Children's home run by Durham County Council in County Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 1 SC034741 Registered provider: Durham County Council Full 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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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/05/2017 Full Good 07/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/05/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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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; 24/05/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 4 ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Recommendations

 The importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is recognised in good social work practice, for example undertaking life story and other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 3.14) In particular, this refers to taking a consistent approach to recording one-to-one sessions and linking them to the young person’s placement plan.  Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6) In particular, young people’s views should be recorded to demonstrate that they

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Recommendations

have been consulted about all aspects of their care planning.  Staff should understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse such as peer abuse, cyber-bullying and bullying in day to day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (See regulation 34(3) on the policy for the prevention of bullying.) (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.16) Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people living in the home are receiving a good standard of care. The home is clean, warm and welcoming. The young people make good use of communal areas, as well as having the privacy of their own bedrooms. These are personalised spaces, reflecting their individual identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are supported to develop independent skills in line with their age and stage of development. Staff are nurturing in their responses. This enables young people to ask for help and support when they most need it. One young person said, ‘Staff are mint here, the best, you cannot fault them. They help me with anything I need.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have access to a range of planned and unplanned activities, including outings to theme parks. There are opportunities for young people to have independent time away from the home to meet friends. The staff team is also good at supporting young people to have contact with family members, where appropriate. This demonstrates that the staff have good insight into the young people’s identity needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each young person is accessing an educational or training programme specific to their learning needs. One young person, admitted into the home in December 2017, had poor school attendance at the point of admission. Since then, his attendance of education has been exceptional. The staff have been creative and offered incentives to young people who have struggled in their educational setting. This has supported and maintained progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use key-worker sessions to help young people to understand how to keep themselves safe, as well as exploring other relevant topics. To strengthen practice in this area there should be clear strategies within placement plans to identify the area of work to be completed. Additionally, young people’s views should be explicitly recorded in key- worker sessions and throughout their records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been changes to the staff team since the last inspection. The staff strive to build positive relationships with the young people. This has prevented any noticeable disruption to the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people who have moved on from the home have done so in a planned way with the support of the staff team.

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

The young people spoken to say that they feel safe living in the home. However, there have been incidents of bullying. On those occasions, some young people have said they were unhappy and felt intimidated. To tackle bullying issues effectively, the staff should support and educate young people on the impact of bullying. This would encourage a preventative model to tackle bullying, as opposed to the reactive response currently in Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 6 place.

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

Some young people have complex needs, and this heightens their vulnerabilities, especially if they are missing from home. While missing from home episodes have been significantly reduced, there have been shortfalls in the arrangements for safe return to the home. To ensure that safeguarding practice is strengthened in this area, the registered manager must specify the exact procedures to be followed. This includes the roles and responsibilities of the staff team at any given time. The procedures and strategies should be explicitly referred to within placement plans.

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

The majority of the staff have completed mandatory safeguarding training. There are two members of staff who still need to complete this. This should be prioritised to ensure that every staff member is fully trained around safeguarding issues and protocols.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is qualified for the role. He has extensive experience of working in a children’s home setting. His position as the registered manager commenced in September 2017. He was able to identify the challenges of being a new manager in a children’s home, yet has plans in place to develop practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear of the home’s strengths as well as areas for development. He is supported in his role by a dedicated staff team with a range of skills and knowledge. The manager and staff team strive to achieve the best possible outcomes for young people. The manager encourages a culture where young people have positive experiences on a daily basis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with a care team of professionals. One professional described the progress of one young person as ‘impeccable, because of the staff and their support’. Another professional commented, ‘The relationships that the manager and staff build with the young people in such a short space of time are just amazing’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates well for young people. He ensures that key workers attend meetings and appointments linked to health, education and care planning for young people. The manager has challenged the senior management team regarding potential new admissions. He has been able to consider the impact of potential risk to other young people living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the training delivered is mandatory training and via e-learning. The staff team would benefit from focused training. In particular, updated training around solvent/ substance misuse and gang culture would be beneficial. Staff members spoken to say that they would welcome opportunities to access face-to-face training that provides opportunities for practice discussions. This would enhance the staff’s experience, qualifications and skills to meet the range of needs that the young people have. Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 7

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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 difference 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: SC034741 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034741 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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