Good

There are plans to develop the home into a children’s home that specialises in short-term and emergency work with an outreach team, thus many staff are receiving high levels of additional training this year, which greatly benefits their existing work.

p.10

Good

The registered manager is very committed to the children and young people, who are clearly given a high priority. He says that staff have become more confident and are more able to use their own initiative and make good decisions without involving him all the time. This is a sign of a confident and skilled team, and the evidence suggests that the quality of care has risen during his time in charge. He has also involved other agencies and professionals much more in the care of the children and young people, and has ensured that appropriate referrals are made to them whenever necessary. He has organised a series of professionals to attend staff meetings and talk about the services that they offer. This has been useful and productive.

p.10

Good

There were no requirements or recommendations from the previous interim inspection. Two requirements are made concerning the safeguarding of the children and young people. One requirement concerns the reporting of children and young people who go missing from the home. Staff who wanted to report children or young people as missing from home were being told by the police call handlers that reporting them as absent was appropriate. The registered manager has now challenged and negotiated with the police and has changed this, so that it is the home staff who are on duty who make the appropriate assessment of risk and then make the correct report. There have been some safeguarding failures. However staff are now able to report the correct level of risk. The second requirement is to provide more proactive safeguarding work for the children and young people, and the registered manager accepts that more could have been

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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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