Children's home run by Stockton on Tees Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

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 children and young people have made excellent progress at school and college. The attendance across the group is 100%.  Staff support young people to prepare them for their future. There is an independence flat and a variety of programmes available to ensure that, when young people leave the home, they feel prepared for both the practical demands of living independently and the effect that moving out of home can have at an emotional level.  Children and young people have access to a range of activities that offer new leisure opportunities, improving physical and emotional well-being.  Staff know how to develop positive, nurturing relationships with children and young people.  Family contact is well supported, enabling children and young people to re- engage with family, when appropriate, to develop lasting relationships.  Appropriate friendships that children and young people make outside of the

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The children’s home provision is good because:

home are supported and encouraged.  The registered manager and staff team have created good links with statutory agencies and work well in partnership with them.  Staff demonstrate aspirational thinking in relation to the achievements of children and young people.  Risks are comprehensively assessed, which allows children and young people to undertake age-appropriate activities.  Recruitment practice is robust.  The home reflects a homely and welcoming environment. The manager and staff team ensure that the home is clean and well maintained.

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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

The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33(1)(a)) 30/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulation 12(2)(c)). 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

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Recommendations

and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 13.3) In particular, who the supervisor is should be included, along with stated timescales for supervision of new workers.  Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months; also see regulation 13(2)(h) (the leadership and management standard). The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the

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Recommendations

home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) In particular, incidents of bullying should be reviewed across the service.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is provided by the local authority and is registered to care for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural issues.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 07/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/11/2015 Full Good 12/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/12/2014 Full Good

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Good

The manager and the staff team work hard to build secure and trusting relationships with the children and young people. A young person said: ‘This is my home and I love it here.’

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Good

Children and young people attend a variety of educational provision, ranging from schools to college placements, depending upon their needs. Their responses are positive about education and they can understand that it is worthwhile for them. The result is that attendance is maintained for all children and young people at 100%. The only absence relates to illnesses. Staff are supportive in their work around education, helping them with homework and projects. One young person achieved high grades in recent exams and now attends college. He has a clear career pathway in mind and is supported by staff to achieve this, day to day. A teacher said: ‘They do everything in their power to assist children and young people with their education.’

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Good

Life skills form an important part of the practice of staff. The flat attached to the home allows maturing young people to experience life without constant staff attention in a safe manner. Pathway plans are in place and staff support learning in relation to independence through planned opportunities to test skills and knowledge. This prepares young people for their life when leaving the home.

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Good

Children and young people are healthy and, in general, attend their appointments well. When there are health issues, staff work with children and young people to deal with any worries or concerns that they might have by supplying appropriate information and attending appointments with them. This enables children and young people to develop their trust in health professionals and enables them to understand the importance of good health.

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Good

Care planning is robust. Records and risk assessments detail the needs, wishes and feelings of children and young people well. They are individually focused and age appropriate in their format, with the voice of the children and young people evident throughout. Updates are regular and are forwarded to social workers at the point when there is any change to any plans or risk assessments. This helps to develop a consistent approach to care planning by the professionals, and allows self-esteem and a sense of belonging to develop in children and young people.

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Good

Staff support contact by facilitating transport and supervision when needed. A parent said: ‘The home is fantastic. I have a good relationship with (name) key worker and can ring anytime.’ The impact of this positive working with families helps children and young people to improve their relationships and build supportive networks for their future.

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Good

The children’s and young people’s guide is updated regularly, in line with the statement of purpose, and outlines the boundaries and expectations of the home. In addition, it outlines ways to access advocacy and how to complain, should this be necessary. Complaints are treated seriously by the staff team. The manager investigates complaints thoroughly at an early stage. Children and young people are informed in writing about the investigation and the outcome. Their satisfaction or dissatisfaction is recorded. The impact of this is to reinforce to children and young people that they have a voice and that appropriate actions bring results.

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Good

Staff hold monthly meetings with children and young people to gain their views of the home and look at how it can improve. Such meetings detail plans for activities in general and at specific holiday periods, as well as other issues of importance to the group. Children and young people contribute and receive feedback as necessary on actions undertaken by the staff. Minutes of these meetings are shared with the whole staff team within its own meetings, ensuring consistent responses to issues raised by children and young people. In addition, individual views about the home and the staff are ascertained throughout the year by means of questionnaires. This ensures that children and young people feel listened to.

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Good

Staff work well with other professionals, ensuring that appropriate services are offered to children and young people when required. A social worker said: ‘I am very happy with the input of the staff and the help that they have offered the children to progress and settle.’

