Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 1 SC068000 Registered provider: Darlington 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 owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children, who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 28 March 2021 and is appropriately qualified for this role.

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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

Date of last inspection: 24 November 2021

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/11/2021 Interim Declined in effectiveness 23/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/12/2019 Full Good 04/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 3

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improvement to be good

There are currently three children living in the home. The progress that the children make is mixed. The registered manager continues to admit children into the home even when there are concerns around the compatibility of children to live together. This poor matching is detrimental to the children already living in the home. For some children, their development has stalled or declined, and they have reverted back to past harmful behaviours. This prevents them from making sustainable progress.

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improvement to be good

Children’s education is mixed. Some children are committed to their learning and have clear aspirations for their future. Other children struggle to recognise the importance of education. In these circumstances, staff continue to encourage and support the children, and their attendance in education is good. One social worker said, ‘This is a really big achievement for [name] as their attendance has always been poor.’

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improvement to be good

Some children regularly attend their routine medical appointments, while others continue to refuse. In these circumstances, staff do not help the children to understand the importance of these appointments or work with the children to raise their awareness of leading a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, some children engage in substance misuse, and the frequency of this is increasing. Staff do not carry out key-work sessions with the children regarding the detrimental impact that this will have on their progress and development. This is a missed opportunity to raise children’s awareness of how their lifestyle choices at this time will affect their future prospects.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between children and staff are generally positive. Children are aware of how to raise any complaints or issues that they are concerned about, and are confident that managers will address these. This gives children confidence that their views are taken seriously.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff recognise the importance of children’s relationships with their families. They support children to have time with those who are important to them, which helps children to maintain these relationships. As a result, children are not isolated from their families.

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improvement to be good

Some children regularly go missing from the home. Missing-from-home protocols do not detail clear actions for staff to follow. As a result, staff responses are inconsistent and this puts children at risk of harm. Furthermore, missing-from-home records are of poor quality, misleading and contradictory in parts. For example, Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 4 some records say that staff should go and look for children, while others do not detail this as an action.

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improvement to be good

There are occasions when staff are unable to look for children because they do not have easy access to a vehicle, as the available car is shared with other children’s homes in the vicinity. As a result, staff are unable to quickly locate the children. Some children are involved in criminal activities when they are missing from the home. Staff do not work effectively with children to manage and reduce these risks.

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improvement to be good

The manager keeps up to date with neighbourhood issues that may affect children’s safety and welfare, and, when appropriate, reports these issues to the relevant local police team. However, the manager does not include these pertinent issues and risks in her review of the home’s locality risk assessment. This potentially places children at risk of harm when they are away from the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager is aware of potential health and safety issues that place children at risk of harm. For example, on occasions, children have climbed out of bedroom windows to leave the home. In response to this risk, the manager has arranged for new windows to be fitted to prevent a reoccurrence. This reinforces a safety message to the children that staff are concerned for their welfare and well-being.

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improvement to be good

There is little use of physical restraint in the home. Staff use verbal de-escalation and redirection to help children to find alternative ways to manage their anxieties and frustrations. When physical restraint is used, staff ensure that records of these incidents are detailed and include the action taken to try to prevent the use of this measure of control. Following these incidents, the manager completes debriefs with the children and staff. This enables all involved to reflect on and learn from these incidents.

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improvement to be good

There have been some incidents of bullying in the home. The staff have worked hard with the children to help them to understand that what some children may perceive to be a joke is emotionally harmful to others. Since taking part in these reflective sessions, incidents of bulling have reduced significantly.

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good

The manager is aspirational for the children and this is mirrored by the staff team. She has positive relationships with other professionals and agencies, who speak highly of her and the effective communication that they experience with the home.

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good

Staff recruitment does not consistently reflect agreed procedures in line with the regulation. For example, when concerns are identified in new employee references or references for agency staff, these are not always followed up. On one occasion, this resulted in a safeguarding issue that could have been prevented. This does not promote the safety and protection of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 5 Staff supervisions are well documented. These sessions provide staff with learning opportunities and a forum to discuss the children’s progress and welfare. Staff also use these sessions to reflect on their practice and this helps them to learn new skills to better meet the children’s needs.

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good

Staff training is ongoing and all mandatory training is up to date. This helps staff to better understand children’s behaviours and to identify signs that may indicate that children are unhappy or at risk of harm. Staff are able to act on these signs to support and protect children.

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good

There are monitoring systems in place to help the manager to track children’s progress. These also support her to identify the strengths of the service and the areas for development. This demonstrates the home’s capacity to improve. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 6

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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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met; and

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)) 24 June 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)) 24 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)) 24 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 7 The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1)) 24 June 2022

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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: SC068000 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington, County Durham DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

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Inspectors

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Sadie Mulkeen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068000 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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