Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 1 SC068000 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

This three-bedded house is situated on a housing estate and is currently home to three young people in long-term care who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by Darlington Borough Council.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 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

Date of last inspection: 28 February 2017

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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 longstanding management team embodies its nurturing ethos.  Staff are at varying levels of experience, but all model a child-centred approach to caring for the young people, and evidently enjoy warm relationships with them. Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 2  All staff can fully explain the therapeutic benefits of living at this home for young people who have had troubled early life experiences.  All staff can describe the home’s approach to achieving stability for the young people who live there.  A partnership approach to working with fellow professionals has made significant positive improvements in young people’s lives, and the young people have clearly benefited as a result.  One significant outcome of this home’s approach to positive partnership working is the young people’s educational achievement.

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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

 A recent change to the group of young people means that the staff group is engaged in settling in placement a young person who has profound needs, to the exclusion of all else. The staff team needs to manage the needs of all young people equally.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/06/2016 Full Outstanding 07/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 3

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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, the 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential .

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 29/12/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers a nurturing environment. All of the young people living in the home are responding well to the high standard of care they receive, although they are at different stages in terms of settling in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff, including those in the management team, enjoy warm and caring relationships with the young people. There is evident mutual respect and appropriate affection between them. The child-centred care on offer was readily apparent to the inspector from observation of young people and staff spending time together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people report that they are fully involved in the day-to-day running of the home; including having full choice over the food they eat, the evening activities they undertake, and the way in which their bedrooms are furnished and decorated. One young person said living in the home was, ‘Amazing! It’s a pleasure to see everyone’s smiley faces every evening.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents spoken to by the inspector said that they were very happy with current arrangements for contact. They spoke very highly of the communication they have with staff about their children’s progress. One parent said that she and her child had ‘two families; our own family and the family at the home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Partnership working is key to the home’s success and partners spoken to by the inspector highly valued the home’s approach. One young person is very active on the children in care council, and was able to describe to the inspector their aspirations and ambitions for this role. The participation officer who supports the young person in this capacity said that, from their starting point, the young person’s achievements are ‘impressive’ and credited the home with inspiring this achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another significantly positive aspect of the home’s commitment to partnership working is the educational attainment of the young people who live there. The headteacher of the virtual school commented that staff provide stable, consistent routines and that these promote the young people’s learning. For example, one young person has 100% attendance at school and is currently studying for examinations, and another has 96% attendance. The special educational needs coordinator of one young person’s school said that the stability offered by the home meant that they had ‘come a long way’ in terms of their potential attainment. However, more recently, the young person was very unsettled and required additional support to maintain their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector observed the rostered staff group working determinedly to establish a pattern of school attendance for a young person who was admitted to the home more recently, and who is not yet attending school. The home’s two managers and two residential workers spent three hours collectively to successfully achieve one hour’s attendance by the young person at an educational establishment. The level of effort required was to the exclusion of all else, including meeting the needs of another young Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 5 person who was present in the home at the time. As they were more settled, it was accepted that they could see to themselves. This is not a sustainable position for the young people to be in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The documentation received from social workers to enable the staff team to work effectively with young people is of a variable standard. Although assessments and plans were on each young person’s care file, they were not up to date. Records of statutory reviews were limited in scope and did not provide specific targets by which to measure the young person’s progress. Documentation completed by social workers in general is not helpful in supporting the home’s staff to plan positive outcomes for children’s placements at this home.

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

A recent change to the complement of young people who live at the home has had an immediate and significant impact on the safety of the others. Until recently, safeguarding incidents at the home have been rare and reducing. For instance, only two incidents had been recorded since the last inspection of the home in February. Neither of these incidents involved physical assault and only superficial damage to property had occurred, to which a restorative approach was taken. More recently, there has been a significant increase in safeguarding incidents for a number of reasons.

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

During this inspection, a police presence was required at the home on both evenings to contain a realistic threat of violence by one young person towards another. Staff, including the on-call manager, were fully occupied for several hours. They were fully engaged until 4 a.m. in settling the home for the night. This level of attention to the needs of one young person is not sustainable. It is seriously disruptive to the established pattern of school attendance, and potentially to the educational attainment of the more settled young people.

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

The risks of young people going missing and being sexually exploited have recently increased within the home. A specialist sexual exploitation worker commissioned from a national charity reported to the inspector that she had dealt with nothing other than this issue in this home in her last working week. In addition, the safety of the young people on social media has been compromised by inappropriate use of one young person’s phone by another, and this was the subject of a multi-agency strategy meeting at the time of this inspection.

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

The local beat police officer, who has worked closely with the home for eight years, dealing effectively with a number of previous incidents, said that the home was currently exhibiting a ‘stressed atmosphere’ and he noted with concern that police callouts are increasing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and she epitomises the warm, nurturing approach to care offered to the young people who live there. The staff Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 6 group as a whole is child-centred and receives regular supervision and training. Each staff member is able to fully articulate the home’s ethos and to describe its positive impact on young people’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Limited assessment and planning documentation available from social workers is mitigated by extensive risk assessment, behaviour management and placement plans completed by staff and placed on the young people’s care files. The home’s documentation is detailed and regularly updated, and it provides a comprehensive guide for staff on how to deal therapeutically with any specific behaviours presented by the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is the subject of regular and insightful reports from an independent person. These help the registered manager to understand the needs of the young people who live at the home and plan for them accordingly. The home’s physical environment is that of an ordinary four-bedded house on a housing estate. It is kept clean and presentable and it is homely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

At the time of the inspection, managers of the home were entirely engaged in settling a young person into placement. Considerable additional resources to support the process have been allocated, such as waking night staff. Nevertheless, the home’s managers’ expertise as experienced residential care workers was called on with relentless regularity. The gap between incidents where their presence was required was timed by the inspector at less than two-minute intervals for the whole of the two-day inspection. The home’s systems are robust enough to withstand occasional distraction, but managers’ attention and expertise was needed to the exclusion of all else. This reduces their effectiveness as managers and is not a sustainable position in the long term.

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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: SC068000 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:

Ian Young HMI Inspection report children’s home: SC068000 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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