Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report children's home: SC037861 1 SC037861 Registered provider: Darlington Borough 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 children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20/06/2017 to 21/06/2017

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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 Outstanding

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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: Improved effectiveness

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home’s leadership and management are very good. The registered manager is focused on providing a nurturing and stable environment to meet young people’s needs. She leads her staff team well and maintains staff support at a high level. Inspection report children's home: SC037861 2  The well-balanced and stable staff team provides consistency in its approach and puts young people’s well-being, safety and progress at the heart of what it does.  The registered manager and the staff team have a very good understanding of safeguarding procedures and ensure that communication is robust, especially during times of crisis. This ensures that the young people are provided with support from all agencies to minimise any impact of harm on them.  The young people are routinely consulted and their opinions and wishes are respected.  The registered manager and her team are skilled in developing trusting relationships with the young people and their families. This ensures that contact

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Key findings from this inspection

is encouraged and supported, provides the young people with a sense of belonging and promotes resilience.  Education is promoted by staff and the young people’s attendance is excellent. The young people are supported to lead healthy lifestyles; this promotes their self-esteem and well-being.  Monitoring systems in the home are very good and presentation of information is of a high quality. This ensures that the records are up to date and that information is robust, in order to support positive outcomes for young people.

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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 home needs to improve how the staff celebrate achievements for the young people and how they can support young people to develop individual interests.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/05/2016 Full Good 14/10/2015 Full Good 13/08/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC037861 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

The young people are provided with a warm and welcoming place to live. They receive consistently good care and support that meet their needs. Information is being developed to ensure that all of the young people receive individual profiles of staff when they arrive at the home. These are designed to represent each member of staff’s qualities and interests. This promotes positive relationships and supports the young people who may feel anxious upon arriving at a new home. The registered manager and the staff team actively source information pertaining to each individual young person prior to admission to enable planning arrangements to be robust. The theoretical model that is in place assists with the planning arrangements to enhance staff’s understanding of difficult behaviours and attachments. This supports a nurturing and responsive environment in which the young people can feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Both of the young people currently in placement are progressing and have been supported through a recent period of instability and disruption. The home is very settled and the young people are doing very well in their respective educational placements. Relationships with the staff are stable and familiar. They are based upon respect and trust. When young people are not respectful, they are challenged informally at all times through supportive communication, and is addressed in planned key-working sessions. Key-working relationships are particularly positive and respectful. The young people are supported in the development of their plans and in preparing for meetings and reviews. This ensures that the young people are empowered to be heard, and that their views and wishes are taken into consideration at all times. The young people develop confidence over time and their resilience is strengthened.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

The home is very comfortable and well maintained. There are areas for relaxation and play. Privacy is mostly limited to young people’s bedrooms or the garden area. The young people’s bedrooms are individualised and well decorated. On the day of inspection, new carpets, cushions and a new bed were either being fitted or purchased. Improvements are maintained by the registered manager and completed by a ‘handyman’ who is known to the home and who also has a good relationship with the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Plans are at a developmental stage in respect of independence work. A member of staff is taking a lead role in this project, which will allow for an ‘independence day’. This enables young people to take responsibility for undertaking a daily task, such as preparing a meal or completing domestic duties as part of daily living routines, for example washing the dishes. They will be supported throughout to enable small steps to be achieved. Recognition of what young people achieve, together with incentives, will be part of the plan to promote independent living skills. Essentially, this project will allow young people of all ages to develop independence skills early to support them in their eventual transition from the home. It is an idea that supports young people that has been generated through staff and management discussion. The young people have actively engaged in the process at their own pace. An overall independence package will

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Inspection report children's home: SC037861 4 involve the collecting of essential information and guidance processes to better equip the young people when they move on to supported living or independence. They will also be provided with basic essential items. The member of staff has also commenced communication with a variety of professionals as part of the process, to improve on the development of independence skills. A staff member said: ‘First independence day completed and [Name] was brilliant. Each young person has their own independence living skills files.’ This is a supportive environment that enables young people to gain confidence and raises their self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

The young people enjoy a range of activities, such as swimming with friends, visiting the cinema and spending time with friends. They also spend time in the community, which supports the development of their independence. Contact arrangements for young people are supported and staff facilitate contact with family members who sometimes live a considerable distance away. One young person was able to combine contact with a sightseeing experience in a place she had never been to. This enabled the young person to develop positive relationships and enjoy this whole new experience, which raised her self-esteem and a gave her a sense of well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

The staff team ensures that young people are provided with a healthy and balanced diet. The young people are encouraged to cook and shop, and have an active role in menu planning. Individual healthy snacks are encouraged and fruit bowls are available in the home, which means young people can snack on fruit at their leisure. This is a homely environment which facilitates a family experience to dining.

