Children's home run by North East Specialist Therapeutic Services CIC in Northumberland

Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 1 SC488112 Registered provider: North East Specialist Therapeutic Services Community Interest Company

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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 offers care and accommodation for children and young people who have been subject to childhood trauma, which has led to them experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties. The children and young people are aged between seven and 14 years old. A private provider operates this home. The manager has been registered since 13 February 2015.

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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: 6 February 2018

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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: SC488112 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2018 Full Good 10/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good 22/01/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 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 care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(c)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. . (Regulation (16)(1) Schedule (1) (14)(a)(b)) In particular: details of any healthcare or therapy provided, including details of the qualifications and professional supervision of the staff involved in providing healthcare or therapy, and information about how the effectiveness of any healthcare or therapy provided is measured, the evidence demonstrating its effectiveness and details of how the information or evidence can be assessed 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work in the home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation (32)(1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for the children, the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care provided for the children in it; and any actions the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation (45)(2)(a)(b)(c)) 31/08/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person must ensure that the design of the home includes any necessary adaptation to meet the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.24) In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home complies with the relevant fire safety regulations and guidance to protect the children and young people, staff and visitors from the risk of fire hazards.  The registered person must have a workforce plan that details the processes and agreed timescales for the staff to achieve induction. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are progressing and developing because of living at this home. They have positive relationships with the staff and with each other, which gives them stability through learning how to grow trusting and meaningful bonds with their peers and carers. A young person said: ‘I love all the staff, it is great here and the best place I have ever lived.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people live in a home that meets their needs. The house provides a homely environment and a large enclosed garden provides a safe area for outdoor play. The children and young people have personalised their bedrooms, and they share their ideas about buying new furniture and the home’s decor. However, some of the internal doors have locks fitted. This unnecessarily restricts the children and young people’s access.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have good outcomes in education and in how they spend their leisure time. They are all in full-time education, and most of them are attaining their educational expectations. Relationships between the staff and individual schools/teachers are very good, which has added value to how the children and young people are progressing. A headteacher said: ‘We have very good communication with the staff and I would say that we have an excellent partnership working arrangement.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage and support the children and young people to develop group and individual hobbies and pastimes, which greatly increases their confidence and it gives them a wide range of positive experiences. The children and young people have their own interests, such as joining the scouts and doing outward-bound activities, and they also enjoy spending time together socialising. A social worker said: ‘[Name] has been on holiday to Germany with the school and on a residential course, which he really enjoyed. Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 5 He is having really positive outcomes.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are healthy, and they enjoy a healthy lifestyle. They have access to the healthcare services that they need, and the staff make sure that the children and young people have a nutritious diet and lots of healthy outdoor activities. This maintains their healthy growth and development.

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

There have been no safeguarding concerns or child protection referrals since the last inspection. The staff receive safeguarding training and they have a good understanding of how to keep the children and young people safe. Risk management is good and high staffing levels ensure that the children and young people are suitably observed and supervised.

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

None of the children or young people are at risk of exploitation, radicalisation or extremism. There have been no complaints, any instances of bullying, or children and young people going missing. The staff support the older young people, who are becoming more independent, to understand and anticipate potential risks within their community. This prepares them for later life as they move into adulthood.

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

Behaviour is managed positively. The staff focus on using de-escalation strategies to support any child or young person who is experiencing high levels of distress. Restraints are used to manage behaviour, but only as a last resort. There has been an increase in the use of restraints since the last inspection, mainly involving one child. However, the home’s behaviour management records and testimony from the child’s social worker show that every effort is being made to support the child through a difficult period.

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

The overall management of health and safety in the home is good. The registered manager has systems in place to check the home for any potential hazards and to rectify these without delay. However, a query arose during this inspection about fire safety measures, such as there being no fire safety signage or visible fire-fighting equipment. This could potentially put children and young people, staff and visitors at risk.

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

The procedures for safe staff recruitment are good and the recruitment records for the staff working in the home show that all safety checks are carried out. However, the registered manager has not carried out safety checks for two visiting professional consultants. This potentially puts the children and young people at risk. These professionals do not have direct contact with the children and young people, so the safeguarding risks are minimised, but they are regular visitors to the home and should be checked and vetted.

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

The registered manager has been in post since the home was registered and he has the right qualifications, skills and experience to carry out his role. Two deputy managers and a committed staff team support him. The ethos of the home is to support and nurture Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 6 the children and young people to achieve their best possible outcomes. This ethos is embedded into the home’s day-to-day childcare practice.

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

Feedback from the staff team is positive. They feel supported and valued. There are regular staff meetings and comprehensive staff handovers, which enhances good communication. The staff feel that they receive the training and development that they need to carry out their roles, and they have regular formal and informal supervision. Induction for new starters has positive elements. For example, they have a prolonged period of shadowing, and mentoring, by experienced staff. However, written induction plans are a very basic checklist that do not set out what competencies the staff need to meet, or how the registered manager demonstrates that he is satisfied that new staff have the skills that they need to work confidently and effectively.

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

The outcomes and progress for the children and young people are good, based on their achievements and testimony from their social workers and other professionals. However, the quality and clarity of the home’s written residential plans do not reflect the children and young people’s needs or how these will be met. Consequently, the registered manager cannot demonstrate individualised care or progress from the children and young people’s starting points. This is particularly highlighted in how the home delivers its therapeutic interventions, because there are no written therapeutic plans. As a result, the registered manager is unable to definitively demonstrate that he has a clear understanding of how the children and young people’s outcomes are linked to their relevant plans.

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

The home has progressed by meeting a previous requirement and two recommendations. The registered manager has commissioned a new independent visitor who is scrutinising the operation of the home and the children and young people’s experiences. The visitor is identifying areas of weakness and setting concise recommendations that are driving improvement. The registered manager is responding positively to this new way of working and values having a ‘critical friend’.

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

The staff have received training in understanding the risks of radicalisation and extremism. This has increased their knowledge of how children and young people may be exposed, or vulnerable, to being exploited in this way. The registered manager has also reviewed the home’s procedures to support children and young people who go missing.

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

Other areas of monitoring fall short of expectations, namely the registered manager’s regulation 45 monitoring. The most recent monitoring report does not meet regulation and therefore questions the quality of the internal monitoring systems. The registered manager has not demonstrated that he has fully evaluated the quality of the care provided, or that he has consulted with the children and young people, parents or other relevant professionals. In addition, the action plan does not include any meaningful improvement recommendations.

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

The statement of purpose includes a range of useful information about what the home sets out to do for the children and young people, but some parts of the statement are Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 7 misleading in relation to the home’s therapeutic services. This potentially ill advises social workers, and placing authorities, who need specialist services to meet their children and young people’s needs. For example, the staff are referred to as ‘therapeutic care workers’ but none of them have a recognised accredited therapeutic qualification. In addition, the statement sets out that the provider commissions a psychotherapist but it does not make it clear that her role is to support the staff, and that she does not have any contact with the children and young people.

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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: SC488112 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Specialist Therapeutic Services Community Interest Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 34 Westbourne Road, Hartlepool TS25 5RE

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Inspector

Debbie White, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC488112 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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