Children's Home run by Talbot House Children’s Charity Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 1 SC432843 Registered provider: Talbot House School Newcastle upon Tyne

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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 run by a charitable organisation and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to seven children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/06/2017 Full Good 07/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/05/2016 Full Good 28/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 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 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; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— 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)) In particular, to address all individual needs identified in care plans. 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; 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— make decisions about day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(ix)) In particular, to ensure that children are given clear boundaries around bedtimes and getting up times and given clear boundaries and expectations around attending school or training. 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 4 helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(2)(a)(x))

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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. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)) In particular, to keep all safeguarding risk assessments up to date and to assess the risks around the use of mobile phones and the internet and to put controls in place to manage any identified risks. 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 the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from

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Requirement Due date

harm. (Regulation 12(2)(b)) In particular, provide appropriate individualised work to reduce risk for children who have sexualised behaviour or sexually harmful behaviour. Also to provide individual work around routines and boundaries to address going missing from home. 31/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(b)) 31/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— the Level 3 Diploma for residential Childcare (England) ("the level 3 diploma") or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. 31/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 5 The relevant date is— in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)(5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— the children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 44(4)(a)) 31/05/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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improvement to be good

Progress for children and young people is mixed, with some doing well in some areas while some are not progressing so well in others. Similarly, experiences are varied with some of the children and young people not having a good daily routine. However, most of the children and young people have positive relationships with staff. Not all of the children and young people are engaging well with their education and training opportunities. One young person is making good progress at college and others are making good progress at school. However, some of the children and young people have poor attendance at school or college or training placements. This is having an impact on their future life chances. The staff provide personalised care for the children and young people, but specific work that would benefit some of them has not been completed in sufficient depth. This means that some of the children and young people have not made progress in dealing with

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improvement to be good

their past experiences and traumas. There have been some difficulties caused by staff not putting in place sufficient routines Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 6 for the day-to-day care of the children and young people. Also, there is some inconsistency of practice by staff around boundaries and expectations. Some of the children and young people have got into a pattern of sleeping in late and of not sleeping at night. This has affected their ability to do constructive work and activities through the day. The staff have supported the children and young people well with maintaining and improving relationships with their families. Several of the children and young people are dealing with difficult family issues and are being helped to do this. Others have clearly improved relationships with family members because of the positive work carried out by the staff. There are many and varied activities and trips out which are organised by the staff. The

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improvement to be good

children and young people help with choosing and planning these and generally make the most of these opportunities. This is a particularly strong aspect of work at this home.

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improvement to be good

Most of the children and young people at the home are kept safe and say that they feel safe in the home. However, recently two of the children and young people have started to put themselves at more risk by going missing. The staff are addressing some of these issues but more work could be done. Staff understand risk and produce risk assessments, but not all of these are thorough enough. Some risk assessments are out of date and some are not accurate or are incomplete. This means that staff do not protect some children and young people as well as they should. The number of missing incidents has increased in recent months The staff have called appropriate strategy and planning meetings to address these issues. There is more work required of the staff in establishing appropriate boundaries and expectations and around doing personalised safeguarding work. Some of children and young people are not responding to the existing boundaries and are placing themselves at greater risk.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has undertaken some recent safer recruitment training and recent staff recruitment has been done well and is safe. Some of the children and young people require some personalised work around sexualised behaviour, but very little of this work has been carried out. This leaves the young people, and potentially others, at increased risk.

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

The registered manager is experienced and appropriately qualified. She has a great deal of commitment to the work and remains passionate about the children and young people in her care. She has excellent relationships with all of the children and young people and often spends constructive time with them. The registered manager has not yet sufficiently developed her senior staff team and this Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 7 has caused difficulties. Senior staff are not yet taking sufficient lead and responsibility for the day-to-day work of the home and this means that some of the children and young people are not receiving sufficient personalised care. There is also a lack of structure and consistency at times. There has been a lack of internal monitoring, a continued lack of staff supervision, and there have been some other management and administrative oversights. External monitoring has not been sufficiently robust, with monthly reports not

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

commenting on safeguarding sufficiently. The staff team is becoming more experienced. However, in the period since the last inspection there have been quite a number of staff leave and others starting. This has meant that some experience has been lost, leading to a lack of consistency in practice. Some members of staff, including members of the senior team, have not yet completed their mandatory qualifications within the required time limits. Staff do work effectively with other agencies and professionals. A number of professionals commented positively on communication between themselves and the staff. The registered manager is confident and is able to challenge others when required.

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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: SC432843 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Talbot House School, Walbottle, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE15 8HW

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Inspector

Colin Imrie, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC432843 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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