Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 1 SC035181 Registered provider: Durham County Council Interim 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 provides care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children receive care from the provider. Three children currently live at this home. One child receives care from the provider at a different address.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2019.

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Inspection date: 11 January 2022

Date of last inspection: 28 September 2021

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Inspection date: 11 January 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 11 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the interim inspection, Ofsted judged that it has sustained effectiveness. One requirement relating to physical interventions under regulation 35 has been reissued. In addition, a further requirement and one recommendation have been issued as a result of this visit.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children make progress with their learning and development. The manager advocates well on behalf of the children to ensure that the children access the appropriate educational support that they need in line with their plans. Children’s care plans detail their educational targets, and are regularly reviewed by the staff to ensure that the children make continued progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been no new admissions to the home since the full inspection. However, the manager has improved his processes for accepting future admissions to the home. The home’s updated locality risk assessment informs children’s individual risk assessments and impact risk assessments. Additionally, the manager requests that any potential referral is discussed within the child’s care team meetings. This ensures that the manager receives sufficient information to appropriately risk assess the suitability and viability of new admissions to the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children are proud of their bedrooms, which are personalised and suitably furnished. There is now an improved system in place to monitor the conditions in the children’s bedrooms. This is effective, as the staff respond quickly to address any issues. This provides the children with positive messages about acceptable standards of care.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children benefit from regular key-work sessions that help them to discuss a range of topics, including their set targets. Clear and child-friendly recordings in the children’s documents help the children to see how they will receive support. It also helps the children to recognise their own achievements.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children receive support from a nurturing staff team when the children are in crisis. Occasionally, when the children are in crisis, the staff need to hold the children to support them. However, some of the records do not clearly identify when the children have been spoken to regarding the use of the intervention. Therefore, it is unclear if this has taken place within the required timeframe. This means that the manager cannot be assured that they have the accurate information they need to ensure that the use of physical intervention is helpful for the child when they are in crisis.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

For some of the children, there has been an increase in critical incidents. This is because some of the children have uncertainty about their plans. There has been a Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 3 delay in moving one of the children into a bespoke placement. This child has not received sufficient support to help them to understand their care plan, and there has been a delay in the placing authority moving their plan on. Additionally, the children do not consistently have access to an independent advocate that can represent their views, wishes and feelings.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Most of the children benefit from the support of a consistent and stable staff team. The provider has used agency staff when necessary to ensure that the needs of the children are met. Occasionally, there is a reliance on the agency staff to provide the care throughout the evening for one of the children. This can be unsettling for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/05/2019 Full Good 09/05/2018 Full Good 20/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 5

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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, and 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b)(iii)(d)(iii)(e) 11 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035181 6 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 11 February 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that no more than half of the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night, at the home should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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 for children’s home: SC035181 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 for children’s home: SC035181 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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