Children's home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 1 SC038237 Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority and is registered for the short-break care and accommodation of up to five children and young people with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. The manager was registered in December 2013 and is appropriately qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2019 Full Good 12/12/2017 Full Outstanding 24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— 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 (2)(a)(i)) In particular, ensure that staff record a baseline assessment of risk for each child or young person. The standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b)) In particular, ensure that adequate staffing ratios are in place to reduce the likelihood of any harm to children. 17/02/2020

p.3

Recommendations

 The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) In particular, ensure that targets are consistently recorded and evaluated so that progress can be tracked.  Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in Regulation 40(4)(a)–(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and very well maintained. Some of the furnishings in bedrooms have been designed so that they are adaptable to suit the needs and preferences of children and young people. Photographs are displayed of children and young people taking part in a wide range of fun activities, which gives the home a vibrant feel and helps children and young people to gain a sense of familiarity during their stays.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are making progress from their starting points and in some cases in the development of skills such as self-care and independence. For those young people, this is evidence of significant progress. Each success is praised and celebrated in ways that are individualised to each child or young person, which helps to raise their self-confidence.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-work sessions are used regularly to help children and young people understand the progress they are making. However, the approach to setting targets for children and young people that link with their individual plan is inconsistent. This would further help children and young people to experience their care in a consistent way and would continue to promote trust in the adults caring for them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are consulted in creative ways that consider and meet their communication needs. The views of children and young people are included throughout their individual case records and, where possible, contribute to their care planning. This shows that children and young people are involved in decisions about their lives and it helps them to feel respected.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate well with parents, carers and professionals, keeping them informed of significant information relating to their child or young person. With the consent of parents and carers, staff use the mobile device application ‘Marvellous Me’ to send them photographs of their child or young person taking part in activities during their stays. This enables children and young people to share their experiences with those who are important to them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people have quality time invested in them by a nurturing team during each of their visits to the home. A broad range of activities are offered to children and young people, which often present them with the opportunity to participate in a new experience. Children and young people develop positive and trusting relationships with their caring adults, which helps them to develop the confidence needed to try new things that raise their self-esteem.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children and young people are helped to be protected in this home. There have been no incidents that require the use of physical intervention. The staff team members get to Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 5 know each child and young person and develop individualised strategies so that they can help each of them to progress while in a safe and stimulating environment.

p.4

improvement to be good

Guidance on procedures such as fire evacuation and how to complain are produced in different formats to meet the variety of learning needs. This helps children and young people to understand what it means to be safe and to develop the skills needed to become increasingly safe.

p.5

improvement to be good

The manager and her team have completed multiple training courses to enhance their knowledge of safeguarding. When safeguarding concerns have occurred, the response has been efficient, with information shared appropriately with relevant agencies and children and young people have been protected. However, one incident of concern was not notified to Ofsted. Children and young people had not been harmed and staff acted appropriately. However, this was a serious incident and should have been notified to Ofsted so that the regulator could be sure that all actions had been taken to protect children and young people.

p.5

improvement to be good

Risk assessments do not always include all known vulnerabilities or capture a baseline of risk level for each child or young person. This means that it is difficult to know how each child and young person is helped during their stays or how risks are mitigated against.

p.5

improvement to be good

On one occasion, carers were unable to respond swiftly to an incident which resulted in a young person leaving the grounds of the home. The young person did not suffer serious harm on this occasion. Staffing levels need to be appropriate to ensure that children and young people continue to be supervised appropriately.

p.5

improvement to be good

There are good links with the community, which include the local community police officers who regularly visit the home. This means that children and young people are helped to form a relationship with and can identify those who may offer help and protection if needed. This involvement helps children and young people to learn about the world around them while developing their social skills.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager holds regular team meetings that are well attended by her staff. This time is used to reflect upon strengths and weaknesses of practice and enables the manager to support her team members to learn from their experiences. This improves the care that children and young people receive. The current needs of children and young people are discussed in detail and this information is used to carefully plan stays. This helps children and young people to form friendships within the group and to look forward to their stays.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good-quality supervision where they are invited to challenge and reflect upon practice. Supervisors take steps to address any issues highlighted, which demonstrates to staff that their input is valued. The manager’s approach results in staff feeling supported and confident to share their views and the morale of the team is high. This results in a positive atmosphere for children and young people during their stays. Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 6 The manager and her senior staff carry out effective audits of records and documents. This demonstrates that the leaders are proactive in monitoring the quality of care that children and young people receive.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a highly experienced and suitably qualified leader. There are no changes to the staff team, which means children and young people benefit from the consistency that this brings. The manager invests in her staff development and individuals have completed additional learning to enhance their knowledge in areas such as mental health, autism and nutrition. This means that children and young people are cared for by a team whose members have the skills and competence to meet their needs.

p.6

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.6

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: SC038237 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington Borough council

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington, County Durham DL1 5QT

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jane Kochanowski

p.7

Inspector

Paula Kelly: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038237 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 looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspector

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 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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8