Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 1 SC449096 Registered provider: Durham County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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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 four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager and the staff team are all qualified and are very experienced. They have shown considerable commitment, dedication and enthusiasm to the children and young people they have cared for over an extended period when the work has been challenging. They have ensured that Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 2 most of the children and young people have had good outcomes.  There has been a change in registered manager at the home. This transition has been smooth and the new registered manager has started to implement a number of positive changes and developments. The staff team has supported the registered manager and in return it has felt supported by her.  The staff team nurtures the children and young people. This has meant that the children and young people have been able to form strong and positive relationships with the staff and it is these relationships that have clearly been

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Key findings from this inspection

the basis for the positive experiences, the good progress and the good outcomes that the children and young people have achieved.  Safeguarding at the home has improved. The children and young people are safer now than at the time of the previous full inspection. The staff have worked hard to support the children and young people to change their behaviours and to become more settled. The children and young people have been helped to understand the risks they were placing themselves at and have been supported to take action to protect themselves better.  The children and young people are mostly making good progress at school or college. This is another area where improvements are evident. Staff have worked hard to encourage the children and young people to attend frequently and achieve more.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager has made changes to the placement-planning recording systems and to the key-work planning and recording systems. These appear to be positive changes. The new systems are partially implemented and this work now needs to be completed so that every child or young person has a clear placement plan in place with targets and goals.  One young person does not have a satisfactory education placement. There are some plans in place to address this situation but they are not yet sufficient. Staff must ensure that appropriate education resources are in place to allow this young person the opportunity to engage in education and receive as much learning as possible.  The home has been short staffed for some time. The registered manager and the staff team have shown considerable commitment and have covered all of the shifts required. However, there have been a number of missed supervision

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Key findings from this inspection

sessions. These now need to resume on a regular basis as stated in the home’s policy. Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Good 10/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure –

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plan. (Regulation 8(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, to ensure that every child has a full programme of suitable education. 14/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure –

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14(2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all placement plans are completed showing assessed needs and detailing relevant targets and goals. 14/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 14/08/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been some significant changes at the home. A new manager was appointed who was subsequently registered in December 2016, following the previous manager moving on. This transition has been smooth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have also been some changes around admissions of children and young people. There have been fewer short-term and emergency placements made to the home and there has been greater care taken to consider the impact that new admissions might have. This is better practice by senior managers in the local authority and by the registered manager. The home is now more settled than it has been for some time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The group of children and young people currently living at the home are all there for medium- and long-term placements. This has allowed the staff to build some excellent relationships with the children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is strong and skilled and is particularly nurturing and caring. It has not only made these strong relationships with the children and young people but it has also carried out considerable individual work with them, and this has been effective in many ways.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last full inspection, two young people have left the home. One of these moved on successfully to a planned foster care placement and the other returned home in a planned move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children and young people currently living at the home are making progress. Most of this is good progress and some is very good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person, who has a history of going missing, concerns around sexual exploitation and the misuse of drugs and alcohol, has made excellent progress and is now much more settled. The young person has engaged with staff, who have provided considerable support and guidance. The young person has been able to build better contact with their family with support from the staff; this is really positive. After missing quite a lot of their education, the young person has now settled at school and has started to catch up on lost time. The young person is now actively planning for their future, looking at college applications and independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another young person who was admitted to the home with significant concerns around their behaviour has also settled well and has engaged in an intensive programme of work relating to their offending behaviour. The young person continues to make good progress and is moving towards independence. A recent review recorded, ‘progress in all areas is fantastic’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child who was admitted following some very destructive and aggressive behaviour in other placements has settled extremely well. Staff have understood the needs of this child and have put in place a programme of schooling and activities that supports them. Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 6 The child’s schoolwork has seen some significant improvements, the child’s reading age progressing by two and half years in just a few months. This child has now settled so well and built such good relationships that they have started to trust staff enough to talk about the trauma and disruption of their early life. This is very good progress for this child. A recent review recorded that they were, ‘really settled in school and starting to reflect more on their feelings’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One other young person, who was recently admitted to the home, has also settled well after having experienced a number of disrupted placements and consequent moves. They too have built good relationships with the staff and they are now able to start to address some of their insecurities and worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector felt that the home was calmer and more relaxed than at the last inspection. The young people were observed to have excellent relationships with the staff. Some of the young people greeted staff with hugs and there was lots of humour, encouragement and praise. Living in the home is a good experience for all of the children and young people and they are all benefiting from the positive, caring environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have their health needs met. The older young people are encouraged to make their own appointments, which works well. Staff ensure that the younger children have appropriate checks and treatments. One child has recently been referred for medical checks after staff became concerned. While there is no specific issue, it demonstrates that staff are being proactive and cautious, which is good to see.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the children and young people do not have many group meetings, there is clearly good consultation between them and the staff. Care planning is child-centred and the children and young people are encouraged to contribute and have their say. The staff are in the process of changing their recording systems for care planning and key- work planning. While the changes appear positive and more inclusive, they are not yet finished. A requirement has been made to complete this work. The children and young people also have their say in the running of the home and they have recently been discussing the upcoming school holidays and what they would like to do. The inspector spoke to two young people who regularly attend the local authority Children in Care Council. They are both active in this forum and one of them told the inspector how they help out with the running of meetings and work to help organise the administration of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

