Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 1 SC472392 Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough 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 provides care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties and/or mental disorders.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, 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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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

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/02/2019 Full Outstanding 21/03/2018 Full Good 11/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a beautiful home that is well maintained and furnished to a very good standard. The provider closed the service for several months so that they could completely renovate the property. They made both structural and cosmetic changes to the building. Since the home reopened in September 2021, four children have moved into the home, and one of those children has moved on. The three children who now live in the home make continued progress because of the good standard of care that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed sensitively into the home. Referrals and children’s moves into the home are carefully considered and risk assessed. The manager completes impact risk assessments prior to children moving into the home. This means that she can consider group living in order to ensure that the needs of all the children can be met well. Subsequently, children are very settled, and they say that they are happy living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop the practical skills that they need as adults so that they can successfully move on to live independently. Bespoke plans focus on the areas that the children require support with, such as working towards furnishing a flat and securing their own tenancy agreement. This is effective because the children engage with the support with which they are provided, which improves their outcomes. Children’s confidence increases because of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel proud of the progress that they make with their learning and development. Staff support children to reach their learning objectives. Children’s continued progress in education, training and employment supports their success and sense of achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Healthy lifestyles support the children’s health and overall well-being. Staff ensure that the children have access to services that support their health needs. As children become increasingly independent, they manage their own health appointments. This provides children with the independence skills that they require to maintain good health in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that the children spend time with people who are important to them. Family time is supported in line with the children’s plans. Staff respond sensitively to children’s wishes and feelings. Especially in relation to how the children wish to see family and friends. The staff ensure that suitable arrangements are made to facilitate family time. A professional said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘The [members of the] team are absolutely amazing. They go above and beyond for the children. They are so sensitive and in tune with the children’s needs. They were amazing at welcoming [name] into the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 4 They have supported [name] with everything, including family time. It is the relationships that the children have with the staff that make this such a fantastic place for children to live.’

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

Children are better protected because a skilled staff team identify, understand and manage the risks to children well. Key-work sessions focus on relevant topics that aim to reduce the risks to the children. Key-work sessions help the children to learn how to stay safe. Children say that they feel safe and are well supported by the staff.

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

Safety plans reflect the children’s known risks and identify the children’s emerging needs. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities regarding how they should keep children safe. However, children’s safety plans are not written well. For example, in parts, the plans have been written in a way that puts the onus on the children to keep themselves safe. This is not helpful for children.

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

Behaviour management in the home is very good. Children are supported by a nurturing staff team. The staff understand the individual needs of the children and how best to respond to the children’s emerging needs. The positive relationships that the children have with the staff help the children to become increasingly safe. Consequently, there are no incidents where the staff have been required to physically hold the children when they have been in crisis.

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

When children go missing from the home, the staff follow the appropriate protocols in order to aid with the children’s safe return home. Staff follow the children’s safety plans and actively search for children when they are missing from home. The children’s safety plans are regularly updated to track the child’s behaviour so patterns and trends can be identified and addressed. Therefore, staff are better informed to know where to look for children when they do go missing from the care. This is effective because it supports the safe return of children back to the home.

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

Effective multi-agency working ensures that the children receive consistent care and support. The staff ensure that they share any issues or concerns with the relevant agencies and professionals in order to agree safer care strategies for children. This increases children’s safety and welfare, and provides them with consistent care and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported in her role by a dedicated staff team and a supportive manager. She focuses on what matters most to children. Children’s views wishes and feelings are considered regularly. The manager provides the staff with clear guidance on how they should respond to the children’s wishes. Children feel valued because their views are recognised as being important. A child said: Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 5 ‘Other than the food, the staff are sound. They are great. I cannot say anything other about them. I feel like they listen to me and they care for us.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides her team with suitable support to help them fulfil their roles and responsibilities, as set out in the homes statement of purpose. Reflective supervisions and regular team meetings provide the staff with an opportunity to discuss the children’s progress and the areas that they can improve. Additionally, the staff receive regular training that they need to meet the needs of the children. This supports the children’s continued progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s effective monitoring systems ensure that the children’s day-to- day care is delivered in line with their agreed plans. The manager’s review of the staff’s practice ensures that the quality of care that the children receive is consistently good. This provides the children with positive daily experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are several newly recruited members of staff. There is a good gender mix and range of experiences in the team. The manager ensures that her staff receive a suitable induction to the service to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Some staff have previously worked in other areas of the service and they have supported some of the children prior to them moving into the home. This has been beneficial to those children because they have already built positive relationships with those members of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recent changes to the statement of purpose include how the provider will offer the children outreach support when they move into their own property post-18 years of age. The children do not currently receive the outreach support, as they are in the process of working towards moving into their own properties, which have been identified. The effectiveness of the outreach support will be considered at the next inspection. However, the plans to move the children on are progressing well, and the children speak positively about their futures. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 6

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Recommendations

 The provider 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. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC472392 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Middlesbrough House, 50 Corporation Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kalia-Marina Kourou-Paradeli

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 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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