Children's home run by Duty of Care Limited in County Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 1 SC476602 Registered provider: Duty of Care 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 is run by a private organisation and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in October 2014 and is appropriately qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 February 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2018 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/05/2016 Full Good 20/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people at this home make excellent progress and the experience of living at this home makes an exceptional difference to their lives. They have very good relationships with staff and receive high-quality care. The home is nurturing and structured and the children and young people flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff use a model of therapeutic care and, with the support of a specialist external consultant, have developed their care practices substantially. This has provided exceptional support for children who have been severely traumatised by their past family situations, and consequently have arrived at the home at very low starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Two children who have complex needs have been able to start to build trust and form positive attachments. This has allowed them to grow in confidence and self-esteem. Both have made enormous progress with their emotional well-being. They have been able to start to deal with major issues of past abuse and trauma in positive ways. They have been able to make positive changes to some of their very challenging behaviour. The staff and external specialist workers have been able to offer high-quality individual work to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Educational attendance and achievement are well supported in the home. Children attend well and thrive. A headteacher commented that they had never seen a child make so much progress in such a short space of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people have been supported to develop hobbies and interests and to start exploring the world from a secure base. The staff have encouraged the development of social skills and life skills and the children and young people have started to enjoy life and take the many opportunities that are available.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Transitions are well planned and well managed. One recent move home did not work well for a young person but the staff offered ongoing support and the young person has benefited from this.

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

The staff have kept the children and young people very safe. For most of the inspection period there have only been two children in placement and they have been supervised very closely with high ratios of staffing. The staff offer clear boundaries and expectations within a nurturing environment. Routines have been well established with the children and young people and these have benefited them considerably.

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

Staff are adept at working with traumatised children, and understand their vulnerabilities well. Safe caring practice is fully embedded in the staff team’s practice and this safeguards children effectively. Allegations are appropriately managed. The staff have Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 4 correctly reported allegations, all of which have been fully investigated by the responsible local authority. The relevant designated officer commented to the inspector that the actions, communication and reporting of the staff were of a high quality.

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

The staff are trained well in the use of physical intervention. Any intervention used is appropriate and is carried out in order to prevent the children from hurting themselves or others. Staff record interventions clearly and always ensure that the children are able to reflect on incidents afterwards, so that they understand what has happened and can be supported to moderate any risky behaviours. These incidents are reducing in number and particularly in duration as the children settle, develop more trust in staff and deal with their difficult past experiences better.

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

No child or young person has gone missing during this inspection period and consequently there have not been any safeguarding concerns around this. Bullying is not a concern in this home as the staff are vigilant and proactive in sorting out any disagreements or arguments quickly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is confident and skilled, and always wants the best for all of the children and young people in her care. She has worked exceptionally hard to further develop the service over the last year. She is highly organised and efficient. She has overseen the development of practice that is designed to help the children and young people have more say in their lives and in the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

She has introduced and successfully embedded a model of therapeutic work which staff understand and are able to use appropriately in everyday work situations. This process has not been easy, but high-quality training, supervision and support have been given to staff and the benefits are now clear to see.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The implementation of the new therapeutic way of working has been overseen by a clinical psychologist employed on a part-time basis. They have offered training and consultation to staff, and have undertaken direct work with the children and young people. A range of therapeutic techniques have been introduced and a range of specialist interventions are available. These have clearly been used well and have impacted directly on the children and young people in positive ways.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

One of the strengths of the home is the good-quality communication and joint working with other agencies. The registered manager has developed very close working relationships with the children’s schools and update emails are sent between the two, both before and after school, to ensure that all of the relevant information is passed back and forth. This provides excellent consistency of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has worked closely with other services and agencies, and has also negotiated with them and challenged them when needed. Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 5

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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: SC476602 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Duty of Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 13 Front Street, Staindrop, Darlington, County Durham DL2 3LZ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: David Heartfield

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Inspector

Colin Imrie: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC476602 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 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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