Children's Home run by Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 1 SC455864

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Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to eight children with social, emotional or mental health difficulties and/or mental disorders, excluding learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitably qualified manager registered with Ofsted in March 2018.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted carried out a monitoring visit to this home after receiving safeguarding concerns about other homes with connections to this provider. The visit took place during a period of national restrictions due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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This monitoring visit

The visit took place on site. The focus of the visit included recruitment practice, provision of staff supervision, day-to-day care of children and the physical condition of the home. Other lines of enquiry were followed as they emerged. Five children live in the home. Several staff were self-isolating at home at the time of the visit. However, there have been no cases of COVID-19 in this home.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted last visited the home in November 2020. Two requirements made at that monitoring visit are repeated as they were not reviewed during this visit. These relate to providing children with personalised care that takes account of their experiences, and to children’s admission to the home.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team continues to lack the skills to meet the needs of some children. This was raised as a concern at the previous monitoring visit. Staff are still not helped to understand the impact of trauma and loss on children’s behaviour. This is evident in some of the comments staff make to children who have challenged their authority. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 2 This gap in knowledge risks children being re-traumatised and placements ending early.

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This monitoring visit

There have been significant changes in the staff team in a short space of time. Children feel unsettled because of this. Some are questioning whether they should stay in the home or ask to move elsewhere. Leaders do not manage issues within the staff team effectively. This has exacerbated the problem with staff retention and has been an issue at this home for some time. Children continue to be adversely affected by the instability in the staff team.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders do not ensure that there is a mix of experience in the staff team. A significant proportion of newly appointed staff have not worked in children’s homes. This imbalance places responsibility on existing staff to guide and support new members of the team. Some incidents have arisen as a result of this lack of experience. The current staff team does not provide the confidence that children need to feel secure in their home.

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This monitoring visit

Children are not able to go into every part of their home, as they would a family home. The main kitchen door is kept locked to prevent children from taking food without supervision. Although children can use a smaller kitchen, locking the main kitchen door gives the home an institutional feeling. This is not good for children’s self-esteem.

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This monitoring visit

Monitoring and review of the service are not consistently effective. The registered manager has a good knowledge of what happens in the home. However, he does not have systems in place to evaluate the impact on children of the quality of care they receive. As a result, children sometimes receive care that does not meet their needs.

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This monitoring visit

Recruitment practice is not safe enough. On two occasions, written references were not verified before new staff began working in the home. The inspector could not find an explanation for this and there was no assessment of possible risk. This leaves children potentially being looked after by those who might mean them harm.

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This monitoring visit

Not all members of the staff team have regular supervision of their practice, particularly bank staff and night staff. This leaves children being cared for by staff whose skills and knowledge are not routinely reviewed. Poor practice could go unchallenged and negatively affect children.

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This monitoring visit

The responses of some staff to children in crisis are not good enough. The registered manager has not yet developed a culture that puts the child’s experience at the centre of staff practice. The registered manager is aware of these difficulties and is committed to making changes. It is too early to evaluate the effectiveness of his intentions. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 3 Children generally like living in the home. They enjoy a wide range of activities, many of which have continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as going for bike rides and walks, children look after several pets and take part in charity challenges. This provides children with routine and structure. Additionally, their relationships with each other and with staff are supported through shared activities.

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This monitoring visit

Children attend school or college consistently, including during periods of national restrictions. The registered manager speaks to teachers to resolve any difficulties that children experience. As a result, children make progress with their educational attainment. They also benefit from the structure that school attendance provides.

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This monitoring visit

The home continues to be well maintained, inside and out. Repairs are undertaken quickly and the garden is tidy. Children have choices about how their bedrooms are decorated and furnished. They are proud of their rooms and most children are pleased to show them off to visitors. Children feel valued because of the way their home is maintained.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 20/08/2019 Full Good 18/07/2018 Full Good 07/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/04/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 4

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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 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 the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets 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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is repeated as progress made was not reviewed at this monitoring visit. 25 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

*The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

that staff— 25 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 5 understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; and

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ix)(x)(xi))

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(f)(h)) 25 April 2021

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 25 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 6 This requirement is repeated as progress made was not reviewed at this monitoring visit.

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 25 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b)(d)) 25 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 25 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Fox Street, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE10 0BD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Tague

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Inspector

Jane Titley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC455864 8 to 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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