this council. This is really nice to see. One young person has been involved in the local authority’s interview panels for recruiting staff. The level of involvement of young people is excellent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children and young people are engaging well with their education packages; however, one young person has not yet engaged in an education programme. Work has started to source an appropriate programme of alternative education but this is not yet sufficiently advanced. A requirement has been made to ensure that this is in place quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One of the older young people has completed some work experience and is now actively Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 7 looking for an apprenticeship.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff prioritise supporting the older young people to become more independent. They are flexible in their expectations and encourage them to practise and learn new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two placing social workers contacted by the inspector were glowing in their praise of the staff team. One said that staff were insightful and emotionally available and another said that the staff were really good advocates for the children and young people. Both felt that the children and young people they had placed were doing very well.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Safeguarding has improved at this home and the children and young people are now safer than they were previously.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been fewer short-term and emergency placements at the home. Additionally, there have been better assessments made of the impact on others prior to admissions. Consequently, the children and young people currently living at the home are now placed on medium- and long-term placements. This has enabled the staff to make better relationships with the children and young people, and the staff have been able to do more work with them around safeguarding. The children and young people have settled better and safeguarding incidents have reduced. There have been very few incidents that required a child protection referral in the period since the previous full inspection. There were some serious concerns about one young person being at risk of sexual exploitation. Staff worked well with the young person and these risks are now considered to be low.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been quite high numbers of missing from home incidents, but these have been steadily decreasing over the past six months and are now much lower. There have also been some concerns around young people taking drugs and alcohol, but again these have reduced significantly. However, one young person who was admitted recently still has some concerns relating to going missing, drug use and alcohol consumption. The inspector talked to the staff about this current issue and they were clear that it reflected recent changes involving family contact and plans about a possible return home. The staff were clear that work needed to be carried out with young person to put their mind at ease and they were confident that this would improve the situation. Another young person with a history of going missing has been helped to settle because the staff have supported family contact at a difficult time.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There is clear evidence that staff have used their good relationships with the children and young people to carry out individual work around the risks of going missing and of misusing drugs and alcohol, which has been effective.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff team has demonstrated awareness of the risks faced by the children and young people looked after. Staff members assess the risks well and are able to take appropriate action, and work with the children and young people to minimise these risks.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been a few instances of bullying recorded at the home, but staff have Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 8 reacted immediately and effectively and this has been stopped quickly. The staff put clear boundaries in place and have clear expectations, and mostly this works well. Staff have used some appropriate sanctions and the occasional physical intervention, but these are infrequent and are effective when used.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

One social worker contacted by the inspector said clearly that the child they had placed at the home was now feeling sufficiently safe and secure that they were able to start talking about their past life and experiences, whereas they had not been able to do this before in other placements. This is significant progress for this child and is undoubtedly the result of the care and nurture offered by the staff and the excellent relationships they have built with this child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager, who was registered on 1 December 2016, is appropriately qualified and has been in post for over six months. The registered manager was promoted from the senior team at the home and the transition has been smooth.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has made a good start. She has clearly understood what the staff team do well and where improvements can be made. She has put in place a series of developments that are positive and which are making practice more effective. She has improved the process of recording risk assessments and is in the process of improving the recording of placement plans and key-work plans. This work is continuing and now needs to be completed. The registered manager has also introduced a new system for monitoring, and this, along with the Regulation 45 report, is ensuring that this activity is implemented properly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has the support of her staff team and in turn supports it well. Team members communicate effectively with each other and are able to offer good consistency in the care of the children and young people. Members of the staff team say that they feel supported by their manager. There is sufficient training on offer, and taking place, which demonstrated that staff were up to date with their refresher training. The inspector noted that some regular supervision sessions had not taken place and a requirement has been made to address this. Annual appraisals for the staff were taking place, but some of the recording of these was slow.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team ensures that the aims and objectives of the home as set out in the statement of purpose are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Perhaps the registered manager’s most important achievement so far is to improve the safeguarding practice at the home, which means that the children and young people are now significantly safer than they were previously. This clearly demonstrates that the staff prioritise the needs of the children and young people. Having created a safe and secure environment, the staff are now trying to further improve other aspects of their care practice in the home. There has been a period of continued progress by all of the children and young people, and this is directly attributable to the efforts of the registered manager and her staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has formed good relationships with a number of external Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 9 professionals. She has challenged various educational professionals, in a timely manner, to try and get a suitable education package for one young person, but the outcome of this is not yet clear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the previous inspection, there were three requirements made. The standard of key work needed to be improved, staff needed to ensure that all relevant documentation was available in the recording files and that the location review was reviewed and up to date. The registered manager has ensured that all of these requirements have been met.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL

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Inspector

Colin Imrie, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 11 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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