Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, three young people have been admitted to the home. Two young people have left the home in a planned way. Another had a successful reunification home. For those moving on, the staff provide time-limited outreach work to ensure a successful transition. The manager ensures that young people’s placements stay available should their move not be successful. This allows young people time to settle and to access continued support until they develop new relationships, and this gives young people a very positive message.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person with a reunification-with-family care plan is voicing that they want to stay. Staff work closely with the young person and family members to progress the plan. Another young person has moved to the home to be closer to family. A carefully planned introduction has resulted in him settling quickly and enjoying the benefits of being back in his home town. He enjoys going with staff to see his local football team.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are supporting a shared care arrangement for two young people with complex health and emotional needs. Staff’s sensitivity to the young people’s background has resulted in family engagement and cooperation with the placing authority’s care plan. This arrangement offers a great deal of flexibility to the family, allowing them to manage their other care commitments. Young people benefit from coordinated support due to the staff’s work with family and health professionals.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One of the home’s strengths is their outreach work with young people and their families. They work collaboratively with young people, their families and placing authorities, resulting in clear cohesive plans with positive outcomes. This often promotes young people’s chances of returning home, or young people engaging with medical treatment. A professional said that staff offer, ‘A great service to a high standard’.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff have good links with schools resulting in effective communication, consistency of approach and shared objectives. This results in young people engaging with education and benefiting from good attendance rates. Engagement with home tuition is significant for one young person who has had no educational input for some time. He spoke to me about shortly joining the Prince’s Trust scheme. A professional said, ‘The home is great at encouraging young people back into education.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff facilitate a good mix of activities, which are sustainable and affordable for families in case the young people return home. These help to improve their social skills, build confidence and enhance relationships with each other and with staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

From the time young people move to the home, missing-from-home episodes significantly reduce, particularly long periods of absence. This means that young people are not exposed to the same levels of harm. Staff gain young people’s trust and cooperation by putting safety measures in place such as staff making unannounced home visits during family contact. This ensures young people’s safety, promotes contact and builds relationships with family members, with one reporting, ‘Staff come in for a chat and cup of tea. This is the best place he has been. It gives me peace of mind.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some young people continue to self-harm. A high level of staff supervision helps to keep them as safe as possible. Effective multi-agency working with social care and medical professionals provides excellent monitoring so that young people get timely care and intervention. Comprehensive risk assessments give staff strategies to manage and reduce risk. Staff, who have received mental health training, are confident when dealing with situations. New staff are supported by their experienced colleagues until they receive training. Restraints are used only to stop young people from harming themselves. One staff member said, ‘As a team we keep rigidly to the risk assessments.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is good communication and information sharing with parents and professionals. One parent said, ‘They definitely keep me informed. We talk if there is a problem.’ There are close links with safeguarding agencies such as the police, and the manager attends the safeguarding children’s board meetings. The manager uses this intelligence, which leads to new measures to protect young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff talk about being a ‘really supportive team with good management.’ They receive regular supervision, and team meetings are reflective. One staff member said, ‘We discuss incidents with each other and we reflect as a team. We debrief management who always check on how you are.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has met the requirement and recommendations from the last inspection. The home’s registration and statement of purpose have now changed to reflect that it offers care and accommodation for children who have mental disorders. The manager has established systems to obtain extensive feedback to inform the quality-of-care review.

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority home. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and for children who have a mental disorder, excluding learning disability.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 26/04/2016 Full Good 06/01/2016 Full Requires improvement 17/11/2015 Full Inadequate 05/02/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection, we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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 0300123 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, 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 . 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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