Children's home run by ARRONBETH LTD

Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 1 SC000802 Registered provider: Arronbeth 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

This privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to four children or young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is in a rural village that is close to a town. There is good public transport, which enables the children and young people to access local amenities and a range of leisure activities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 2007.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/06/2018 Full Good 21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 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, the 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 educational 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 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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 return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(ii)(iv)(viii)) 31/01/2020

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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 that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home statement of purpose; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)) 31/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 4 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)) 31/01/2020

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home, and these standards should be clear and unambiguous. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11) Specifically, the staff should establish daily routines that set boundaries of expected behaviour.  The information set out in the statement of purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that the placement in the home is the right one for each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6) In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff provide support to children who do not have an appropriate educational placement.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people have positive experiences and most are making progress. Outcomes vary from very good to unsatisfactory, particularly relating to education.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and the staff are good advocates when supporting children and young people who attend school. However, children and young people who are not in full-time education are not adequately supported. These children and young people do not have an alternative educational plan that is implemented by the staff to ensure that the children and young people continue their learning.

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improvement to be good

Additionally, the staff are not setting appropriate boundaries by ensuring that the children and young people have a regular ‘school-day routine’. Consequently, one young person spends most of the day in bed.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between the children and young people and the staff are good. The staff are skilled at engaging children and young people to form trusting bonds and attachments. This has a positive affect on the children and young people’s outcomes. There are good examples where some children and young people have thrived as a direct result of the nurturing care and support from the staff.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people’s health needs are met, including their mental and Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 5 emotional health. The provider has invested in supporting children and young people with emotional and psychological needs by funding the services of a psychologist. The visiting psychologist provides direct support to a young person alongside supporting the staff to deliver a therapeutic model of care. This specialist intervention has significantly improved the young person’s outcomes.

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improvement to be good

Transitions for children and young people moving into and leaving the home are good. Introductory visits are arranged so that children and young people can meet the staff and see where they will be moving to. This helps to reduce the children and young people’s fears about moving to a new environment. Young people leaving the home also receive good support. This enables a smooth transition into adulthood.

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improvement to be good,

There are shortfalls, relating to staff training linked to safeguarding the children and young people, which potentially put the children and young people at risk. Not all the staff have had basic child protection training before they start working with the children and young people.

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improvement to be good,

Additionally, not all staff have received training that links directly to the needs of some children and young people who are living at the children’s home, for example children who may be at risk of exploitation and/or drug misuse.

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improvement to be good,

Failing to provide all staff with good-quality safeguarding training compromises the staff’s ability to recognise indications that children and young people are vulnerable. For example, staff reported that a young person may be using cannabis, but no actions have been taken to establish if the young person has any cannabis in his possession.

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improvement to be good,

There are some good safeguarding outcomes, particularly when supporting and empowering children and young people to understand and manage risks. The quality of individual children and young people’s risk assessments is good.

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improvement to be good,

The registered manager and the staff work in close collaboration with placing social workers, other relevant professionals, and individual children and young people, which results in some exceptional outcomes. Proactive multi-agency team working and fully involving a young person in their safety plan have significantly improved the young person’s outcomes and positive experiences.

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improvement to be good,

The staff consistently provide positive behaviour management that engages and supports the children and young people to develop good social skills. The home’s ethos to focus on praise, positive incentives and involving the children and young people in meaningful key-worker sessions is increasing the children and young people’s confidence and self-esteem. Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is an experienced practitioner who has the right skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications to fulfil his role. However, shortfalls identified during this inspection indicate that the registered manager has not identified or addressed some key areas of practice to fully meet the children and young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is not fully complying with the home’s statement of purpose. Specifically, the registered manager is not delivering the services the statement of purpose sets out to support children and young people’s educational needs, ensuring that staff receive the right training or receive a suitable induction. Failures to deliver services described could potentially mislead placing authorities, social workers and parents who are considering placing a child or young person at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Several staff have not received the training that they need to meet the needs of the children and young people. This includes mandatory training, such as child protection, health and safety and fire safety training. Additionally, the quality of new staff induction is poor. The current induction programme comprises of a ‘checklist’ of documents to read and a basic introduction to the home’s administration and recording systems. Insufficient and inadequate staff training and induction compromise the children and young people’s welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been several improvements since the last inspection. The registered manager has reviewed and updated the residential care plans and risk assessments to streamline formats and make the documents more child-friendly. This has led to better consultation with the children and young people. The responsible individual has networked and made useful links with other children’s homes organisations, which has led to improved joint working and positive information sharing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Improved staff performance management and clinical supervision are supporting leaders, managers and the staff to focus on introducing a more therapeutic-based model of care. This way of working is seeing improved outcomes for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is fully staffed to maintain safe staffing levels. The staff team members are committed to supporting the children and young people and each other. Staff morale is very good, and all the feedback gained from staff at this inspection is positive.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 7 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: SC000802 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Hurworth Road, Hurworth Place, Darlington, County Durham DL2 2DA

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Inspector

Debbie White: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 9 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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