Children's Home run by North Yorkshire County Council in North Yorkshire

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The three recommendations made at the last inspection are now met. One requirement and one recommendation are made as a result of this inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff have a clear understanding about how best to mediate any difficulties in the best interests of young people. This means that in the event of any serious issues brought to the attention of parents or carers, staff clarify matters with them, so as to maintain trusting relationships.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leaders and managers monitor the quality of supervision provided to staff. There is also a renewed focus on ensuring that supervision is reflective. This enables staff to re-evaluate how their responses affect young people’s behaviour and their ability to think things through. A member of staff said, ‘Staff reflected on the reason for not taking [name] on a planned activity because it was not safe. They were hesitant about doing something else instead but they decided they would. When they came back they said [name] was brilliant, they said it was the best thing that he could have done.’ This approach helps young people understand how to turn around difficult behaviour and make positive choices.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The outcome of any investigations relevant to staff are retained within their personal file. This means that information is available for future reference and can be shared if necessary. These developments meet the previous recommendations.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people make sound progress from when they first join the home. Staff are highly skilled at building relationships with young people, and this is the cornerstone of their approach. The outcomes of this are improved social skills and emotional maturity. This is evident in young people’s ability to trust staff and to ask for help when they need it. A member of staff said, ‘Young people phoned us and told us where they were going and asked us if they would get into trouble.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The ethos of the home is to build young people’s self-esteem by helping them realise their individual talents and potential. Staff provide young people with regular opportunities to take part in a wide variety of activities reflecting their interests and abilities. A young person said, ‘The staff are very fair here; I can talk to anyone. They help you; they are sorting out some work experience for me in marine engineering.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have a strong voice because they are encouraged to represent their views. Staff encourage young people, past and present, to take an active part in local and national forums enabling them to influence the care that they receive. This empowers young people by valuing and acting on their contributions. A member of staff said, ‘The young people were great at talking to the guests and expressing themselves.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people’s safety is a high priority for all staff. Staff recognise the impact of negative external factors on young people’s behaviour, such as the ‘pull’ to be with their peers. To mitigate these risks, they work closely with the specialist police officer based within the home, and other professionals, to ensure that frequent but short periods of going missing are carefully monitored. As a result, swift action is taken to safeguard young people. For example, in response to an incident, a police officer said, ‘We phoned British transport police and they got young people off the train.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Ofsted was not notified about a potentially serious incident involving young people who went missing. While it is clear that effective action was taken to return young people to the home safe and well, this oversight meant that the regulator was not aware of what had been done to safeguard the young people in question at the time of this concern.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Reports compiled as a result of independent visits to the home do not effectively evaluate the quality of care that young people receive. As a result, these do not make a worthwhile contribution to the internal monitoring systems in place, or ongoing improvement.

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Information about this children's home

The home can accommodate up to six children and a further two children off site for up to 28 days. It is operated by a local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 19/10/2016 Full Outstanding 24/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/01/2016 Full Outstanding 06/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) In particular, this refers to when young people go missing and are at increased risk of child sexual exploitation. 28/4/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55 paragraph 10.24) In particular, ensure that reports carried out by independent visitors rigorously evaluate the quality of care that the home provides to young people.

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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

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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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