Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 1 SC449096 Registered provider: Durham County 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 care and accommodation of up to four 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 June 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 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: SC449096 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/05/2018 Full Good 13/06/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 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 (1)(2)(a)(i)) 23/08/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people living in this home receive a very good standard of individualised care. This is because children and young people have bespoke care plans that include support from a range of health and social care professionals. For those children and young people who have harmful or complex behaviours, they access support from a wide range of specialist services. The staff team recognises the importance of working effectively with other professionals, and this supports progress and development for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people benefit from building positive and trusting relationships with the adults who care for them. When children and young people have a worry or concern they quickly share their concerns with the staff, who take swift action to ensure that children and young people are helped and protected. Furthermore, observations made during the inspection indicate that children and young people enjoy spending time with the staff and that those relationships are caring and natural.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people access a range of activities that are planned and in line with each child or young person’s preference, and are appropriately risk assessed. This enhances children and young people’s experiences as well as providing opportunities for Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 4 them to spend quality time with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educational attendance and attainment have been mixed for the group of children and young people currently living in the home. Where children and young people have disengaged from formal education the staff team has considered creative ways to engage them in alternative educational activities. The registered manager has also advocated well for children and young people to ensure that the correct educational provision is identified. This provides children and young people with routine and structure. Furthermore, it provides positive messages about education, learning and achieving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are supported to attend a range of health appointments. The registered manager utilises the support and expertise of health professionals to help deliver additional training to the staff team. This means that children and young people receive consistent care that supports good health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been one recent admission to the home. Inspectors found evidence that the registered manager had considered the placement in a planned way and that the young person had been sensitively welcomed into the home. The placement has been successful so far and she is making steady progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one young person ready to transition to semi-independent living. There are effective and wide ranging plans for the preparation and support of this transition. This demonstrates that children and young people move on to alternative placements in a positive way and this helps them to settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team recognises the benefits of promoting contact with family and friends when it is safe to do so. Where children and young people have expressed a preference around contact matters, the staff team has acted swiftly to enable and support the arrangements in a meaningful way. This means children and young people experience positive and good quality contact with the people who are important to them.

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

Children and young people have an individual risk assessment and care plan. Risk management processes do not sufficiently identify all known risks to each child and young person. Strategies that are identified in risk assessments read as reactive. There is an inconsistent approach to including proactive strategies to mitigate the risk of harm. This means it is difficult to see how individual children and young people will be helped and protected. This is an area of development that the registered manager had already identified.

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

The staff team manages low-level disruptive behaviour with the current mix of children and young people. The inspectors found evidence of incidents of bullying, restraints and multiple missing-from-home episodes with children and young people who have since moved on. The registered manager accepts that the matching of those placements was not good. He has developed his own impact risk assessment and understands the need Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 5 to consider the mix and dynamics of the group ahead of accepting any admissions.

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

Where there have been safeguarding incidents the staff team has followed the appropriate protocols. Records detail the steps taken to safeguard children and young people. Several professionals have commented on the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in the home. One professional commented, ‘The team work well together and work in the young people’s best interests to keep them safe.’ Another said, ‘The staff know these young people very well. I have no concerns that [Name] and the other young people are not kept safe. I cannot fault them.’

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

Effective key-working sessions help children and young people to understand risks and how to stay safe in and outside of the home. Topics covered range from generic concerns to specific issues that are identified in individual risk assessments. Reactive and proactive key-working sessions are balanced and used to help children and young people to make progress. This means children and young people receive support and guidance when most needed.

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

Staff supervisions and team meetings include safeguarding as a stand-alone agenda item. The quality of the recordings is good with clear action points and tasks identified. The staff team is provided with opportunities to reflect and consider professional development. This helps strengthen practice and encourages the staff team to focus on safeguarding issues.

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

The registered manager has sourced learning materials in different formats for the staff team to review outside of team training, supervisions and team meetings. This helps to strengthen the staff team’s knowledge around a wide range of safeguarding topics. It demonstrates that safeguarding is at the forefront of thinking and daily practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced for the position held. He was registered as the home’s manager in June 2019. He has a strong commitment to drive improvements forward and deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people. He is supported in his role by a dedicated staff team that shares his ambition to support and protect the children and young people that they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recognises the benefits of consulting with the children, young people, parents, carers and other stakeholders to improve the standards of practice and quality of care provided to children and young people. He recognises the home’s strengths as well as areas of development. He has a clear plan in place to help drive improvements forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has ensured that mandatory training has been completed by the staff team. Additionally, he has sourced training specific to the needs of the children and young people. Training includes understanding sexually harmful behaviours as well as trauma, attachment and primitive brain development. This means children and young people benefit from the skills and knowledge of adults who help look after them. Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 6 The registered manager has an effective auditing system in place to monitor practice in the home. This means he can monitor trends and themes to address shortfalls quickly. Inspectors found evidence of the registered manager challenging practice with his staff team as well as other professionals to ensure that shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children and young people are addressed.

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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: SC449096 7

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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(s)

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Paula Kelly, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC449096 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 in care, 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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