Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report children's home: SC068000 1 SC068000 Registered provider: Darlington 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

The home is run by a local authority and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager was registered in June 2007 and is appropriately qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 14 November 2017

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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: SC068000 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2017 Full Good 28/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/06/2016 Full Outstanding 07/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC068000 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) 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(2)(a)) In particular, to ensure that the mix of children in the home is appropriate and that the number of emergency admissions does not disrupt those children staying for longer placements. 06/10/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56 paragraph 11.4)  Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43 paragraph 9.12) Inspection report children's home: SC068000 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is comfortable and homely. The registered manager leads a staff team that is nurturing, caring and child centred. The young people have very good relationships with the staff and this is the basis for much of the good work that takes place. The home has been a little unsettled during the inspection period with four young people arriving and three leaving. One of the young people left after a short placement that was difficult throughout. The young person was challenging and caused some disruption to the home and to the other young people placed there. However, they were able to move on in a planned way to a more appropriate placement. The four young people admitted were all emergency admissions and this has caused further disruption. Two of these young people moved on successfully after short placements and two remain living in the home. One young person has lived in the home for some years and they continue to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

make good progress in their life. The staff team is experienced and skilled, and this has enabled it to continue to support all the young people well. This has resulted in most of the young people making good progress in most areas of their lives. Progress in education for the young people has been mixed. Some, but not all, have clearly made good progress. The staff have maintained very good relationships with the local education providers and the local education department and this has been positive. The local virtual headteacher, when spoken to by the inspector, was very positive about this aspect of the staff’s work. Perhaps the most significant progress has been that a number of the young people were admitted with significant safeguarding concerns and these are now reduced. The staff offer the young people good-quality individual support in the home and also refer them to external specialist workers when required. There is clear evidence of this

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

work contributing to the progress made by the young people. The children and young people are also well supported by staff to improve and maintain family relationships. This is a clear strength of the staff team and has been instrumental in assisting young people’s progress.

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

The staff are working hard to safeguard the young people in this home. They understand risk and put appropriate controls in place to reduce these. They provide a nurturing environment where the boundaries and expectations are clear. A number of young people have arrived at the home with significant safeguarding issues and staff have worked hard to reduce these. Two young people were missing from home frequently prior to admission and they have now settled. One of these young people has stopped going missing and the other has only been missing on a few occasions for short Inspection report children's home: SC068000 5 periods of time. Other young people have been vulnerable to risks from social media and the internet or to sexual exploitation and staff have provided individualised work and support to reduce these risks significantly. Some of the young people in the home misuse drugs. The staff have worked well with

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

them and have supported them to meet with a drugs worker. This work has reduced the concerns, but more work is still required. A recommendation has been made to ensure that staff continue to address these issues thoroughly. The staff at the home have excellent links with local police officers and work closely with them to educate the young people and to protect them from harm. There have been a number of very good examples of successful joint working here. The staff do not use sanctions very often and have not had to use many physical interventions. They prefer to discuss issues and negotiate with the young people. This works well as the young people understand the concerns and are part of the resolution.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly experienced, skilled and confident. She wants the best for all the young people and goes out of her way to achieve good outcomes with them. She is ambitious for them and works tirelessly to support them to achieve good outcomes. One requirement and one recommendation have been made around admissions to the home. One young person was placed at the home despite an impact risk assessment that suggested they would not be suitable. This placement did not work well. Also, the number of emergency admissions has caused some disruption and some unsettled behaviour amongst the young people. The staff feel well supported by the registered manager and acknowledge that she sets the culture and the ethos at the home. The staff are offered good-quality supervision and training and they work well as a team. The registered manager has excellent links with external services and professionals. She

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

has good working relationships with a wide number of professionals and works closely with them for the benefit of the young people. This includes professionals from social care, education, health, police and youth offending, as well as other more specialist workers. The registered manager also places a high priority on family work and keeps in very close contact with family members to ensure joint work and co-operation wherever possible. Again, this supports the young people well.

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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 Inspection report children's home: SC068000 6 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: SC068000 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington, County Durham DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jane Kochanowski

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Inspector

Colin Imrie, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC068000 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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