Children's home run by Northumberland County Council in Northumberland

Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 1 SC468929 Registered provider: Northumberland 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 accommodates up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, and is operated by the 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 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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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people enjoy excellent relationships with staff who know them well. Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 2  The young people’s emotional well-being improves because they receive specialist support and care tailored to meet their individual needs.  The young people’s life experience improves as a result of accessing a range of holidays and activities.  Episodes of the young people going missing from the home reduce over time. When the young people go missing, staff immediately do all they can to find them.  The young people respond well to consistent boundaries. The use of physical intervention is rare.  The management team is dedicated to providing high-quality care. It wants the very best for the young people. The staff team follows this approach.  The registered manager has exceptional relationships with other professionals. This ensures that the young people receive the specialist care they need.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Partnership work with the educational psychologist ensures that staff receive bespoke training which meets children’s individual needs. Staff actively use the research and theories to inform their practice with the individual young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/12/2016 Full Good 13/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 3

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans (Regulation 8 (2)(a)(x)) 31/01/ 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people enjoy spending time with staff. They have good relationships with them. The staff know the young people very well and take interest in what the young people like to do. The young people are confident to make their choices known and they voice their opinions in regular house meetings. They feel that staff listen to their views. One of the young people commented: ‘The staff listen all the time. I can talk to them when I am in a mood.’ In addition to this, the young people’s views are listened to by their independent visitors and local advocacy services. Some young people actively take part in ‘children’s voices; making choices council’ run by the local authority. This gives the young people a chance to voice their opinions in a wider setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people learn the importance of education. The staff team is working hard to find three of the young people appropriate education. Alternative education with a home tutor for a few hours a day is in place while the young people wait for new school placements. The young people are constantly encouraged by the staff team to engage with their tutor and undertake educational activities. Remaining out of school for a long period of time is likely to hinder the young people’s social and academic progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people learn about the dangers of substance and alcohol use. Some of the young people engage with specialist services to help them to manage issues. The young people are supported to attend all routine health appointments. The staff work closely Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 4 with specialist health professionals’ to manage and monitor some of the young people’s medication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people’s emotional health is improving. They are supported by specialist mental health services. The educational psychologist assists staff to support individual needs and he works directly with the young people to make sure that they are receiving the emotional support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people learn a range of skills that will help them to live independently in later life. The young people successfully learn to walk to school independently. They learn other essential life skills, for example using the telephone, cooking and budgeting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people experience a wide range of activities, including visits to the beach, holidays, trips to watch television shows and pantomimes. The young people’s identity and social confidence grows as they partake in a range of hobbies. This includes dance classes and theatre performances, horse riding and youth groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people maintain a sense of identity because they enjoy contact with their families. The staff team works hard to make sure that the young people maintain links with their families. This helps the young people to rebuild relationships with family members over time.

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

The young people respond well to consistent guidance and boundaries. One young person commented: ‘My behaviour has got better from being here.’ The staff know the young people very well. This enables them to identify any behavioural issues quickly and then manage them positively. Physical intervention is rare and only used as a last resort to keep the young people safe.

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

Incidents of the young people going missing from home have reduced. When the young people do go missing, the staff respond immediately and go looking for them. The staff are good at collating and sharing information with the police and other services to help locate the young people as quickly as possible. One police inspector commented: `The team make strenuous efforts to contact and locate missing young people, feeding information into any active police missing person investigation.’

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

The staff have good knowledge of the risks the young people face. Risk assessments are up to date and provide staff with clear actions to take to prevent and manage risks. The staff are quick to take immediate action to protect young people missing from home or at risk of child sexual exploitation. The staff benefit from additional training around wider risks that could affect young people, such as radicalisation. This helps them to identify early signs that the young people could be at risk of harm.

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

The young people learn about potential risks, such as child sexual exploitation, and online safety. This is providing them with the knowledge of how to keep themselves Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 5 safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has been in post since October 2013. She is qualified and has the experience to undertake her role. The registered manager leads by example. Consequently, the staff team mirrors her high expectations of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is fully aware of the strengths and areas she wishes to develop for the service. She has effective monitoring systems which enable her to track the young people’s progress. As a result, the registered manager is quick to identify any areas that young people need to develop to ensure continuous progress. The registered manager ensures that the young people’s voice is central in their planning and the everyday running of the home. This helps the young people to feel valued and provides them with a sense of belonging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff feel valued and well supported by the management team. They are happy in their work. One member of staff said: `All three managers work well together and help us. If I have a problem, I will just ask; the door is always open.’ The staff receive regular supervision. This helps them to understand their role and it gives them confidence in their ability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is highly ambitious for the young people. She appropriately challenges other professionals when the young people do not receive the service they deserve. One professional commented: `The manager is a massive advocate for learners. She actually has come in and held us to account.’ The registered manager has exceptional relationships with other professionals such as social workers, tutors and specialist education services. She also works in partnership with the educational psychologist. This ensures that the young people receive a complete, tailored package of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team receives a range of training which helps staff members to understand and meet the young people’s needs. Regular specialist input from the educational psychologist helps the staff to have an in-depth understanding of the young people’s behaviour and how their past life experiences have an impact on them now. The staff are able to apply research and theories in practice to help them support individual young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This home is functioning within its statement of purpose. It is providing consistently good care which is tailored to each of the young people’s needs.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 6 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: SC468929 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Northumberland County Council, County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 2EF

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Inspector:

Jamie Richardson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 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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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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