Children's home run by Howard House Care Limited in Northumberland

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:

 Young people make excellent progress. The close support that staff provide enables young people to improve their school attendance and attainment, become healthier, and develop growing readiness for independence.  Relationships between young people and staff are very good. They contribute significantly to the home’s success in helping young people to acquire greater emotional resilience. Young people trust staff to act in their best interests, and to listen to and respect their views.  Staff work well in collaboration with other professionals. They also develop good partnerships with parents, helping young people to improve the frequency and quality of family contact.  Young people feel safe. They appreciate the work of staff in managing situations where they may be at risk. Staff manage behaviour effectively, mostly through the quality of their relationships and the thoughtful use of incentives.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 There are a number of shortfalls in leadership and management. These relate to: record keeping; aspects of practice which are out of keeping with the home’s otherwise child-centred approach; monitoring; and the environment. They do not significantly compromise the home’s success in keeping young people safe or helping them to make progress.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person 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

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. This is with particular reference to assessing the full range of potential risks to each child. 9 December

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Requirement Due date

6. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(b)(ix) make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. This is with particular reference to the arrangements for isolating bedroom power sockets at night. 9 December

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Requirement Due date

6. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c)(i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. This is with particular reference to ensuring a homely environment. 9 December

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Keep children's records up to date and stored securely. Specifically, ensure that children's case files are well organised, accessible and do not contain unnecessary duplication. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this children's home

The home accommodates up to eight children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private provider.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

22 December 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

18 March 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Staff provide a high quality of support to young people. They understand the needs of each young person, and individual programmes of care ensure that these needs are met in everyday life within the home. Young people make excellent progress and some in particular achieve remarkable success in education. Most young people attend the on-site school, although if it is more appropriate for a young person to attend mainstream provision this is arranged and supported by staff. Care staff and teachers work closely together to ensure that education is a rewarding and fruitful experience. All young people have virtually 100% school attendance, in stark contrast to their experience before coming here. One young person has attained a good GCSE grade in a core subject, which, for them, represents excellent improvement. The end-of-term school report for one young person says The end-of-term school report for one young person says that the

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Good

individual ‘thrives on one-to-one support’, ‘engages well in all activities’ and has ‘a very positive attitude towards learning’. It describes them as a ‘pleasure to work with’ and says they have ‘made a brilliant start’.

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Good

A notable strength of the home is the quality of relationships between the staff and young people. All young people confirm this, one saying: ‘The staff are brilliant, they have a great sense of humour, I get on well with them and there is always someone I can talk to. I would score it nine out of 10.’ Another said, ‘The staff are great. They are there to support me.’

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Good

Staff are effective in addressing young people’s health needs. They work with other professionals, such as dieticians and nurses, to improve young people’s well-being. The home has commissioned the input of a psychologist who provides consultation to staff about individual young people, and provides a bridge to child and adolescent mental health services. Some young people have complex and challenging issues in terms of their personal care needs. Staff manage these sensitively and efficiently, helping the young person to maintain their dignity and privacy.

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Good

The free and easy interactions within the home mean that young people are able to express their views to staff at any time. In addition, formal meetings enable young people to make suggestions as a group and to seek changes in routines or practice. Staff listen to these and respond positively wherever possible. Young people have a say in menus, activities, and other aspects of daily life, and are able to make choices in how their bedrooms are decorated. Regular individual sessions with their key workers enable more in-depth discussion about each young person’s care plan. For example, they cover what is going well and what needs more attention. The care plans themselves show clearly that young people are involved in reviewing them and giving their opinions on how things are going. This highly individual approach of the staff to each young person’s needs contrasts with some institutional practice. At night, all the electrical sockets in young people’s bedrooms

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Good

are turned off. This is to ensure that they do not stay awake watching TV or using games consoles and so are ready for school the next day. However, this blanket approach does not take account of differences between young people, neither is the practice reviewed on an individual basis.

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Good

Young people are able to enjoy a range of leisure activities. The home is set in extensive grounds, providing opportunities for young people to undertake interesting projects. Last year, some worked on the garden pond. There are chickens which provide a daily source of fresh eggs. The space itself is important for some young people as a way of taking time out when they are feeling upset or angry, helping them to calm down more quickly. In addition, staff provide young people with access to different experiences in the community. These include horse riding and kayaking, as well as more relaxing activities such as the cinema and trips to theme parks. A social worker said: ‘The young person has flourished here… there is a good range of activities… they love being here.’

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Good

Staff undertake work with young people to prepare them for adulthood, encouraging them to do things for themselves. With the support of a member of staff, one young person cooked himself a meal of bacon and eggs on his return from school. Others do their own washing and take responsibility for the tidiness of their bedrooms. A more formal programme of life skills assessment and training helps young people to know their capabilities and what they need to learn. This work will stand young people in good stead as they progress to adulthood. In addition, staff help young people to maintain scrapbooks and ‘memory boxes’, with keepsakes such as photos and event tickets which will remind them of their time here when they leave. This is important in contributing to young people’s sense of identity.

