Children's Home run by Stockton on Tees Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 1 SC035222 Registered provider: Stockton on Tees 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 children’s home is registered to care for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered provider is a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 December 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 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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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people make good progress based on their starting points. This is particularly in regard to their education, and with regards to one young person’s planned move on to independence.  The consistent and skilled staff team works well together and provides high- Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 2 quality care that meets the needs of young people.  The young people are encouraged by staff to take part in leisure activities in their community .  The young people receive individualised help to keep themselves safe.  The staff team works well with local authorities and other providers to ensure that young people receive the help and support that they need. This improves their health and education.  The staff team is extremely nurturing, positive and sensitive in their daily care of young people.  The staff have excellent relationships with young people. They respect young people’s views and give them as much choice as possible consistent with

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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 registered manager and senior staff need to have an effective quality assurance system in place.  Supervision records should include a section with regards to safeguarding in the home.  Safeguarding needs to be a standing agenda item at team meetings.  The staff need to understand and adhere to the home’s record-keeping policy. This is particularly with regard to the young people’s care plans.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/06/2016 Full Good 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should build a strong safeguarding culture in the home where children are listened to, respected and involved in both the development of the home and decisions about the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.8) In particular, safeguarding should be a standard agenda item in team meetings.  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should

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Recommendations

record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home’s staff; each child’s family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child including their social worker, Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals etc. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23) In particular, the manager should have in place an effective quality assurance system to ensure that young people’s plans and are up to date.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff know the young people well. They speak warmly of them and have a good knowledge of their plans. The young people are able to form positive and protective relationships with the staff. One young person said: ‘Staff make me feel safe.’ Another young person said: ‘The staff are unique, I love them like a family, and on a scale of one to ten they are a million.’ The young people are making good progress in education. Staff have high aspirations for young people, ensuring that they have support with homework and schoolwork. Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 4 Attendance is good, with one young person having improved from 30% attendance prior to coming to live at the home to 100% currently. The social worker for this young person said: ‘The staff have been extremely supportive of his education. The progress he has made has been fantastic.’ The future educational needs for a young person who is

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

about to leave the home are clear. There is a plan for him to be supported through exams and then a move to a college. Staff have very good links with schools and the virtual school head. This ensures that any issues that arise can be promptly and effectively managed. The staff have good knowledge of the young people’s medical needs. This enables them to manage any ongoing medical conditions well. Medication is administered, recorded and stored appropriately. Good partnership working with the designated nurse for children looked after enables the staff to access a broad range of services that contribute to the young people’s health and well-being. The home is well maintained throughout. It has a homely appearance, which is enhanced by photographs of the young people. The home is decorated for Christmas. One young person said, ‘I love the decorations and was able to decorate the tree with my sister.’ The cinema room has been redecorated, with the young people being

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

involved with choosing the wallpaper and accessories. Family contact is promoted and supported. The mother of one young person made positive comments with regards to the progress that her son is making. She said: ‘Staff are good. They make me feel welcome and they keep me up to date with events. My son is safe, he goes to school and does not run away.’ The young people are treated with dignity and respect. The social worker of a young person said: ‘Staff have supported his transition plan, and helped him by providing an appropriate advocate to help him make informed choices about his future.’ The young people are encouraged and supported by the staff to be involved in decisions around their care. They are consulted on their views and wishes during regular young people’s meetings. Staff have responded to the views of the young people in respect of activities that they like to participate in, and in holidays that they want to have. There are a wide

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

range of activities that include attending youth clubs, swimming, walks, visiting the cinema and bike rides. A charity coffee morning was organised by a young person, with help and support from staff. The young person baked all of the cakes and sent out the invitations. There are lots of board games, arts and craft materials, and computer games available. Activities are captured in many photographs. These are kept as part of the young people’s life story, recording memories of their life at the home.

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

The young people are safe and they say that they feel safe at the home. Risk assessments are in place. They outline and assess young people’s risks effectively. Triggers for potential risks are identified and actions that can prevent risks are documented. Missing from home episodes are low and, when they do occur, staff take all appropriate actions to ensure that young people return as quickly as possible. Return interviews take place, ensuring that young people’s reasons for being missing are known to the staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 5 This means that they can take actions to avoid future episodes. Clear boundaries and expectations are in place in respect of accepted behaviour. Behaviour is managed well using a mainly restorative approach. Sanctions are used rarely and, when they are used, are effective and proportionate. Staff are all trained in the behaviour management technique Team Teach, which enables them to help to

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

manage young people’s behaviour, with the need for the use of physical intervention being low. The young people are aware of how to make a complaint. They are able to identify an adult that they would feel comfortable to confide in, which helps them to feel secure and adds to their feelings of trust and well-being. The key-worker system is well established in the home. The key workers for all of the young people knew them well, spoke warmly about them and were clearly able to identify areas of risk and resilience. Safeguarding processes are clear at the home and staff are familiar with how to deal with safeguarding issues relating to young people. Safeguarding incidents are managed and recorded well. A member of staff said: ‘Safeguarding is at the core of all of our practice at the home.’ The introduction of the Induction Passport for new staff has enhanced the procedure. This is an individual progress record for each new member of staff. The passport

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

outlines expectations of training and development, an overview of supervision and identifies learning needs. The passport outlines clear objectives, which means that new staff have a clear framework to support their professional development. Staff ensure that the home’s environment is a safe one. Regular fire drills and health and safety checks are carried out and findings recorded appropriately. All visitors are checked and vetted by the staff to ensure that the safety of young people is maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. He has worked hard to establish a culture of high expectation for the young people. The staff are able to work well together to provide consistency and stability, and they have a clear understanding of the need to work together as a team. The staff members report that they feel well supported by the manager and deputy manager. A member of staff said: ‘The manager is approachable and has an open door policy.’ Supervision takes place on a regular basis. Supervision is recorded and staff are given a copy of the notes. The recording template does not contain a section on safeguarding. This means that staff are not able to discuss and reflect on the safeguarding culture in the home on a regular basis. The manager should ensure that safeguarding is discussed and recorded in each supervision. Monitoring is carried out by the manager on a regularly basis. However, shortfalls

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

identified in recording are not addressed and some records seen were not up to date. This indicates that monitoring is not always effective. Accurate, up-to-date recording ensures that staff have a clear understanding of young people’s day-to-day needs and plans. Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 6 Team meetings take place on a regular basis. However, safeguarding in not a standard agenda item. This would enable the staff to discuss and reflect on safeguarding in the home and would ensure that this remains a focus of practice.

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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: SC035222 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stockton-On-Tees Borough Council, Municipal Buildings, Church Road, Stockton-On-Tees, Cleveland TS18 1LD

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Inspector:

Sue Atkinson-millmoor, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: SC035222 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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