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

Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 1 SC034189 Registered provider: North Yorkshire 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 provides care and accommodation for up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and for a further two children off-site for up to 28 days. The home is operated by a local authority.

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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: improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are provided with high levels of care and support from the dedicated staff team.  Staff enjoy spending time with young people. This leads to them developing positive and trusting relationships.  Staff provide excellent family intervention work to young people and their families, enabling young people to return home.  Staff work collaboratively with professionals providing a multi-agency approach to care planning and risk management.  Young people are supported by staff to live independently, with the use of a taster flat to help prepare them for living alone.  Staff use effective behaviour management strategies and restraints are rarely used.  Young people are not criminalised and restorative discussions encourage them to use socially acceptable behaviour.  Staff receive a good quality induction and excellent training, so that they are skilled and have up-to-date knowledge to meet young people’s complex needs.

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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 registration procedure for the manager is incomplete, leaving the home without a registered manager for over 26 weeks.  Staff are not always alerting the regulator about serious incidents involving the police.  The management team does not always ensure the prompt and proper repair of damage following destruction caused by young people. There is evidence of damage to the fabric of the home.  Staff do not always complete accurate recordings of restraints, which would help them to identify trends.  There is no internal system of capturing feedback from stakeholders and children; doing this will provide information to inform the quality of care review. Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/10/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/08/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)) 20/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(b)) 20/12/2017

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) This is particularly in respect of ensuring the timely and proper repair of damage caused so that there is no evidence of damage to the fabric of the home.

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) This is specifically in respect of ensuring that staff receive training about the correct recording of restraints to make sure that records are complete and consistent, so that trends or issues can be identified.

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Recommendations

 Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months. The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 5 improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) This is specifically to design a system of capturing feedback from stakeholders and children to inform the quality of care review.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The dedicated staff team provides young people with high levels of support and care. One of the key strengths is that staff invest considerable time and effort getting to know young people. This provides them with an excellent understanding of young people and their complex needs. Young people speak fondly about staff, who are good role models. Consequently, positive relationships develop so that young people learn to trust adults. This helps young people to become more open to talking about sensitive issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The long-standing and experienced staff team works intensively with young people, and provides outreach work to their families. Staff fully support young people’s contact with family and friends and their positive interventions help young people to return home. Ongoing support enables young people to remain with family. This is testament to staff’s excellent family intervention work. A social worker said: ‘Staff have done exceptional work with [name of young person] since she has left. They have continued to work with her. This is a wonderful example of partnership working resulting in a young person who is now back home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work collaboratively with family members and professionals, including the in-house life coach who helps to identify young people’s holistic needs. This promotes a multi- agency approach to care planning. Staff use ‘The Three Houses’ model with young people to reflect their views in the plans. A parent said: ‘Staff keep me updated and there is great communication. Staff completely involve me in decision-making.’ Consequently, young people benefit from a carefully planned transition to their permanent placement. This provides emotional stability for young people who may already have experienced multiple moves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educational outcomes are mixed. Some young people who have experienced a disrupted education struggle to re-engage. Staff work closely with the virtual school to look for bespoke educational opportunities for young people. One-to-one home education from experienced tutors ensures that young people receive intensive input. Staff are persistent in finding the right educational provision. One young person was keen to show their schoolwork and another said: ‘I went to college but didn’t like it. I have been to [name of charity] and am going again.’ Staff provide informal learning opportunities, such as visiting museums. This boosts young people’s knowledge while they are not in formal education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people engage in meaningful social and leisure activities. This helps them to enjoy fresh experiences and develop new skills and interests. Young people benefit from boxing lessons, trampolining and going to the gym. Staff encourage young people’s Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 6 natural talents and help them recognise their own strengths and abilities. This promotes improved self-esteem and confidence alongside young people developing healthy living habits. Staff are working closely with one young person to reduce their smoking. Young people also benefit from going out together as a group, which supports good relationships with each other at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For those young people ready to live independently, they have the use of a separate taster flat. Staff guide young people towards a more independent lifestyle where they can take appropriate risks in a safe environment. Young people benefit from staff’s ongoing practical and emotional support, which includes them staying overnight on occasions. Staff help prepare young people for adult life and learn how ready young people are to live alone.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A decoration programme has improved the overall ambience of the home environment. However, throughout the home there is evidence of damage to walls. This is because staff and young people make strong efforts to repair this; however, the mismatch of paint colours detracts from the homely feel that staff are striving to achieve.