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Good

Staff know the importance of maintaining and improving young people’s relationship with their families and so are proactive in supporting this. In some cases, staff need to supervise contact with parents in order to keep young people safe. They do this skilfully, and keep excellent records which evaluate the quality of the interaction. This enables the wider care planning team to review the level of contact and, in many cases, increase it. Judgement grade

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Good

The detail of knowledge that staff have of each young person’s history and current circumstances is key to the effectiveness of the home’s safeguarding practice. The strength of the relationships between staff and young people enhances the ability of the home to promote young people’s welfare and keep them safe. Young people trust the staff and confide in them when they are feeling worried. Recently, one young person shared a particularly serious concern with staff. As a result, immediate action was taken. A prompt multi-agency meeting was convened, enabling the issue to be addressed and the young person kept safe. The young person’s social worker commented: ‘The home has a really good safety plan in place. When the young person is out and about staff keep in touch with them.’

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Good

The frequency with which young people go missing has reduced significantly. From April to the end of June this year there were 19 incidents, from July to the end of September there were 11. Although some young people may be at risk of sexual exploitation, staff work effectively with the young people themselves and other agencies to eliminate this risk.

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Good

On the whole, e-safety is well managed. Staff work with young people to raise their awareness of the potential threats posed online and via social media. Internet access is suitably controlled so that inappropriate content is filtered out. However, young people’s risk assessments do not always set out what action must be taken to manage risks from mobile-phone use.

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Good

As in other aspects of the home’s practice, the strong relationships between staff and young people contribute to the success of its behaviour-management approach. The respect that young people have for staff, and the knowledge that they have their best interests at heart, creates a largely settled and harmonious atmosphere. A social worker said of the young person they work with, ‘Since coming here they are a lot calmer.’ Sanctions are used sparingly. Instead, staff encourage young people to behave responsibly and with consideration for others by the use of incentives. These comprise financial rewards, targets to aim for, or simply verbal praise. The success of this approach is indicated by the extremely infrequent need to use physical restraint (only six incidents since the last full inspection).

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Good

Bullying is not an issue. Staff are trained in anti-bullying methods and address any incidents quickly and robustly. Work is undertaken with both the bully and the victim to provide support and prevent a recurrence. A young person said, ‘Bullying? No, doesn’t happen here. If it did, staff would do something about it.’ The home’s recruitment practice is extremely robust. Vetting checks are carried out with scrupulous attention to detail and are meticulously recorded. This ensures that only people who are suitable to work with children and young people are employed.

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Requires improvement

There are several shortfalls in the home’s recording systems. Young people’s case files are extremely bulky. They contain items, such as photos of the young person engaging in activities, which could be stored elsewhere. A number of documents are duplicated in other files. Care plans are very lengthy. As a result, it is difficult for staff to use these files as working tools which guide the day-to-day care of young people. It also means that they are less accessible should young people want to see them.

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Requires improvement

Other records need attention. Risk assessments do not address the range of potential hazards for young people. For example, risks posed to, and by, the livestock within the grounds was only assessed for one young person after an incident occurred. The home usually assesses the impact of a young person’s admission upon the existing group and vice versa. However, one young person was admitted from the organisation’s other home and so it was assumed that this was not necessary. This is an unsafe assumption, as the young person was coming to live with a completely different set of young people. Behaviour-management plans follow a format which is satisfactory. They describe triggers for each young person’s distress or anger and how to de-escalate the resultant challenging behaviour. However, the most recent plan on one case file was dated June 2015, with some undated, handwritten additions. Others related to the school setting and

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Requires improvement

so were not relevant to the home. All these shortcomings in record-keeping reduce the capacity of written information in enabling staff to support young people effectively.

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Requires improvement

The organisation’s operations manager and the responsible individual are based within the home. The headteacher of the on-site school (only recently appointed) is also highly visible to staff. This structure is supportive to the registered manager, himself suitably experienced and qualified, and promotes ongoing development of practice. It is encouraging that the home’s senior managers are already working on improvements to the recording issues which have been identified.

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Requires improvement

The large majority of staff have the appropriate qualification, and those who have not are enrolled on the course of study with clear timescales to complete it. Staff complete mandatory training, which is refreshed at regular intervals. The workforce plan sets out forthcoming training. For example, a session on child attachment is to be delivered shortly to the whole staff team by the organisation’s psychologist. Staff also receive regular supervision from managers.

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Requires improvement

The home’s internal monitoring has been inconsistent. The report covering the penultimate period (the six months ending 31 March 2016) was not fit for purpose. However, the most recent one has improved and meets requirements.

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Requires improvement

In general, the home is homely and welcoming. It provides ample space for both group and individual activity. Young people’s bedrooms are attractive and comfortable, reflecting the taste of the young person, who can choose the wallpaper and personalise it with posters and photos. Repairs and redecoration are usually attended to promptly. However, some areas of the home are unattractive and unwelcoming. The upstairs corridor is dark and featureless. On the first day of the inspection, the pool room had no pictures on the walls and the large TV was covered by a perspex screen, giving a sparse and institutional appearance. The registered manager took action to address this, and by the second day it had been much improved.

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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’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that 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 whom 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 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

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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