Children's Home run by Sunderland Care and Support Limited in Sunderland

Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 1 Registered provider: Sunderland Care and 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

This privately operated children’s home provides short breaks for children and young people who have disabilities. The manager was registered in October 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 27 to 28 November 2018

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 10 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2017 Full Good 23/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 2

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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 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)(2)(b)) 28/12/2018

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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 16, paragraph 3.14) In particular, taking a consistent approach to recording one-to-one key-worker sessions and link them to each child and young person’s placement plan and risk assessment.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 3 In particular, that when body maps are completed the steps taken to understand the marks are made explicitly clear. There should also be an evaluation of the risks, actions and outcomes that have been reviewed by the registered manager.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and well maintained. There are photographs of the children, young people and the staff team displayed around the home. There are games, books and other activities that are suitable for the range of interests and needs of the children and young people. There is a library, sensory room and sensory garden are all well used by the children and young people. There are external organisations that visit the home to provide specific activities such as cooking and crafts. Additionally, children and young people can choose activities in the community. Such experiences provide children and young people with opportunities to socialise and build friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are very nurturing, which helps children and young people to settle during their stays. Parents and carers spoken to said they are reassured that their children are well cared for. Many parents spoken to commented that their children look forward to their stays. One carer commented, ‘They are outstanding. Very child focused.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good evidence of each short-break stay being well planned. Changes to each child or young person’s care requirements are considered pre-admission to ensure that appropriate adjustments are in place. There is currently no pre-admission risk assessment that assesses the dynamics between the children and young people placed together on each stay. This would strengthen risk management processes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good evidence that children, young people and their families are regularly consulted. Photographs evidence the ways in which the staff team engages children and young people to promote their participation. Regular reports also help parents and carers to see how their children are being cared for. This enables the registered manager to monitor and review the quality of care provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Tasks set to help children and young people achieve are not explicitly linked to individual care plans. This includes life skill work. As a result the direct work that the staff team undertake is not clearly evidenced. This would help children and young people to recognise their own progress and achievements. Children and young people do make very good Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 4 progress. Shortfalls identified link to the recording of practices and not the actual practices themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Practice in the home is very much built on evidence-based research. This means there is a consistent approach to the standard of care provided. One parent commented, ‘This place is just fantastic. It is good for [Name]; she doesn’t have the same level of independence when she is with us. They are just superb at helping [Name] develop her independence. It has certainly boosted her confidence.’ Another parent said, ‘I just feel consulted every step of the way. I can rest knowing [Name] will be safe there and actually enjoy it. I can sleep at night.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home celebrates progress and achievements in line with each child and young person’s ability. Certificates, stickers and choices of activity help children and young people to have a sense of pride, which supports their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is very much focused on children and young people making a positive contribution to and being part of their local community. This is supported by the charitable work that the home is involved in. For example, the children and young people have grown vegetables and donated them to food banks. This has enhanced the links and relationships with external organisations, and helps children and young people to understand what it is like to be part of a community.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and care plans are individualised to each child and young person’s needs. This enables the staff team to provide effective strategies for mitigating each child or young person’s risks.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, missing-from-home episodes, bullying and physical interventions have not been issues of concern.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager understands the benefits of a well-trained and skilled workforce. All staff are up to date with mandatory training. Additional training has been sourced to help the staff team understand concerns around child exploitation and hate crime. A professional spoken to said, ‘They are so passionate about what they do. They are hungry to learn. I love their enthusiasm. It shows they want to get it right for the children.’

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improvement to be good

Staff receive regular supervision in line with the organisation’s policy. Safeguarding is an agenda item. Additionally, team meetings provide opportunities to discuss and reflect on practice, as well as raise safeguarding concerns. This assists the home in developing a safeguarding culture that will help and protect children and young people.

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improvement to be good

The staff routinely complete body maps and liaise with parents and carers to understand the origins of injuries. There is not yet an effective system in place that evidences the Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 5 steps that the staff have taken to understand injuries that have unknown origins. Additionally, there is no evaluation of risks relating to injury nor is there any management oversight of staff responses to injuries. Such processes would strengthen safeguarding practice to ensure that children and young people are protected.

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

The registered manager is appropriately qualified for the position she holds. She was registered in October 2018. The registered manager is supported in her role by a motivated and well-established staff team. Collectively, the staff are compassionate and nurturing. They are very aspirational for the children and young people they care for. This was evident in the language they used when discussing the children and young people, and via their interactions with them.

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

The registered manager demonstrates understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Her own audit of the documents and files has led to a clear action plan being devised to help drive improvements forward.

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

The registered manager provides a supportive environment for the staff team via supervisions and learning opportunities. Changes are about to be made to the service, and the organisation will be merging with another provider. This will lead to new staff being recruited. The registered manager has already identified several members of staff to complete mentoring training. This will enhance the support and transition of new staff.

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

Recording in key documents is generally detailed and of a good standard. The inspector found some records to be either missing or inaccurate. The registered manager is new to the post and has not yet fully implemented an effective monitoring system. This has led to a recommendation being made to ensure that all records are written with care. This would ensure that anyone with a legitimate reason to view the records could understand the content.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 6 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: 1183826 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sunderland Care and Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Burdon Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR2 7DN

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183826 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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