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

The young people are safe and they are protected from harm. When the young people go missing, staff will go out and look for them. The staff try and keep in contact with young people to check on their welfare when they go out without permission and when they are missing. Relationships with the local police are robust, ensuring that intelligence is shared at all times. This ensures that the young people’s safety is at the forefront of care practice. Good links with health professionals and healthcare agencies maintain an effective response to incidents of self-harm. The staff team is very committed to the young people and skilled in safeguarding procedures, which means that they have the knowledge to respond to safeguarding issues appropriately accordingly. The care and action taken by the staff are a testament to their commitment and genuine desire to ensure that all young people are protected as well as they can be.

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

Individual risk assessments for young people are live documents and are updated frequently during times of concern. The staff team is dedicated to ensuring that systems are able to meet young people’s individual needs. Individual key-working sessions are integral to explaining and teaching the young people how to stay safe and make safe choices. Risk is identified and specific support plans are in place for young people. These steps promote their welfare.

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

Incidents of bullying are rare, but when they occur they are dealt with in accordance with the home’s policy and are not tolerated. The young people are provided with a Inspection report children's home: SC037861 5 wealth of information upon their arrival, or, if they so wish, the information is made available for them to access at their leisure and is placed in their bedroom. Individual profiles of the staff team are provided; these support the young people’s guide. The staff ensure all that all of the young people have access to the complaints procedure. There have been no complaints since the last inspection. External monitoring processes ensure that there is an adult who will listen to and consider young people’s views routinely as part of their visit to the home. The adult is independent and can provide advice and guidance.

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

The home’s approach to behaviour management is centred on a theoretical model. The staff receive regular, reflective supervision of their practice to enable a consistent level of care to be provided to young people, taking into account their assessed needs. Incentive charts assist the young people to achieve change. The incentives can be applied to homework and healthy lifestyles as well as unacceptable behaviours.

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

There have been no new staff employed since the last inspection. Procedures and practice are robust with regard to ensuring that all visitors sign in and out, and that identification is checked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced. She leads by example and is supported by a senior residential worker. This leadership and management system supports a stable and well-balanced staff team. Staff are provided with quality supervision and numerous opportunities to reflect on practice individually and in groups, through regular team meetings. The theoretical model, which has been well researched, provides the platform from which young people can make progress and can be supported in a nurturing, consistent and empathetic manner. The staff team uses this model to reflect on its everyday practice, ensuring that young people are provided with opportunities to express themselves in a safe environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is small, which means it provides lots of opportunities for the registered manager to observe practice, and to sensitively address areas for improvement and reflection. The staff team feels supported and is able to develop new skills and knowledge through a vast array of training, including face-to-face training and through e-learning systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and the staff have excellent relationships with outside professionals and services. Education is sourced from mainstream and alternative educational programmes to ensure that all of the young people receive a full-time education. Relationships with schools and providers are excellent. An education professional stated: ‘Communication is absolutely fantastic and they are very supportive.’ Different agencies attend six-weekly care-team meetings, which are facilitated in the home. This enables opportunities to discuss progress and any concerns that may arise in relation to each young person. Any amendments or updates to plans are immediately imbedded in placement plans and key-worker sessions and incentives are used in order to maintain progress. This provides young people with robust, live plans that encourage Inspection report children's home: SC037861 6 and focus upon achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and the senior residential worker maintain highly effective monitoring systems in the home. This ensures that identified work is carried out at agreed times and reports are always completed in advance. The standard of recording mechanisms in the home is very good and records are professional in appearance. The model of practice that has been adopted can be visually seen in the staff office to aid understanding at any time. The involvement of the young people can be seen throughout their individual files and records. This is very much their home and their opinions are valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A member of staff highlighted the strengths of the team by stating: ‘The registered manager is always willing to listen. We work really well as a team. We are good at challenging each other in a safe, friendly way. We all have good relationships with the young people and we all have our specific areas to lead on.’ This is a team effort that is directed by a passionate and supportive registered manager.

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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 who 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: SC037861 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington, County Durham DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jane Kochanowski

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Inspector

Michael Dack: social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC037861 8 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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