Children's home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 1 SC038237 Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council 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 short-break care and accommodation of up to five children and young people with sensory impairment, learning disabilities or physical disabilities. The manager was registered in December 2013 and is appropriately qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 February 2019

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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: 12 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2017 Full Outstanding 24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Good 10/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 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 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. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a risk assessment is in place for a child using a medical bed.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff report any child protection concerns correctly according to the child protection policy. 31/03/2019

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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— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the 31/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 4 approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, report all child protection concerns correctly and ensure that staff are trained to deal with child protection concerns appropriately.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision 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) In particular, provide supervision that is regular and sufficiently in depth.  Regulation 45 sets out the requirements for the registered person to monitor the matters set out in the regulation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) In particular, the review should contain opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. Also include any actions necessary for the development of the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been many changes in the children and young people receiving a service at this home during this inspection period. Many have successfully moved on and others have more recently started attending the home. The staff team has remained unchanged and a consistent service has been maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is cosy and well resourced. The staff team is nurturing and caring and offers the children and young people a positive and stimulating environment. Children and young people are supported to have fun, to try new activities and to learn new skills. The children and young people have very good relationships with the staff and they make good progress as well as having excellent experiences while they are at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and carers spoken to were full of praise for the work that the staff do and the progress that their children make. External professionals are equally positive and complimentary about the service and about the outcomes for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a good balance of structured and unstructured time spent at the home. For some of the time, children and young people can choose what they do and at other times staff plan activities to meet the individual needs and interests of the children and Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 5 young people who are staying at any particular time. The staff are clear about the needs of the children and young people and support them to achieve specific goals and targets around gaining independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are supported to take part in a wide range of activities. This includes going out into the community for activities, trips and visits to places of interest. The staff have introduced a new Arts Award scheme whereby most of the children and young people participate in artistic activities, both in the home and outside. Many of them have gained award certificates for their work in this area, which are very positive achievements.

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improvement to be good

Although most of the children and young people are kept very safe for most of the time, there has been one significant safeguarding error, which means that some improvements are now required. This involved staff not reporting an incident correctly or in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

The matter is currently being investigated and although there has been a delay caused by the incorrect reporting, no further harm has occurred. Requirements have been made to address this issue. Further safeguarding training for all staff has now been arranged.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people who attend this short-breaks home are very well supervised and staff ratios are high. Staff provide clear boundaries and expectations are clear as well. There is no bullying and the home feels calm, safe and secure. The staff mostly make good risk assessments for each of the children and young people for when they are in the home or outside in the community. However, a risk assessment is required for the safe use of a specialist bed.

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improvement to be good

No child or young person has gone missing from the home or from staff care at any time and so there have been no safeguarding concerns arising from this. Children and young people are escorted to and from the home by parents or carers and so they remain safe.

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improvement to be good

The staff have not used any physical interventions on any child or young person at any time. Staff are aware of children’s and young people’s needs and recognise early on when they need a distraction or diversion and generally this avoids further incidents. The staff deal well with any challenging behaviour when it occurs and avoid the need for any additional intervention or sanctions.

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

The registered manager has continued to run a service which provides high-quality care for the children and young people who visit the home. However, there has been a significant error around safeguarding and some other omissions have occurred.

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

There has been some good work carried out with families. The staff have worked well Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 6 with parents and carers to understand the needs of the children and young people and to support them to make good progress in agreed areas. This progress made while the children and young people attend for their short breaks does transfer back to their home environment.

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

The registered manager has good relationships with other professionals and other agencies. There are good relationships with the health services and this benefits the children and young people who often have complex health needs. The health needs of the children and young people have been well managed. This is due to the robust systems that have been put in place by the registered manager.

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

There have been some developments made by the registered manager over the inspection period. Improvements made to the recording of risk assessments have addressed the recommendation made at the previous inspection. There is also improved evaluation of the progress that the children and young people are making.

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

The staff are positive about the management of the home and receive good training and support. However, the formal supervision that they receive could be more regular and more in depth and a recommendation has been made to address this issue.

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

A recommendation has also been made to improve the Regulation 45 review.

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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: SC038237 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington county council

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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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Inspectors

Colin Imrie: social care inspector Debbie White: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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