Children's home run by Compass Children’s Homes Northeast Limited in North Tyneside

Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 1 SC403472 Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited

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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 provides accommodation for up to five children and/or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in place who is not yet registered.

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 February 2018

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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: SC403472 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2018 Full Good 28/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/04/2016 Full Good 03/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 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 health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) and (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) In particular, all children should be registered with a local GP.

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Requirement Due date

Where relevant the home should have on file an up-to-date copy of all education and healthcare plans. 29/12/2018

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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; 29/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 4 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi) and (vii)) 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child

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Requirement Due date

from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d)) 29/12/2018

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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 ensure that the staff have the experience and qualifications and skills to meet the need of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(a)(c)) 29/12/2018

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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 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that arrangements are in place to— ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(i)(ii) and (iii)) 29/12/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 5

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improvement to be good

The three children living in the home have been there for only a short period of time. Progress is mixed, with children progressing well in some areas and not in others. The children are beginning to settle and form positive relationships. Children’s day-to-day experiences of living in the home are negatively affected by the disruption of children coming to and leaving the home. This has affected their ability to form friendships with other children living there. In addition, there has been damage to the fixtures and fittings in the home. Therefore, the home is somewhat run down and has very few homely touches. This means that children feel undervalued.

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improvement to be good

Some children are beginning to make progress in their education. Staff are proactive; they help and support children to attend and achieve. One child has no education or training placement. Staff have worked closely with training providers to identify a suitable training placement. Staff have promoted and supported alternative education provision, such as helping to maintain positive engagement with a local pupil referral unit. Children who have additional needs do not all have appropriate documentation in place, to help and support their education and health. The absence of education and healthcare plans means that the children’s additional needs are not fully understood or met. Additionally, one child is not currently registered with a local GP, which means that his healthcare needs cannot be fully met.

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improvement to be good

Contact is appropriately supported. Staff facilitate contact and have forged positive relationships with friends and family members. This ensures that contact goes smoothly and helps to maintain family relationships. Contact for some children has increased, enabling them to rebuild relationships with family members. A child said: ‘I get to phone my mum lots. This is good as I am a long way from her. Staff are sorting it out for her to come and see me soon, which will be great.’

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improvement to be good

The children are given the opportunity to share their views on daily life and their care in the home. They are able to raise concerns at any time, due to the positive relationships they have with staff. The use of child-friendly ‘my plans’ means that they are able to take part in and understand their plans. This helps them to gain self-confidence and feel supported.

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improvement to be good

The use of the ‘what’s next’ independence worksheets is a fun way of helping the children to develop independence skills. Progress is monitored, and this means that areas for further work can be identified. Skills such as shopping, budgeting, cooking and cleaning are included in the independence programme, alongside information on how to cope with loneliness and isolation. This helps the children to build resilience and be prepared for living independently. Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 6

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improvement to be good

The children say they feel safe. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are in place. However, impact risk assessments are not always in place when children come to live at the home. The matching criteria have not always been effective. This has led to a significant turnover of children coming into and leaving the home over a short period of time. A number have been served notice by the manager to end their placements. Staff stated that they felt that the mix and dynamic of children in the home was at times unsafe. To strengthen practice, impact risk assessments and matching criteria need to be in place and robust.

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improvement to be good

Challenging and disruptive behaviours have been difficult for staff to de-escalate. Clear boundaries about safe and acceptable behaviours are not always in place. This means that the children are not being helped to understand how to keep themselves safe. Recently, a number of new staff have come to work in the home, including a new manager. They are not yet working together as an effective and cohesive team. This means that they have been unable to provide consistent and effective approaches to behaviour management. This has led to the police having to be called to the home to manage behaviour.

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improvement to be good

The number of missing-from-home incidents is decreasing. When children do go missing staff follow the home’s protocols. They are proactive in maintaining telephone contact and searching areas that children are known to frequent. Return interviews are taking place, which is a protective factor for the children.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions rarely take place. They are well recorded and the reason for each intervention is clear. The children’s views on the interventions is sought and recorded. Sanctions are rarely used. However, if they are used, they are not always signed off by senior staff, which means that the effectiveness of sanctions is not regularly monitored.

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

The registered manager has recently left her post; she informed Ofsted of this appropriately. The responsible individual informed Ofsted of the situation and that a senior member of staff would be acting as manager. A new manager has been appointed and had been in post for eight days at the time of the inspection. He is currently applying for registration.

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

A number of staff have left the home, which has resulted in the current staff team consisting of relatively new staff. There have been staffing issues and the manager recognises that this has prevented progress being made in reaching the standard that he would want to achieve. He fully understands that this is a challenge. He has recently commissioned a full health and safety audit of the home to identify areas in need of improvement. He understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses and is currently Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 7 writing a development plan to rectify shortfalls. The manager is ambitious to change the culture and ethos of the home.

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

Staff are completing mandatory training and there is a good induction programme in place for new staff. However, all staff do not have specific training that would help them to understand and meet the needs of the children, in a planned and effective way. A psychologist employed by the company is available for training, support and consultation.

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

Supervision for some staff is good, but is not always taking place regularly. Staff, including senior staff, are not being given the opportunity to regularly discuss the needs of the children. This means that they are not developing a clear understanding of the children’s needs and are not developing their own practice. To strengthen practice and ensure that the staff are able to reflect on their practice, regular supervision needs to be in place.

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

External monitoring is good. The independent visitor attends on a monthly basis. The reports contain a clear account of progress and identify shortfalls in the home. Any concerns raised are addressed by the manager.

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

Staff work well with a number of agencies, including education providers, the youth offending service, the police and mental health teams. They are all kept up to date with the progress of the children.

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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: SC403472 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 92 Whitton View, Rothbury, Morpeth NE65 7QN

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Inspector

Dot McGough, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC403472 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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