Children's home run by North Tyneside Council in North Tyneside

Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 1 SC068243 Registered provider: North Tyneside 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 is approved for five placements of young people between the ages of 14 and 17 who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The young people have an assessed need to be looked after long term in a children’s home, and this is their plan for permanence until they achieve independence. There is a ‘staying close’ project within the same grounds where young people will move onto as the first step in their independence training, when they are ready.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 January to 1 February and 11 April 2018

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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: 20 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 There are nurturing, effective relationships between the young people and the adults caring for them.  The staff team knows the young people well and supports their ambitions.  Staffing levels are sufficient to allow for group and individual activities.  The home has undergone refurbishment, with input from young people.  The young people have achieved progress from their starting points.  The ‘staying close’ project has given young people the opportunity to develop independence in a staged and supported way.

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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 records need to be clearer in terms of the overall plans for young people, and how the staff team will support these plans.  Management oversight needs to be more effective in addressing shortfalls in recording.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Good 31/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/01/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 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

Ensure that staff help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation (6)(2)(b)(vi)) 20/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(a)) 20/05/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should 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 home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at

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Recommendations

the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are relaxed and happy. They have caring, trusting relationships with the adults in the home, which are characterised by warmth and good humour. A young person said, ‘I didn’t know how much the staff helped me until I left. That’s why I came back.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently seen a high turnover in its group of young people, with a number moving on or moving in. The changeover has provided staff with the opportunity to freshen up the home’s physical appearance. The attractively redecorated bedrooms and communal areas are maintained to a high standard and provide a welcoming environment for young people when they are admitted to the home. One young person, who was being admitted at the time of the inspection, spoke to the inspector and said that he was ‘very happy’ with his new bedroom, which had been personalised to a high standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is seen as important by the young people and the staff team. Most young people are in school or college, or are starting apprenticeships and work placements. When taking into account young people’s starting points, their attendance is good overall. The staff team supports education and work opportunities well, encourages young people and offers incentives to help daily routines to become embedded. This enables young people to develop behaviours that will support them once they move on to independence or return home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the young people are healthy, eat well and attend routine or specific appointments, which they either go to alone, where this is age appropriate, or with staff. Sporting activities and those that assist with promoting good health and positive self-esteem, such as football, horse riding and health and beauty, are actively encouraged. Health needs are identified as part of the overall plan, and good health is promoted. All of the young people are registered with local services. As part of the plan for independence, they are gradually encouraged to take responsibility for making and attending appointments to enable them to learn to manage their own physical well-being in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff team understand the importance of contact with family and friends. They promote and support contact well, either via transport or supervision where necessary. Friends, family and professionals are welcomed in the home and are included in activities and trips, where appropriate. This helps each young person to feel accepted and to develop positive relationships that contribute to their resilience when dealing with difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consultation with young people and professionals is good, day to day. In addition, there are meetings with the group of young people, and individual key-working sessions. Records demonstrate that young people are encouraged to air their views as a group and reach a compromise. This develops empathy and negotiation skills, both of which Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 5 are essential in adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Sanctions are rarely used, but a restorative approach is adopted when managing behaviour. This further enhances a sense of empathy in young people. In particular, when issues occur in the community this approach helps young people develop a sense of what it is like to live in a neighbourhood, and the individual responsibility they have to those around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are care plans in place that focus on the current and future needs of young people. However, the quality of the plans and other records is variable. While this does not impact on young people day to day, it hinders the ability of management to present effective evidence when advocating on behalf of young people for services.

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

The young people are, and say that they feel, safe in the home. Risk assessments identify indicators and triggers as well as strategies for mitigating against the risk, including prior to admission. Such assessments are updated by staff, but again the quality is variable.

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

Overall, episodes of absence or going missing are low. Staff are aware of the agreed procedures to follow should young people go missing. They actively look for young people and encourage them to return safely. The result is that young people feel cared for.

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

Staff ensure that they quickly develop clear, consistent boundaries to enable young people to settle. The use of physical intervention is low, but when it is used, it is appropriate to prevent harm. Records are clear and include comments from young people after the event. This allows young people to reflect on their emotions and how they have an impact on their behaviour.

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

Staff maintain regular contact with those professionals involved in the care of young people. Updated information is shared at regular intervals. A social work team manager said, ‘They are always available on the phone if I need to speak to them. They contact the social worker almost daily with updates.’

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

Staff have responded quickly when necessary to keep young people safe from all forms of exploitation. One young person has engaged in behaviours that put him at risk from reprisals in the community. This in turn could impact on other young people in the home. However, the staff team has developed clear strategies to address the issues and has discussed them with the wider group of young people. This helps young people become aware of the impacts of certain behaviours and enables them to feel supported to address any consequences.

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

The newly formed group of young people have engaged in behaviour such as bullying Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 6 while learning to live together, and this is addressed by staff both individually and with the group as a whole. This educates young people about the effects of such behaviour on others.

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

The staff team works well with a police officer based in the local community. Proactive partnership working has resulted in reductions in the levels of risk experienced by young people. There is no information to indicate that any of the young people are currently at risk of sexual exploitation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has an experienced manager who is supported by a strong senior team, including a deputy. The staff group is a suitable mix of qualified social workers and experienced residential care workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has positive relationships with young people who see her as approachable, but this can, at times, take priority over the leadership aspects of her role, and this has led to shortfalls in the monitoring of records. While the manager is clear about the needs of young people, she is less clear in terms of using the evidence available in records to take a strategic approach to planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Steps have been put in place since the last inspection that have improved some aspects of management monitoring. However, the identified actions are not always followed up. For example, shortfalls in the recording in young people’s plans is repeatedly raised within some supervisions as an area to be addressed, with no further steps noted to ensure that recording improves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are supervised regularly by a member of the management team, and their individual training needs are considered and met appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Records are held electronically. Individual work carried out by key workers with young people is often scanned in so that their views are gathered and represented regularly. The format used to record these individual sessions allows for the inclusion of photographs to help young people develop positive memories of their time in the home. The staff team does not consistently make use of this opportunity, and there is little evidence of the management team addressing this with staff. This means that vital opportunities for positive reinforcement to develop self-esteem with young people are missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

In addition, management oversight of all records needs to improve to ensure that relevant plans are updated with current information to enable young people to move on appropriately and avoid drift. The separation of documents on the system has meant that links between information are not always clearly seen by the staff or the management team. This prevents staff from addressing plans, and leads to young people feeling aggrieved that their situations do not move on in a timely manner.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 7 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: SC068243 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16 The Silverlink North, Newcastle upon Tyne NE27 0BY

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Inspectors

Ian Young, HMI Sue Atkinson-Millmoor, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report children’s home: SC068243 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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