Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 1 SC449096 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

This home is operated and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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Inspection date: 31 January 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 31 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 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 improved effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children say that they have excellent relationships with the staff. This helps the children to share their worries and concerns with trusted adults. A child said:

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

I didn’t like it at first, but it’s good now. It’s the staff that make it. They are amazing. I won’t have a bad word said about them. They have supported me, and they have been there for me more than anybody else. I will miss them when I leave.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children benefit from the individualised care and support that they receive. The staff follow the children’s individual care plans. The planned support that the children receive helps them to make progress in most areas of their lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children’s education plans have improved. These now reflect the different ways that the children are supported with their learning and development. Additionally, creative ideas and various activities help the children to become involved in several projects, which supports their learning. These additional activities provide the children with new experiences and help them to make a positive contribution to their local community.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children are proud of their home, which is clean, comfortable and well maintained. Children’s bedrooms have recently been refurbished to a very good standard. They are personalised to each child’s preference. Some of the children require additional support to help them to understand the importance of living in a clean and comfortable space.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has implemented a system to monitor the conditions in the children’s bedrooms. Staff complete daily checks to ensure that the children’s bedrooms are maintained to an acceptable standard.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff support the children to become increasingly independent with their living skills. This is not effective for all the children. For example, one child requires daily additional support to maintain their personal living space to an acceptable standard. The child’s understanding and learning needs are not included as part of their support plan. This limits the child’s ability to make progress with their independent living skills. Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 3 Children are better protected because the staff know and follow the children’s detailed individual plans. Children’s safety plans identify their known risks and any emerging themes. The staff work effectively with a range of professionals to increase the children’s safety. Additionally, targeted key-work sessions help the children to learn how to stay safe. This is effective as children’s risks, particularly regarding missing-from-home incidents, have significantly reduced.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Effective leadership in the home has helped to drive improvements in the home forward. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths, as well as areas for development. She has a clear plan in place to develop the service, and to improve the outcomes for the children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children receive consistent care from staff who are nurturing. The staff have varying skills and experiences. The manager reviews the staff’s practice to ensure that it remains safe and appropriate to meet the children’s needs. As a result of the manager’s effective monitoring systems, she identifies the development needs for the staff. The manager supports a learning environment for the staff via training and reflective discussions. This improves the children’s daily lived experiences, as the staff are sufficiently skilled to meet the children’s needs.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Overall, the recordings in the children’s documents are good. However, some of the recordings are not clear and are contradictory. Misleading information in the children’s documents may hinder the manager’s ability to effectively evaluate the children’s daily lived experiences. Additionally, it does not provide the children with a clear written record of their experiences of living in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Five of the six requirements made at the last inspection have been addressed. However, one requirement raised under regulation 40 has been reissued. The manager followed all of their safeguarding processes to protect a child, and notified all other agencies of one significant incident. However, she failed to notify Ofsted. The failure hinders Ofsted’s ability to promptly review the safeguarding incidents to ensure that the appropriate action is taken to ensure that the children are safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/07/2019 Full Good 30/05/2018 Full Good 13/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii) (5)(a)(I)(ii)(iii)(b)) 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC449096 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered provider should continually consult with the children regarding how they can better support them to improve their personal living space. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: SC449096 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: SC449096 8 regulates and inspects 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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