Children's home run by Durham County Council in County Durham

Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 1 SC034741 Registered provider: Durham County Council Interim 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 five children and/or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager was registered in November 2017.

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home was judged to be good at the last full inspection in May 2018. The home has had an unsettled period, and this has led to this interim inspection. Since the full inspection, the registered manager has had a period of absence.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There are shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children and young people. This has led to a declined in effectiveness judgement being made.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been several new admissions and discharges since the last full inspection. Not all admissions and discharges have been planned and some have taken place in crisis situations. This does not provide children and young people with positive experiences of arriving at and leaving the home. Furthermore, children and young people are offered placements which do not comply with the home’s statement of purpose. Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 2 Poor matching has led to an increase in negative behaviours. The registered manager states that he has been overruled by senior managers without careful consideration or appropriate matching to those children and young people already living in the home. Additionally, there is no evidence of the manager escalating the challenge of unsuitable placements.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The experiences of children and young people in this home since the last inspection have been mixed. Because of poor care planning and the dynamics of the group, it has been difficult for the staff team to manage disruptive and dangerous behaviour effectively. This has resulted in children and young people displaying high levels of anger and aggression, which has resulted in physical and emotional harm to children and young people, staff and other professionals. In addition, children and young people’s placements have ended prematurely as the manager and staff have been unable to keep children and young people safe.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff members spoken to describe morale to be low. Comments such as ‘firefighting’ were commonly used to describe how they were responding to incidents and behaviours daily. Agency staff have been used as additional support to increase supervision levels in the home. The numberof permanent staff remains proportionately higher than agency staff on duty at any given time. This means children and young people are cared for by a consistent team.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff team is extremely hard-working and strives to build positive relationships with the children and young people. Staff recognise the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They feel restricted in how they can effect necessary change to drive improvements forward. Their resilience and commitment are evident.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the full inspection, there have been new concerns around children and young people using illicit substances. There has also been an increase in criminal and anti- social behaviour that has resulted in police being called to manage aggressive behaviours. Despite the increased staffing levels, the staff team has been unable to safeguard each child and young person effectively.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

A theme from this inspection has been staff not knowing information about significant incidents that have happened. There is no effective system in place to debrief the staff team following significant events such as self-harm or an assault on staff. Staff spoken to confirmed this and said they ‘feel out of the loop’. This means children and young people do not receive consistent approaches regarding how they are cared for.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Missing-from-home episodes have fluctuated. The staff team follows the appropriate protocols to ensure the safe return of children and young people. There is not yet an effective system in place for the staff team to demonstrate that all reasonable efforts have been taken to ensure that return home interviews consistently take place and are recorded. This would strengthen strategies to keep children and young people safe.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Risk assessments and placement plans are either out of date or blank. Risk assessments Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 3 do not clearly identify how all children and young people will be safeguarded effectively in and outside the home. Placement plans do not identify how children and young people are being supported. Consequently, bullying incidents have taken place but are not recorded appropriately. This means children and young people remain vulnerable. The recommendation regarding bullying that was made at the full inspection remains relevant.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has ensured that all mandatory training has been completed. The staff have not received bespoke training linked to the vulnerabilities of the children and young people that they care for. This would enhance the skills of the staff team in identifying and managing harmful behaviours.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/05/2018 Full Good 30/05/2017 Full Good 07/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/05/2016 Full Good

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 14/02/2019 Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 4 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi) and (vii)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d) and (e)) 14/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

*The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 14/02/2019 Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home's statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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 42, paragraph 3.14)

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Recommendations

In particular, staff should take a consistent approach to recording one-to-one sessions and linking them to the placement plan.

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Recommendations

 Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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Recommendations

In particular, children’s views should be recorded to demonstrate that they have been consulted on all aspects of their care planning.

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse such as peer abuse, cyber-bullying and bullying in day-to-day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (See regulation 34(3) on the policy for the prevention of bullying.) (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.16)

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Recommendations

 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 Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 6 9.30)

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Recommendations

In particular, the staff team should demonstrate all reasonable efforts taken to ensure that return home interviews take place following missing episodes.

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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’.

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Durham County Council

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Interim inspection report children's home: SC034741 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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