Children's Home run by North Yorkshire County Council in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 1 SC034235 Registered provider: North Yorkshire County Council

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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 registered to accommodate up to six children and young people between the ages of 13 and 18 years old who display emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is approved for a further two young people in off-site accommodation for up to 28 days. The home is operated by a local authority and is part of the No Wrong Door innovation to provide an integrated service for adolescents. It accepts both planned and emergency admissions.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: 16 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2018 Full Outstanding 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/10/2016 Full Outstanding 24/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people make significant and sustained progress. This is due to the individualised, warm and consistent care and support from the committed and experienced staff team. There are improvements in behaviour, social interactions and engagement in education and training. The children and young people are extremely well supported to develop their confidence, emotional resilience and self-esteem. This is clearly evident when young people are successful in managing stressful and busy employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The quality of relationships between staff and the children and young people is excellent. The nurturing staff team spends considerable time listening to children and young people and provides them with trusting, positive relationships. This helps them to form strong attachments. The staff’s commitment to the children and young people is exceptional. Professionals and carers reported that staff will regularly go above and beyond their roles. One wrote, ‘The young man who left your care to return home was different to the one who joined you just 6 months before – I feel that the power of the relationships and the acceptance of unconditional care helped him to grow.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people have the benefit of the involvement of the on-site clinical specialists, such as the life coach and communication support worker. There is an open- door policy, so children and young people have easy access to the clinicians. Even those children and young people who have previously been reluctant to receive therapeutic support are now engaging in sessions. This results in improved emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The psychological formulation meetings offer timely collaborative working with other key professionals. Early planning and intervention help to identify need. This also provides highly effective case management to stop drift in care planning. Staff develop detailed and individualised care plans and children and young people benefit from a multi-agency approach to their care. Children and young people are involved in their planning. This helps them feel listened to and they set their own targets. Children and young people take ownership of their plans and have future aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people, including those who have had many changes of carers, are settled for the first time in years. Staff become stable figures in their lives. Children and young people enjoy a strong sense of security and stability. This prepares children and young people to successfully move back to family, where appropriate, or to alternative carers. Emotional and practical support continues after the children and young people leave the home. If needed, this includes ongoing psychological support. There is a low turnover of staff, so children and young people enjoy long-lasting relationships. Many choose to remain in contact with staff long after they leave the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 4

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

The children and young people are kept safe by the staff team’s robust and comprehensive safeguarding practice. This is strengthened by the collaborative working with the on-site police liaison officer. When children and young people move in, they sometimes go missing from the home. The staff team is persistent and thorough in looking for them. Effective information sharing means that children and young people are quickly found. As children and young people settle, there is a significant reduction in their missing from care episodes. There is currently only one young person who occasionally returns home late.

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

The children and young people confide in staff about people they are associating with or places they are visiting. This is due to the trusting relationships they have developed. Staff then share this intelligence with the police liaison officer. This coordinated response results in police taking effective action against adults who could be a risk to the children and young people. This increased speed in pursuing interventions reduces the chance of the children and young people being exploited. Staff are also fully aware and vigilant to the locality issues of county lines and associated risks of gang affiliation.

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

The staff team has a strong awareness of the risks specific to each child and young person. There is continuous attention to risk management through the theoretically underpinned , multi-agency safeguarding meetings. These include police, health, social care and education professionals. These meetings help to build up a picture to identify and manage potential and current risks. Each agency takes responsibility to implement actions. Staff are tenacious and challenge when support is not provided to the child or young person. This gives a clear message to children and young people that their safety and well-being are paramount.

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

The children and young people are involved in the formulation of their personalised crisis management plans. They willingly engage with the psychological assessments and sessions with the life coach. This leads to children and young people talking about their feelings and responses to situations. This information is shared with the staff team members, who reflect on their own actions and change strategies. Consequently, this joined-up approach leads to children and young people learning to self-regulate their emotions. There are fewer negative outbursts and a significant reduction in self-harming behaviours.

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

Staff regularly provide information to children and young people during informal chats, key-working sessions and residents’ meetings. This includes educating children and young people about issues affecting them, such as risks of cannabis misuse, aggression towards others, or even sensitive issues such as sexual health. There is a reduction in high-risk behaviour, offending behaviour and severity of offences as children and young people learn to keep themselves safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very experienced and has been instrumental in developing and creating the integrated team at the home. He has established excellent leadership of the home. The manager has recently been involved in supporting the responsible individual in a more strategic role. One of the skilled deputy managers is in the process of making her registered manager application to support the existing manager. This will strengthen the current managerial arrangements further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management of the home is exceptional. Strong leadership and management are driven by high aspirations for children and young people. Leaders and managers are passionate and have high expectations of the staff to positively change the lives of the children and young people. Managers are visible in the home so their passion filters down to the staff team. This extends to the specialist roles who are enthusiastic to share their knowledge and experience with staff. This stimulates discussions and creative research-based practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The eclectic and professional staff team feels there are high levels of support from the management team. Regular reflective supervision, training and support enables the staff’s personal and professional development. The staff are a cohesive team that nurtures, encourages and supports the children and young people. They are highly ambitious for them and take great pleasure in seeing the progress the children and young people make. One staff member said, ‘I have a very supportive manager and am encouraged to be creative and use my initiative. There are plenty of training opportunities. Managers are fair and well respected.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers ensure that there are accurate and extensive tracking systems to oversee children’s and young people’s progress and development. These provide statistical and evaluative information which helps to analyse any trends or patterns. Thorough monitoring and oversight of the children and young people means that managers have a coherent understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Effective links with parents and health, education and social care professionals stimulate excellent working- together practices. Their feedback assists the manager’s thorough review of the quality of care provided for young people.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC034235 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Yorkshire County Council, County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Janice Nicholson

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Inspector(s)

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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