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Good

The staff team recognises the importance of involvement in activities to develop friendships and social skills. Children and young people are encouraged to be involved in clubs in the local area, and spend time both with and apart from the others in the home. Children and young people have attained a number of awards for their involvement in clubs and activities within the local community. This sense of achievement helps children and young people to continue to be aspirational in all areas of their lives and develops self-esteem.

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Good

Children and young people are safe in the home and the local community because of the actions taken by staff to protect them. They understand the expectations of the staff with regard to behaviour, both in the home and in the community. Sanctions are used to manage behaviour, when necessary. A restorative approach that allows for negotiation is used to enable children and young people to develop a sense of responsibility for their actions and empathy for others. Physical interventions are used at the home to help children and young people to regulate their behaviour. Records contain sufficient detail to give assurance that the actions were appropriate and, in most cases, for very short periods of time. The records are signed off by a member of the management team once they have discussed the incident with the individual child or young person and staff member.

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Good

There has been a significant reduction in the number of missing episodes. Children and young people rarely go missing from the home. The staff respond quickly if a child or young person does go missing, is absent or returns late. They check known associates and friends, and look for the child or young person in the locality before reporting them missing to the police, if this is appropriate. They provide support and reassurance when they return to the home.

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Good

The manager’s determination to keep brothers and sisters together and enjoy the feeling of close family bonds and an increasing sense of identity and belonging has worked well within the home. Staff work closely with families to help to rebuild emotional bonds and start to help the children and young people to understand why they cannot live with their families. Staff both advocate well and challenge families and other professionals appropriately when their actions impact on the lives and happiness of children and young people. This further develops resilient relationships with the adults caring for them.

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Good

The home provides a nurturing, stable placement where children and young people feel safe. The approach that the manager and staff take with the children and young people encourages them to feel safe enough to take age-appropriate risks and explore the world around them. Bullying does occasionally occur, particularly within the family group. Such incidents are recorded and responded to appropriately. However, they are not included in the manager’s monitoring, therefore opportunities to develop strategies to deal with incidents are missed.

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Good

Staff at the home access local mental health services to support children and young people to deal with trauma from their past. Staff form positive relationships with the professionals to learn improvements to their own practice that will assist them in supporting services. A social worker said: ‘Staff have sought advice and support appropriately. Additional training specifically related to brother and sister groups has been put in place.’

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Good

Most staff are clear about the processes and procedures to follow, should a safeguarding issue occur. However, there were indications that the team would benefit from up-to-date training in relation to safeguarding and the handling of allegations against staff. There are no current or ongoing allegations involving staff. Previous investigations were investigated fully, and debriefing forms part of the incident, should it occur. Judgement grade

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Good

The manager has been in post for almost two years. He is suitably qualified and has extensive experience in working in children’s residential care. His efforts to make significant changes to the way that the home looks after children and young people have been well managed. However, he continues to invest a great deal in ensuring that the staff team is motivated and inspired to move forwards, and this occasionally impacts on his ability to manage certain aspects of his role.

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Good

Staff are appropriately recruited and there is a full staff team offering children and young people consistent levels of care, enabling them to thrive . Staff morale is good. Staff state that they feel supported in the work that they do and that they are supervised and appraised appropriately. However, records of supervision, while showing reflective discussion and action points, do not detail who the supervisor is and, if actions were challenged, this would prove difficult. Neither is there an indication of any difference between long-term and new members of staff when looking at the frequency of supervisions. While new staff are given a full week’s training and undertake shadow shifts, due to the lack of formal induction processes for new staff this is a shortcoming in management oversight of new staff.

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Good

The registered manager’s monitoring of the activities of the home has improved, but there are still records that are not signed off in a timely manner. The quality assurance reports are forwarded to the regulator, as appropriate, and contain an action plan for the forthcoming period. The locality risk assessment has been updated, but the level of consultation and data used within it is not the most up-to- date available. Maintaining the consistency of records is important to the oversight and development of the home.

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Good

Training for staff is good, although much of the mandatory training is online. There is a matrix in place to track when updates are necessary. There are adequate numbers of staff trained in first-aid and fire warden duties.

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Good

Notifications to the regulator are made when required. Regular oversight of these records assists with the monitoring of practice through feedback at team meetings. Such meetings are held at least monthly and provide opportunities to discuss all children and young people, as well as to act as a platform for the development of practice. External professionals are welcomed to improve practice on a regular basis.

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Good

The home is warm and welcoming and a programme of decoration was ongoing at the time of this inspection. The external areas are well maintained and offer pleasant surroundings for children and young people to live. The statement of purpose is kept up to date and forwarded to Ofsted appropriately. It outlines the ethos of the service and what it hopes to provide for children and young people.

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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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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