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

Staff are committed to keeping young people safe and protected. Staff meet regularly with other safeguarding professionals, such as the police and youth justice workers, and this provides a good forum for sharing of information and ideas. Staff use the Signs of Safety model to provide a coordinated multi-agency decision-making approach. Young people benefit from staff knowing the risks they face and the effective strategies they implement to minimise these dangers. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s backgrounds and the impact this has on their vulnerability to risk-taking behaviours. They use their positive relationships with young people, and their experience and training, to educate young people about the dangers. There are currently no incidents of child sexual exploitation at the home. The staff team implements robust risk management strategies to empower young people to take age-appropriate risks as part

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

of their normal development. This involves allowing an appropriate level of independence.

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

Staff are vigilant in monitoring and supervising young people when they are together, resulting in reduced opportunities for bullying. Any negative behaviour between young people is addressed individually and in residents’ meetings. Consequently, young people feel safe living in the home.

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

Some young people go missing. Staff are vigilant and persistent, and make considerable efforts to trace them. Regular, independent return to home interviews provide useful intelligence about where young people go. This enables good information-sharing with the police who inform staff about current risks in the community. A police officer, who centrally collates information from staff and other professionals, provides a high level of additional scrutiny and safeguarding for young people. However, notifications to the regulator about any serious incidents needing police involvement are not always made. This does not provide an opportunity to establish whether staff are taking the necessary Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 7 actions to safeguard young people.

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

Behaviour management strategies are effective. Staff have good de-escalation skills that are highly individual to each young person. Sanctions imposed for unacceptable behaviour are minimal, but staff challenge young people’s inappropriate behaviour. Staff do not criminalise young people, even when they display aggressive or destructive behaviour. Restorative discussions take place with the on-site police officer. Young people undertake reparation work for their negative behaviour. This helps to teach young people vital lessons about consequences and promotes socially acceptable behaviours over time.

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

Physical intervention is used, but only as a last resort to keep young people and others safe. These are usually recorded in full; however, there have been occasions when staff do not make full and detailed records of the incidents. This is particularly in respect of the location, time and review of the episode. This shortfall in recording means that there is no effective measurement of trends, interventions and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has been without a registered manager for over 26 weeks. However, a permanent manager has been in post since February 2017. She is social work qualified and receives support from two deputy managers and a number of specialist ‘portfolio leads’ who each have a key area of responsibility, such as risk management, education and transitions. The management team collectively provides effective oversight of the home. This makes sure that the aim of the home is translated in practice and results in positive and timely outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a good quality induction to prepare them for their individual roles. Excellent levels of training offer professional development to keep staff skilled and up to date in their knowledge. This makes them equipped to care for and support young people. Staff implement learning from their training and research-informed practice. Opportunities for professional development enable staff to progress to roles that are more senior. This helps staff keep motivated and focused and promotes an experienced, long-standing workforce which focuses on the needs of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are guided in their work by regular supervision and appraisals. They discuss young people in team meetings to provide regular and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of practice. This allows them to recognise how their interventions have an impact on and influence young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A monthly audit by an independent visitor monitors the service thoroughly to provide external scrutiny, routinely noting areas for improvement. There is a clear vision to improve and develop the service further for young people, particularly in improving educational outcomes. The manager consults with stakeholders and resident young people. However, there is no internal system to collate this information to inform the quality of care and outcomes for young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 8

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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 differences 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: SC034189 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Yorkshire County Council, County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Janice Nicholson

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034189 10 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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