Children's Home run by Evolution Children Services Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report children's home: SC382595 1 SC382595 Registered provider: Evolution Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a limited company.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered for three years.

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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 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: 29 October 2018

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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: SC382595 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2018 Full Good 24/10/2017 Full Outstanding 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/12/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC382595 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who–

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

uses this understanding to deliver care that meets the children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to–

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b), (2)(b)(i)(c)(i)) 22/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as 22/10/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC382595 4 possible. (Regulation 8(1), (2)(a)(iv)(viii)) 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–

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)) 22/10/2019

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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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13(1), (2)(d)) 22/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children–

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a), (2)(b)(i)) 22/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33(1)(a)) 22/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and 22/10/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC382595 5 suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation (12)(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46(1))

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Recommendations

 Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality ’standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  Staff should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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Recommendations

 The Statement of Purpose is of particular importance to this Standard (regulation 6(2)(a) and (b)(i)). Homes are required to develop and keep under review a “Statement of Purpose” (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The home’s Statement of Purpose should be child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the Quality Standards for the children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5) Inspection report children's home: SC382595 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people build trusted and secure relationships with the adults who look after them. The staff team knows the children’s likes and dislikes well. This enables children and young people to enjoy a wide variety of well-planned activities, both inside and out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming, and children and young people are encouraged to have a say in how the home is decorated. However, some areas of the home are damaged and require redecoration to ensure that children and young people are helped to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team challenges local authorities and education providers to ensure that children and young people receive education that meets their individual needs. However, for some children and young people, the support offered by the local authority has not been timely or of a sufficient amount to help children and young people with their attendance and attainment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are treated with dignity and respect. They experience care that is responsive to their identity. This helps children and young people to develop a positive view of themselves and to form and sustain positive attachments. Key workers are skilled at finding resources that assist children and young people to develop a sense of identity. This support helps children and young people to overcome any earlier experiences of neglect or abuse.

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improvement to be good

All children and young people say that they have a trusted adult whom they can discuss their concerns with. This ensures that any problems are resolved quickly. This offers reassurance to the children and young people that they are listened to. Risk assessments are clear and up to date, and enable the adults who care for the children and young people to know and understand the risks. Individual placement plans are detailed. Key- working sessions that are linked to plans take place regularly. This encourages children and young people to develop skills and knowledge that are important for later life.

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improvement to be good

Robust recruitment processes ensure that children are protected from adults who may cause harm. The manager communicates effectively with local authorities, designated officers and the police on safeguarding matters. This ensures that children and young people receive the support that they need to be able to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention of children and young people is rarely used. All incidents are reviewed, recorded and checked. The views of children and young people are sought and understood. However, not all staff have been trained in this form of behaviour management. This means that, on occasion, staff are not able to take effective action to Inspection report children's home: SC382595 7 safeguard children and young people.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are not always receiving the support that they require when they go missing. Staff do not have the resources or make enough effort to prevent children and young people from running away, even when there are significant concerns. Some children and young people spend long periods of time unsupervised in the community without staff making regular checks on their welfare. This means that children and young people are at increased risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is well qualified and experienced to meet the aims and objectives which are outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. He is well supported in his role by a deputy manager and dedicated, motivated staff who have high ambitions for the children whom they look after.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He has clear development plans in place to ensure that the children continue to receive good-quality care from staff who are skilled and confident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a good advocate for the children. He quickly and assertively challenges local authorities and senior managers when he feels that children are not receiving the support that they need. When this is the case, the manager is innovative in introducing high-quality temporary arrangements to ensure that children are getting the right support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a supportive environment for staff through regular mentoring sessions, supervision and appraisal. However, newly recruited staff are not always receiving the levels of support that they require. This means that new staff are not appropriately inducted into the home. In addition, whilst safeguarding is a standalone item in supervision and team meeting agenda’s, s, records do not consistently reflect that such discussions take place each time. This would help to support the safeguarding culture in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing levels at night are not sufficient to safeguard effectively those children and young people who go missing from home. This prevents children and young people from being found quickly and returned to the safety of the home by the adults who care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager, in consultation with relevant professionals, regularly reviews the risks in the local area to children and young people. However, some known risks, such as those from ‘county lines’ and drug issues, have not been identified or evaluated. This makes it difficult for staff to manage risk effectively and proportionately and places children and young people at risk. Inspection report children's home: SC382595 8

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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 difference 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: SC382595 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Evolution Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coburg House, 1 Coburg Street, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 1NS

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Inspector(s)

Mark Proffitt, social care inspector Sue Atkinson Millmoor, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children's home: SC382595 10 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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