Children's home run by Stockton on Tees Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 1 Registered provider: Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Full 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 provides care and accommodation for up to five children who may have social or emotional difficulties, and/or physical disabilities. The placements are a combination of short breaks and short- to medium-term permanent placements.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2020. She holds suitable qualifications for this role.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 5 January 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 2

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in how well children are helped and protected impact on the overall judgement for this home.

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improvement to be good

The home is warm, comfortable and pleasantly decorated and furnished. Children benefit from several well-equipped communal areas both inside and outside of the home. This allows children to participate in activities and social gatherings with their peers.

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improvement to be good

Admissions are often on an emergency basis. Despite this, care is taken to ensure that transitions into the home are child-centred. Staff are considerate to children’s recent experiences and emotions. Staff work sensitively with them and at their pace at what is often a very difficult time.

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improvement to be good

Children have varying experiences of living in the home. Some children settle quickly and develop good relationships with staff. Others struggle because of the short-term nature of the placements. One child said, ‘I knew I wasn’t going to be staying there, and I felt like I was on a trial.’ This prevents children from fully engaging in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children make good progress in education. Staff advocate for children so that they receive an education offer that reflects their needs and abilities. For some children, this means learning at home for a period, with staff helping children with their work in these circumstances. Staff also ensure children have the necessary equipment to participate in their learning. Children are encouraged to think about their aspirations and supported to begin to realise them.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend routine health appointments and to access specialist health services when they need to. Staff talk to children about the benefits of making healthy choices and promote healthy living.

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improvement to be good

Some children make progress emotionally; for others, there is no change. For some, there is a deterioration which has led to children moving on with little notice. The police are sometimes contacted to help manage children’s behaviours. This has resulted in children being arrested and held in custody. For one child, this was overnight. This means children are at risk of becoming criminalised.

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improvement to be good

Families benefit from the short-break and intervention services provided to prevent children coming into care. One parent said she has a ‘much better relationship now’ with her daughter. Children access groups run by staff, both in the home and in the community, where they learn about safe relationships and potential risks to their safety and well-being. This helps children better protect themselves. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 3 Children are helped to develop independent living skills. This means that when they move on, they have learned important skills that they can take with them into adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risks are set out in detailed risk assessments which are regularly reviewed and updated. Links to safeguarding information and referral forms are embedded. This helps staff to find useful information quickly. Appropriate action is taken when a risk increases. Relevant professionals are informed so that a coordinated response can be identified. Staff undertake direct work with children to help them understand the potential impact of their behaviours on themselves and others.

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improvement to be good

Children’s safety plans are not always followed, and this places children at risk of harm. When children are in the community, an inconsistent approach is taken by staff in relation to maintaining contact. Staff are also unclear about when to report a child as missing.

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improvement to be good

While staff are trained to use physical restraint, restraints do not take place. For one child, this is despite a court order detailing the potential need for restraint to prevent significant harm to the child. Within children’s risk assessments, staff are advised to follow positive behaviour management techniques. However, these techniques are not specified. This is likely to lead to inconsistent practice that does not meet children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns are discussed in team meetings, supervision and daily handovers. There are also regular emails sent to the whole team with any updates about the children. This ensures that staff have a current awareness of any issues.

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improvement to be good

Room searches take place when safeguarding concerns indicate that these are necessary. However, children are not always present, they are not always informed and staff do not seek their views. This is detrimental to children’s relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

The manager scrutinises the administration of medication and addresses potential issues to improve the staff. This includes the provision of guidance and training.

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good

The manager carefully considers all referrals. This ensures that children only move into the home when it would not increase their risks or the risks of the children already living in the home. However, the decision-making is not always sufficiently evidenced in the impact risk assessment. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 4 The manager has not always ensured that there are sufficient numbers of staff on duty. This has resulted in children and staff being at risk of harm when incidents have escalated.

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good

Staff feel supported by the management team and their colleagues. Supervision is provided regularly, and staff can talk openly about any concerns that they may have. These sessions also provide an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice and how this meets children’s needs. This supports children’s progress.

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good

The manager praises staff for good work as well as addressing any practice issues. She confidently challenges staff and supports them to make changes to improve the children’s experiences. Staff accept and respond positively to this.

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good

Staff have completed their mandatory training as well as additional safeguarding training. However, staff training needs are not always identified. For example, several children have presented with behaviours that suggest they have an eating disorder. Staff have not received training around this issue. This means that staff are not always able to develop skills to help them to respond to children with this specific need.

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good

The manager keeps the location assessment under review and updates this if new risks emerge. This ensures that staff have the current information to help them understand the risks that the children may face in the community. Staff can then take action to reduce these risks.

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good

The manager uses a new monthly auditing tool to help her to monitor the service. She ensures that she retains oversight of records, documents and children’s case files. This ensures a comprehensive management oversight of what is happening in the home. Nevertheless, this monitoring process has not helped the manager to identify all of the shortfalls identified at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 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, 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 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

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

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; and

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(ix)(xi)) 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)) 31 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 6 In particular, ensure that children’s risk assessments include strategies for staff to use to de-escalate potential incidents.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that impact risk assessments detail all risks and any mitigating factors. 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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 the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff’s approach to keeping in touch with children when they are in the community is consistent, and that children have individualised missing-from-home procedures for staff to follow. 31 March 2022

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 31 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 7 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)(d)(f)(h))

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that training is identified and provided so that staff understand children’s needs and have the skills to meet these. 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 31 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 8 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are not generally entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. In particular, record when a child has been informed about the search, whether they were present and their comments about the search. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should agree guidance to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour and criminalisation of behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.40)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation

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Recommendations

36) are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. In particular, this relates to the home’s care plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2568244 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Buildings, Church Road, Stockton-on- Tees, Cleveland TS18 1LD

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Inspector

Emma Ridley, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2568244 10 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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