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

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

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.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2019

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

outstanding

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

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2019 Full Outstanding 16/01/2018 Full Outstanding 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/10/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are flourishing. With the support of a highly skilled and dedicated staff team, all the children and young people are making significant and sustained progress. Staff work proactively with the children and young people to provide bespoke care to meet their individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The atmosphere created in the home enables the children and young people to feel safe and have a sense of belonging. The children and young people build strong and positive attachments to the staff, who know them well. The individual needs of the children and young people are at the centre of practice and there is unconditional positive regard from the staff. The children and young people are given a sense of permanence and know that, regardless of what they do, they are loved, welcomed and accepted.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people make significant progress in their educational outcomes, given their starting points. When the children and young people are not in school, the staff work proactively with the virtual head to make sure that the children and young people get the right educational placement to meet their needs. Staff advocate strongly for the children and young people and encourage them to re-engage with education. Until this is achieved, the staff support children and young people’s development by bringing learning into their everyday activities. Staff work closely with the children and young people to explore their interests and aspirations, helping them plan for their future. This has resulted in some young people successfully securing employment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There are a multitude of opportunities for the children and young people to give their views and take part in decision-making and planning. This is through regular chats during mealtimes and in meetings. There is currently a discussion around the colour scheme for the downstairs living areas. All the children and young people have put forward ideas, demonstrating that they want to contribute and are invested in their home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff give careful and comprehensive consideration to planning children and young people’s moves on from the home. Plans are personalised and unique to the individuals. The staff go above and beyond in their role in maintaining contact with children and young people who are no longer resident at the home. This level of support is available for all those moving on from the home, for as long as it is needed to support their independence. Young people often return to the home for assistance with various tasks. They are always made to feel welcome, as if they are returning to their family home.

p.3

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

The children and young people are safe and protected by a staff team that has an excellent understanding of their risks and knowledge of statutory safeguarding procedures. Individualised risk assessments are comprehensive, detailed and clear for Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 4 the staff to follow. These are compiled and regularly updated using the expertise of mental health, police and communications specialists, alongside those within social care and education. This creates a multi-agency, shared responsibility for keeping the children and young people safe. The staff’s knowledge of the children and young people helps them to personalise behaviour management strategies in line with the individual’s needs.

p.3

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

The children and young people benefit from unrestricted access to the expertise of a multi-agency team of professionals based at the home. This includes a psychological life coach and communication support worker. The clinical specialists work closely with the staff team. This provides a shared understanding of the children and young people’s background, experiences and behaviours. The children and young people are well supported with their emotional and social development, education and communication. They develop the skills to manage their emotions, conflicts and difficult situations.

p.4

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

The staff use a research-informed behaviour management technique. The focus is on relationship-building and the positive reinforcement of behaviour, and therefore sanctions are not used. The resilient staff team uses its eclectic mix of skills, knowledge and experiences to best support the children and young people through crisis. De- escalation skills and interventions are highly effective in not only managing behaviour, but also aiding the children and young people’s understanding and development. As a result, staff only use low-level holds to keep the children and young people safe.

p.4

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

Extensive information-sharing and excellent collaborative working between safeguarding agencies mean staff have a good understanding of the potential risks to children and young people when children and young people are absent from home. There has been a decrease in the number of missing episodes, resulting in a reduction in children and young people’s risk of exploitation. Individualised missing from home protocols are informed by the staff’s excellent joint working practice with the police. When the children and young people do go missing, the staff make every effort to locate them before involving the police. This means that the children and young people are not in contact with the police unnecessarily.

p.4

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

Regular and individualised key-working sessions help staff to build relationships and discuss any specific concerns with the children and young people. The discussions focus on keeping children and young people safe from substance misuse, alcohol, criminal and sexual exploitation and self-harming behaviours. Alongside their learning, the children and young people are encouraged to reflect on behaviours and experiences to enable them to develop skills to keep themselves safe.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are passionate, inspirational and committed to ensuring the success of the children and young people in their care. This is reflected throughout the staff team, and staff are very supportive of each other and consistent in their practice. They show great pride in the work they do with the children and young people, and model this in practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC034235 5 Staff receive regular and reflective supervision, and they benefit from team meetings that also model reflective practice discussions. A particular strength of the home is the unity of the staff team and its resilience.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have an exceptional understanding of the children and young people and their progress. The staff have high expectations for the children and young people and what they can achieve. They have been influential in the lives of children and young people, with one ex-resident continuing to return for ongoing help and support and another supported to succeed in securing their ‘dream job’ as a result of the support they received from staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have comprehensive auditing systems to monitor the quality of care provided and the progress children and young people are making. They are constantly striving to improve and explore new and innovative ways of working with children and young people to achieve the best possible outcomes.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home has a stable and long-standing staff team. When recruiting staff, the registered manager ensures that the candidates are not only suitably qualified and vetted but that they will also be a good ‘fit’ in the home. To achieve this, children and young people are included in the recruitment process and provide their views on an applicant’s suitability.

p.5

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.

p.5

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: SC034235 6

p.5

Children’s home details

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

p.6

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Janice Nicholson

p.6

Inspectors

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

p.6

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7