Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report children's home: 2624251 1 Registered provider: Durham County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties. The manager and the service were registered with Ofsted in March 2021. Three children live in the home.

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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. The home has not previously had an inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2624251 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2624251 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive consistent care and support from a nurturing staff team. Children’s care plans and safety plans detail how they will be helped and protected. Staff follow these plans to ensure that children receive good standards of care. A child commented, ‘I love the staff team. They are amazing. They help me with everything. They are like family to me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop good relationships with the staff. Children are supported to move into the home in a planned way. The manager completes pre-admission risk assessments before children move in. This ensures that the needs and mix of children are managed appropriately and safely. Children’s daily lived experiences are positive because of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families and friends, even when families live a distance away. Family time is promoted in line with children’s individual plans. For some children, their relationships with family members has vastly improved. This helps children to maintain key relationships, and supports them to maintain their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress in education is mixed. Some children’s attendance in education has significantly improved. Some children have completed exams that helps them to access further education. When children do not attend education, staff work with education and social care professionals to help re-integrate children back into education. However, children’s care plans do not clearly outline the structure of activities for children when they do not attend education. This means that there is no clear guidance for staff to follow when children do not attend their education. This results in children receiving inconsistent support and hinders their re-integration back into education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a range of health services. Staff support children to attend routine medical appointments and access specialist services that they require. This supports children to maintain good health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and cleaned regularly. Children choose their own furnishings and decor. This helps children develop a sense of pride about where they live. Subsequently, there is minor damage caused in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like the location of the home. There are local amenities, shops and bus routes close by. Having good access to local amenities has helped some children develop their independent living skills. Staff support children to learn new independent skills that will help them as they grow into adulthood. Children say that they are proud of the progress that they make. Inspection report children's home: 2624251 4 Although children say that they are happy living in the home and that the staff listen to them. One child reported to the inspector that they did not like some of the food, and that there was out of date food in the fridge. The inspector addressed this with the manager, who took immediate action to address this.

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

Children say that they feel safe and are supported by staff. Children’s safety plans provide staff with the guidance they need to keep children safe. Children’s changing needs and emerging risks are discussed during team meetings and staff supervision. This promotes the welfare of children as the manager and staff constantly develop strategies to help keep children safe.

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

The manager scrutinises staff practice well. She debriefs the staff and the children following serious or significant incidents, and highlights ‘lessons learnt’ as a result of her audits. Consequently, children receive a good level of care to meet their changes needs and are better protected.

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

Targeted key-work sessions help children to discuss their risks and concerns with the staff. These sessions are linked to children’s safety plans. Key-working sessions also provide opportunities to discuss children’s progress with them. Children’s risks are reducing in most areas because of this.

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

Some children are at increased risk of exploitation. The staff work well with a wide range of agencies to help reduce children’s risks in this area. This is effective, as the number of incidents involving children missing from the home has reduced.

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

The use of physical interventions is not required as staff manage the children’s behaviour well. Staff use de-escalation techniques to manage children’s behaviour when children are in crisis. This helps children to better regulate their emotions and reduces their level of distress.

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

There have been two incidents of children bullying each other. The manager and the staff took immediate action to address these. However, the manager has no system in place to monitor the incidents of bullying. This limits her ability to effectively evaluate children’s experiences when incidents of bullying occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is appropriately qualified and has the relevant experience. She was registered with Ofsted at the same time as the service. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths as well as areas that require development. She utilises the strengths of her staff team to improve children’s outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals that use the service are highly complementary about the staff and manager. A professional commented, ‘They are just fantastic. They go above and beyond. I cannot fault them one bit. In my eyes they are outstanding because of the progress that [name] has made.’ Inspection report children's home: 2624251 5 The manager has effective monitoring systems in place to evaluate the quality of care that children receive. Her monitoring of the service identifies shortfalls quickly. This means she can address those shortfalls to avoid any negative impact for children. She has a clear plan in place to drive improvements forward. The managers monitoring of the service improves children’s daily lived experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the staff receive training to meet the needs of the children. This includes formal and informal training. The team are booked onto an approved ‘strengthening based training programme’. Additionally, the manager requests that guest speakers attend team meetings to refresh the knowledge of staff regarding specific areas of practice. Children receive better care and support because of this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, recordings in children’s documents are of good quality. They detail how staff help and protect children. However, there are some gaps in the recording of information in children’s documents. This oversight prevents children from having a full and accurate record of their experience of living in the home and prevents the manager from fully evaluating the care children receive.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children are not participating in education that children have access to suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 15, paragraph 3.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they develop a system to monitor children’s behaviour to track for any themes of behaviour that may lead to bullying. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 39, paragraph 8.16)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff consistently record information in children’s documents clearly, demonstrating how children are supported. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: 2624251 6

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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: 2624251 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Durham County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Durham DH1 5UJ

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2624251 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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