Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC035181 1 SC035181 Registered provider: Durham County Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to five children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has had a settled period under the leadership and management of the new registered manager, who is appropriately experienced and skilled. He has fully assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the home and implemented a comprehensive plan of improvements and developments, which he is steadily achieving. He has ensured that the staff have adapted well to the change in the home’s role, which now involves providing medium- and longer-term placements rather than short-term and emergency placements. The registered manager has facilitated appropriate training for the staff and has supported them well. He has monitored the care practices at the home and has made changes where necessary.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff have set appropriate boundaries and expectations for the children and young Interim inspection report children’s home: SC035181 2 people. This has helped them to settle, and to feel safe and secure in the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the previous inspection, two young people have left the home in planned moves. One has successfully returned to their family and one was moved on to more appropriate accommodation. A third young person was due to leave on the day following this inspection in a planned move to another residential home. Three children and young people have been admitted in planned moves. These admissions have all been well assessed and fit the criteria in the new statement of purpose.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The children and young people who have lived in the home during this inspection period have made good progress in most areas of their lives. Most have attended school and have been achieving well in their education. One young person has yet to settle at the home and has not yet managed to achieve full school attendance, but this is improving. All the children and young people are supported to have contact with their families where this is appropriate, and several of them have been able to significantly improve these relationships. The staff support the children and young people to make progress by providing individualised care or by referring them to specialist external workers. However, the inspector considers that staff could offer more in-depth key work in order to address issues and difficulties, and a requirement has been raised in relation to this.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The children and young people are being kept safe at this home. One young person, who has not yet settled at the home, has been reported missing on quite a few occasions. These are all, in the main, incidents where the young person has returned to the home a little later than they should. The staff are working to address this issue, and the number of incidents has started to reduce. One young person was assaulted while being involved with some of his peers in the community. They were not injured during this incident and staff dealt with the aftermath appropriately. There have been very few other safeguarding concerns. The staff do not use sanctions regularly to manage behaviour and have only used an occasional physical intervention. When used, these actions have been appropriate.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has made many changes and improvements to the recording systems, and the records on the children’s files are now good. Changes to some of the health and safety records have also been made, and the system for the recording of fire drills needs further attention. A requirement has been made to complete this work.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two requirements were made at the previous inspection. These were to ensure that staff were fully trained, and to send a copy of the revised statement of purpose to HMCI. Both requirements have been met. Two new requirements have been made at this inspection. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC035181 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2017 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Inadequate 31/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Requires improvement

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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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who- (a) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for the children; (b) 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

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(2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that key work is carried out in sufficient depth to meet the child’s needs. 31/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, improve the recording of fire drills. 31/03/2018 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC035181 4

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Durham County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL

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Inspector

Colin Imrie, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC035181 5 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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