Children's Home run by Duty of Care Limited in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 1 SC392549 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/or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/06/2018 Full Good 10/10/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained, warm and welcoming. The children make good use of the communal spaces, which are full of toys, games and pictures of the children doing fun activities with staff. The children’s rooms are personalised spaces that they are proud of and that reflect their individuality. For one child, plenty of warm cosy blankets and lots of cushions add to her sense of comfort and safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home receive a good standard of care to meet their individual needs. Staff show genuine warmth and affection towards the children, with whom they build trusting and meaningful relationships. This helps children to develop the confidence they need to achieve their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

School attendance is good. Staff ensure that children regularly attend school. Staff communicate with schools on a regular and, in some cases, a daily basis. This ensures that children are receiving the support that they need to attend and achieve. One teacher said, ‘The home has daily contact with the class teacher; they keep her up to date if there have been any incidents. I feel I can pick up the phone at any time and it really feels like they are working with us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to spend time in the community playing with friends or attending local activity clubs. This helps children to meet new friends and develop independence. Additionally, the children are encouraged to plan trips and outings with the staff. The experience of these trips is captured in photographs that are displayed around the home. The photographs capture moments when they have spent quality time with staff and provide children with an opportunity to reflect on their progress.

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

Practice in the home is underpinned by a therapeutic approach to behavioural issues. The manager and staff regularly consult with and attend training led by a consultant psychologist to consider approaches to responding to behaviour linked to attachment, trauma and anxiety. One professional spoken to said, ‘Absolutely brilliant, I have worked with the home for about three years now and the team has really embraced trauma- informed practice. It is much more embedded in practice.’ Such strategies support and develop children’s emotional well-being.

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

No child has been reported missing from the home since 2014. On the very rare occasion that children are not where they are supposed to be, staff are knowledgeable in the steps they need to take to quickly locate children and ensure that they are safe.

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

Children know how to complain. Allegations made against staff are dealt with swiftly and information is passed to the appropriate agencies. The designated officer commented, ‘I find the home really good. They refer to me regularly with in-depth, accurate information, they engage with me very well and ask for advice.’ This ensures that allegations are dealt Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 4 with in an open and honest manner to ensure that children are protected from harm.

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

Staff use one-to-one sessions with children to help them to understand how to keep themselves safe. However, when it has been assessed that children require regular sessions about bullying, these have not taken place. This may lead to children behaving in a way that puts others or themselves at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and inspirational. She is well organised and ensures that standards of individualised care are high. The staff are motivated and share her enthusiasm and commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children very well. She spends time with the children daily. This ensures that she has a very clear understanding of the needs, behaviour and progress of individual children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Daily records are detailed and contain in-depth assessments on children. However, care plans are not always kept under regular review and contain out-of-date and inaccurate information. This could lead to staff being unable to access the correct information for a child in an effective and efficient manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is appropriately staffed, and safer recruitment checks are thorough. This ensures that children are protected from adults caring for them who may cause them harm.

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Recommendations

 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)  Regulations 35-39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Children’s case records must be kept for 75 years from the date of the birth of the child, or if the child dies before the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of his or her death. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 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: SC392549 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Duty of Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: David Heartfield

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Inspector

Mark Proffitt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC392549 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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