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 leadership and the management of the home are good. The manager completed her registration with Ofsted in June 2016. She has made a good start, quickly gaining an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses, and is starting to develop the service further.  The staff team has a very positive approach to working with the young people. The staff provide a nurturing, caring service with firm, clear expectations and boundaries. They have created an atmosphere in which young people are supported and encouraged to take increasing responsibility for themselves. They rarely have to resort to sanctions, and offer the young people a range of incentives and targets.  The staff have good relationships with other professionals and services in their community. These include local police officers, support agencies, providers that offer training and education, and a range of counsellors who deal with emotional health, relationship counselling and drugs and alcohol

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The children’s home provision is good because:

services.  The young people are prepared well for independence. The staff are organised in their work to teach and promote skills that they will need when they leave the home. Young people are supported to make applications for further education, training and employment. They are supported to develop the confidence and resilience required for moving to independence. Young people who are moving to independence are offered excellent informal support once they have moved away from the home into an independent setting.  The young people are encouraged to maintain and develop relationships with their families. The staff are skilled at working with families and are able to help to resolve tensions and difficulties so that young people have positive contact with their family.  The staff are good at consulting with the young people. Young people have a say in the running of the home and are able to influence day-to-day

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The children’s home provision is good because:

decisions. Young people also take a full and active role in their care planning, and are encouraged to take responsibility for their future plans and goals. When young people are ready for additional responsibility, one of the home’s strengths is that staff treat as them as adults. Giving them responsibility is a theme of this home which encourages good outcomes.

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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 the ‘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

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that the protocol for reporting children and young people who are missing from the home to the police is agreed with the police and understood by all staff, the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plan, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to having an agreed understanding between the home and the police about the definitions of when children are absent or missing. 30/09/2016

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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 nine children or 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

10/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Good

The young people make good progress, overall, and the experience of living here is positive for them. Young people confirmed that the home is a good place to live and felt that they have a great deal of support from staff to plan their futures.

p.6

Good

The young people clearly feel comfortable and relaxed around staff, and the atmosphere in the home is positive. As a result, young people can approach staff easily to talk about difficult issues. The young people spoken to said that they felt safe, and one said ‘it feels like a big family’.

p.6

Good

Young people’s emotional needs are well identified and met. Young people are referred to specialist counsellors when this is needed, and these relationships work well. Some young people are being supported by mental health workers to deal with emotional difficulties, while others are being supported by workers who specialise in safe relationships. This helps young people to share their concerns and provides them with knowledgeable professionals who can support them. The independent reviewing officer of one young person, who was admitted with significant concerns, has said how pleased they were and that they were making ‘excellent progress’.

p.6

Good

Most of the young people attend college or other employment training, and most are finding this beneficial. One young person has done extremely well in their education. They have secured a prestigious scholarship to study abroad for two years in an international school prior to their planned university education. Staff have supported this young person particularly well through this complex process. Other young people have completed vocational courses in local colleges and have moved onto employment. One young person is currently not in education, training or employment, but plans are in place for them to return to college shortly. Another young person, who was disengaged from education, is now making good progress with a training provider. They have learned new skills which will support them to obtain employment in the future.

p.6

Good

In the period since the last inspection, three young people have successfully moved onto independent living. Staff continue to keep in touch with these young people and offer ongoing support, which they find valuable. The young people continue to do well, which validates that their preparation for independence has been good. A number of young people who have left continue to regard the staff team as their extended family, and pop in from time to time for a chat and a cup of tea. Sometimes, these young people are able to offer good levels of support and advice to those currently living at the home. One young person, who has recently left and lives close by, has support from staff with some of their household tasks, including with accepting deliveries and with the collection of refuse. This demonstrates the close working relationship between staff and young people, and the continued support for them as they progress to independence.

p.6

Good

The staff offer the young people good support with maintaining and improving their relationships with their families. For example, one young person, who was living in difficult circumstances with an extended family member prior to admission, had particularly well-planned support from the staff.

p.7

Good

The staff have created a very positive atmosphere in the home. They are nurturing and offer plenty of incentives and rewards for good behaviour and achievements. The staff very rarely need to use sanctions. The ethos of the home is based on the young people taking responsibility for themselves, and they are encouraged to do so. The staff do keep clear and firm boundaries and expectations in place, and these are respected by the young people. The young people take a full part in planning their futures, and are consulted consistently well about their plans and what they are trying to achieve. The staff are tenacious in their work. One member of staff spoken to demonstrated vigour in continuing to work with one young person, despite being subject to their challenging behaviour.

p.7

Good

The staff support the young people in preparing for independence. This is done informally by encouraging the young people to practise household skills and to do things for themselves. It is also done more formally in key-work sessions with a workbook, and a checklist which is comprehensive and practical. The staff work alongside the young people and help them to learn tasks and skills that are useful and necessary. This gives them satisfaction in their own achievements and develops a sense of pride and self-worth.

