Children's home run by ARRONBETH LTD

Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 1 SC000802 Registered provider: Arronbeth Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2001.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 8 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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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.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 5 December 2019

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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outstanding

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/06/2018 Full Good 21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 3

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outstanding

The children receive care from staff who are child focused and who ‘go the extra mile’. They benefit from exceptionally individualised care and support that make a substantial difference to their progress. The children thrive and grow in confidence as a direct result of living in this home because of the nurturing care that they receive. The children feel valued and loved and continually say that this home is ‘the best home to live in.’

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outstanding

The children’s experiences are positive because the staff are well trained, skilled and experienced. They work within the parameters of a neurosequential therapeutic model of care used by the provider. This focuses on the whole child and not just their behaviours. This approach helps the children to feel emotionally safe and secure and is embedded in everyday practice. It is understood by the children, the staff and other professionals. This results in consistent care and support for children and means that they make outstanding progress. One social worker said, ‘The staff want the best for [name of child]. Their progress is fantastic and way beyond anything I could have expected.’

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outstanding

Staff continually give the children positive praise and encouragement. For example, they recognise and praise acts of kindness and their individual and collective achievements. This means that relationships between the children and staff are immensely positive and based on mutual respect and care. The children know that staff love and care for them and that they want the best for them. Social workers and other professionals recognise how these caring and supportive relationships influence children’s progress. One social worker said, ‘It is remarkable what [name of child] has achieved. The support is excellent and the staff are great advocates.’

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outstanding

The children are actively involved in decisions about their lives and care, and their views and wishes are central to the care planning process. The staff support the children to attend planning meetings. This means that the children understand what decisions need to be made about their lives and why, and they benefit from effective multi-agency care. As a result, the children access the support they need to reach their full potential.

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outstanding

The children’s health and well-being are prioritised. Staff continually encourage the children to maintain healthy lifestyles and they emphasise the importance of this. The children have easy access to specialist psychological and therapeutic interventions if they need these services. This helps the children to reflect on their backgrounds and previous experiences and start to understand how these affect their development. Consequently, children are able to start to focus on their futures.

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outstanding

Education is central to the daily routine in the home. The children are participating in their education and achieving positive academic results. For some children this Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 4 shows considerable progress from their starting points and means that they develop ambitions and aspirations. One teacher said, ‘I would say that [name’s] progress is phenomenal, we have a good relationship and their attendance is now 100%.’

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

Keeping children safe and protected from harm is a priority for managers and staff. The children are safe and say that they feel safe. Risks to their safety and welfare have reduced considerably since moving into the home. This is because of the positive relationships that the children have with staff. The children are able to openly discuss their previous experiences and the risks to their safety. These risks included drug misuse, self-harm and going missing from care. As a result, children become increasingly safe as a result of living in this home.

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

The staff receive regular child protection and safeguarding training. These detailed courses equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to recognise potential risks to the children’s safety. Staff work with the children to educate them around potential risks, such as exploitation and those associated with social media and internet use. Any allegations of abuse are taken seriously, and the registered manager ensures that any resulting investigations are thorough. These interventions safeguard and protect the children.

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

The children’s risk assessments identify risks to their safety and include clear strategies for staff to use to manage and reduce these risks. The registered manager regularly reviews these risk assessments in partnership with children’s social workers and other professionals. The children are involved in this review process. This means that they understand the measures in place to protect them from harm and are able to express their views and opinions about their safety.

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

The ethos of the home is to recognise children’s achievements and promote positive behaviour. The children respond well to the clear boundaries and routines of the home. This approach helps the children to feel safe and make good progress.

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

Staff manage behaviour in a caring and consistent way and use non-confrontational strategies that reflect the home’s therapeutic model of care. They gently de-escalate situations when the children are distressed or in crisis, to help them to reduce their feelings of anxiety. This effective approach to managing behaviour means that there have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is an effective leader. He is a reflective practitioner with the required skills, qualifications and experience to carry out his role effectively and to continually improve the service. Together with the responsible individual, he oversees the operation of the home, clearly focusing on children’s progress and development. The ethos of the home is built around high aspirations for the children. This is the shared vision of managers, staff and children and means that children’s experiences are outstanding. Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 5 Leaders and managers have made significant and long-lasting improvements to the home since the last inspection. There has been a notable investment of time and resources in staff training and development. This training has focused on equipping staff with the skills to embed and further progress the therapeutic model of care used in the home. Consequently, staff practice is accomplished and consistent,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

which supports children’s progress and achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are well supported in their roles. They benefit from regular formal reflective supervision, with the addition of clinical oversight. This helps staff to consider how their practice meets children’s needs and how their actions and behaviours may be perceived by children. Leaders and managers recognise the importance of promoting staff’s emotional health and well-being, and the positive influence this has on children’s development. Staff say that they are valued and respected, and that management support is one of the best things about working at the home. As a result, children are cared for by a stable, consistent and happy workforce, which gives them a sense of identity and inclusion. One child referred to the staff as being the family that literally saved their life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff are strong advocates for the children. They champion children’s rights by challenging placing authorities where they feel children are not receiving the services that they need. Partnership working with other agencies and professionals is a considerable strength of the service. Children’s social workers praise the ‘real and genuine’ investment from managers and staff to ensure that children enjoy happy childhood experiences. This makes the children feel safe and gives them confidence, which means that they feel cared for and loved. This helps them to move towards adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring and oversight by leaders and managers are effective. The introduction of an electronic monitoring system means that the registered manager can closely track children’s progress and quickly identify any practice shortfalls. To support this system, the registered manager consults with the children, the staff and other professionals with regard to the quality of care for children. However, when it is not appropriate to seek the views of children’s families, the registered manager does not note in the report that this is the case; doing so would explain why the report may not meet regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager actively influences care planning for children. He works with social workers and other professionals to ensure that statutory plans detail children’s needs and how to meet these. Internal care planning consists of therapeutic plans and residential plans, and together these focus on the continual review of children’s progress and development. Consequently, these plans form ‘live’ documents that evolve as children’s needs change, and provide them with an accurate record of their time in the home. However, the format of the newly introduced electronic care plans does not reflect the age or understanding of some children. Inspection report children’s home: SC000802 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are regularly consulted with regarding their views about their care, and that due consideration is given to the child’s cognitive ability. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all children’s plans are written in a format that is appropriate to the age and understanding of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with each child; the staff; each child’s family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child. Where there is a valid reason why children’s family/carers cannot be consulted, this information should be recorded. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54,

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 7

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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 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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