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Good

When young people move on from the home, this is mostly as a result of effective long-term planning. Occasionally, when children leave the home in an unplanned way, this has been a result of staff taking timely and appropriate action to protect them, as the placement was no longer able to meet their needs.

p.7

Good

The local authority shortly intends to carry out a major refurbishment of the property. This will involve having no young people in residence for a period of around four to six months. Good-quality plans are in place for all the young people. Three have long-standing plans to move to independence within this timescale and two will transfer to another children’s home in the borough. Key staff, including the registered manager, will transfer with the young people in order to provide continuity of care. These plans have been fully discussed with the young people and are appropriate to promote a smooth transition. These plans have been managed by the responsible individual and senior managers within the local authority, and no new admissions have been made to the home for some time in order to make this process positive for both staff and young people. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

The staff understand risks and, as a result, are able to identify and assess them well. Some young people admitted to the home have been assessed as demonstrating behaviour associated with high risks. Staff work actively to reduce those risk-taking behaviours, and when the risks are not decreasing they continue to work with young people so that risks are better managed. The risk assessments that are in place are of good quality, and include the views of other external professionals and of the young people themselves. They are also shared with all of the staff team, and this is evidenced by records in the home demonstrating that they are up to date with current assessments and care plans.

p.8

Good

The home also provides placements for older teenagers who are either school leavers or in their final term of school. These young people are close to independence and want to take advantage of more freedom so that they can spend time with their friends away from the home. Some young people have begun new relationships and, although time away from the home may carry additional risks, staff are well practised at dealing with these issues and strike a good balance between allowing more freedom and keeping appropriate controls in place.

p.8

Good

The inspector had lunch with a group of staff and young people. The atmosphere around the table was nicely balanced, with light-hearted banter, concerned advice, guidance and some little, gentle reminders. The young people clearly understood that the staff care for them and were gently trying to offer sound, safe advice while still giving them the opportunity to demonstrate some responsibility to look after themselves. This is a difficult balance for staff, but it was being achieved very well.

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Good

There is a high number of incidents of young people being missing from home, and staff make good efforts to locate them and encourage a safe return. This includes sharing up-to-date and comprehensive risk assessments with the police, staff consistently following action plans arising out of risk assessments, and offering an independent return home interview to assess the young person’s well-being and capture any learning. However, the protocols between the police and the home for defining whether children are missing or absent are less well understood. While this has not had an impact on actions taken by staff to report incidents and protect children, this potentially reduces the required response from other agencies. A requirement has been made in this regard.

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Good

The staff have not used physical interventions at all during the period since the last inspection and have only used two minor sanctions. The staff endeavour to keep the relationships very positive, and encourage young people to take responsibility for their behaviour and activity. This approach works well and has maintained a low level of negative consequences.

p.8

Good

There have been two safeguarding incidents since the last inspection. The staff took appropriate action, and both incidents have been investigated appropriately. The staff were able to take steps to reduce risks while an investigation was carried out by the appropriate authority. The staff supported all the young people through the process.

p.9

Good

There have been instances of self-harm by some young people. Staff have dealt with these appropriately and have been vigilant, as well as being confident in talking to the young people about these issues. Staff have reviewed risk assessments, which include the action to take if young people are contemplating harming themselves. The manager engages the support of other agencies to manage young people’s needs, and she also support the staff to ensure that risk assessments are up to date and demonstrate actions to take to reduce risk.

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Good

Some young people continue to engage in taking illegal drugs and drinking alcohol. The staff do work on these issues and refer young people to specialist services. Together, they support young people to reduce their consumption of drugs and alcohol, and there is evidence that positive progress is being made.

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Good

There has not been any incidents of young people at the home being subject to concerns of child sexual exploitation. However, staff are very aware of these issues. There has been a number of concerns around the relationships that young people have with other young people outside the home, and these are discussed and talked about in key-work sessions. The staff have engaged the support of individuals who specialise in safer relationships to work with a number of the young people to educate them about the impacts of negative relationships and how to manage those situations better.

p.9

Good

The manager was registered by Ofsted in June 2016, but has been in post since January 2016. She is appropriately qualified and has a wealth of relevant experience. She is passionate about her work and is very child centred. She has built on the existing strengths of the staff team and has created a home that is characterised by its positive approach and down-to-earth and nurturing care. She has recognised where the home could improve and has set about addressing these issues through coaching and formal training.

p.9

Good

The registered manager gives a very high priority to the needs of the young people. She chooses to work some regular evening shifts. This is to allow regular contact with all the young people, as many of them are out for long days at college and in work settings. She often uses this time to have meetings with the young people to listen to their views and wishes, and to keep them informed of events and issues. This is a positive way of working and is clearly productive in many ways, enhancing her already strong relationships with the young people. She is very aware of the young people’s progress and the day-to-day issues affecting them, as well as keeping an overall perspective on and monitoring the care practices.

p.9

Good

The registered manager has good-quality links with other agencies and professions. There is an especially good relationship with the local police, who understand the risks of young people at the home because staff share individual risk management strategies with them. This supports an effective response and appropriate action is taken to safeguard children and young people effectively, regardless of whether they have been classified as missing or absent. There are close ties with higher education services and local training providers. Evidence seen at the inspection confirmed that the registered manager challenges others when the right service is not forthcoming. This demonstrates the manager’s desire for young people to receive the best support to increase their chances of success.

p.10

Good

Discussions with the staff showed that they clearly respect the registered manager, and they commented on the good-quality support that they receive from her. Supervision is regular and thorough, and ensures that the training provided to staff is appropriate so that they can deliver good levels of care. There has been recent refresher training for staff around safeguarding and child sexual exploitation. Staff’s training needs are assessed thoroughly, and there are good plans to put a more comprehensive and targeted training plans in place shortly.

p.10

Good

There were two recommendations made at the last inspection. One was to ensure that all the required documentation was available on the young people’s files and the other was to enhance the quality of preparation for independence. Both have been met. One requirement has been made at this inspection.

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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 children looked after 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 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 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

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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