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 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

At the time of the inspection there were two children living in the home. There have been no short-break placements since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in place. A manager has been appointed but has yet to apply to register with Ofsted.

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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: 15 February 2022

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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 home: 2568244 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for home: 2568244 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given a positive introduction to the home where staff are welcoming and caring. This ensures that children quickly settle. One professional said she has ‘never seen a child so happy.’ Children like living here and develop good relationships with staff and other children. One child said about the home and the staff, ‘They have made me feel like I have a family even when I don’t have one.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that they have all the necessary details to provide the best possible care for children as soon as they move in. For example, staff will find out any allergy information and outstanding medical appointments. Staff will book overdue medical appointments as a priority. This ensures that children’s health needs, which may have been neglected for many years, are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children quickly make progress and, for some, this is significant. Within days of one child moving into the home, his teacher commented on the remarkable improvement in his presentation. For another child, her emotional well-being has greatly improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are experienced and skilled in looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and take great care and pride in doing so. They ensure the child’s cultural and religious needs are respected, promoted and provided for. Written information is translated into their spoken language. Interpreters are provided for meetings and direct work sessions. This ensures that they can be given the same information, support and opportunities as their English-speaking peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with families and friends is actively promoted and facilitated. Staff understand how important this is for children’s well-being and for helping them to embrace their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to and their opinions matter. Their views and wishes are obtained in a variety of ways. This allows all children to provide feedback in a way which is most comfortable for them. Staff respond to children and take action. This helps children feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Sanctions are used to safeguard children or to help them learn that there are consequences to unacceptable behaviours. Children are given the opportunity to make amends and gain back what they have lost. However, the effectiveness of sanctions is not always recorded, nor is whether the sanction has been removed following positive behaviours. This prevents managers and staff from having an understanding about what works and doesn’t work for each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

While new information is added to children’s care plans, out-of-date information is not always removed. This means that care plans are not accurate and could result in inconsistent and incorrect care of children which does not meet their needs. Inspection report for home: 2568244 4

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

Care is taken to ensure that children’s needs can be met at this home prior to them moving in. A risk assessment also considers the impact on children already living in the home. Areas of concern are identified, and action is put in place to reduce the potential for an increase in risk.

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

Risk assessments are clear and comprehensive. They are reviewed and updated at least monthly and whenever an incident takes place. Managers and staff are proactive in ensuring that the whole staff team is immediately informed of safeguarding incidents or information, and any required actions. As a result, children are provided with consistent approaches from staff.

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

Staff use a variety of de-escalation techniques to reduce incidents and avoid restraining children. However, if a restraint is required, staff are trained and provided with the strategy to use for each child. This helps ensure that children receive safe care .

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

Safeguarding measures are in place to protect children from self-harming. Children understand why safeguarding measures are in place and follow them. However, on one occasion, staff failed to seek the return of a restricted item from a child for at least 24 hours. This could have resulted in an incident of self-harm.

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

Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s risks. They work hard to understand children’s complex behaviours. Children are able to talk to staff about their worries and, with support from staff, risks to children’s safety reduce. This includes missing from home episodes for one child, and self-harming incidents for another child.

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

Measures taken to prevent children leaving the home are appropriate to safeguard them. When children do go missing, staff know what to do. They follow the individualised missing from home procedures and actively look for children. This reduces the time children are away from the home, which makes them safer. However, not all necessary information is recorded. This prevents managers from having a full understanding of the incident.

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

Door alarms are activated on all children’s bedroom doors, regardless of whether these are necessary to safeguard a child. The decision has not been risk assessed and is not reviewed. This may be an unnecessary restriction to a child’s liberty.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is experienced and diverse and brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to the service. Additional skills are gained through a programme of ongoing training. This enables staff to better understand and respond to children’s specific needs and risks. Inspection report for home: 2568244 5 Staff support and respect one another. They work well together and strive for improved experiences and outcomes for the children. Staff feel appreciated and respected by the managers, who they describe as ‘available and supportive’, including with personal issues. Staff are frequently praised for their work and contribution by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and supervision take place every month. The children and any safeguarding concerns are central to both. Discussions take place around how best to meet the children’s needs and staff are encouraged to contribute and share their ideas. This practice helps staff feel important and also involves the whole team in raising the standard of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Debriefs take place with staff after incidents. Staff value this process because it provides them with an opportunity to reflect on what took place and identify what they have learned. It also enables them to receive emotional support and this enables them to continue to support the children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers advocate for children. They will challenge professionals when children’s best interests are not being respected or followed. This has resulted in one child attending an important event and another taking an important step towards her independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have excellent daily oversight of important documents. The monthly monitoring audit enables managers to have an overview of all areas in the home and to identify any shortfalls which are quickly remedied. This enables managers to have an awareness of the progress that children make. Inspection report for home: 2568244 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that actions agreed with children are followed up. 11 August 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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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)(a)(v)(b)) 11 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 11 August 2022 Inspection report for home: 2568244 7 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the effectiveness of sanctions is recorded, and whether the sanction was subsequently removed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure care plans contain only current information. 11 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to switch on bedroom door alarms should only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. In particular, missing from home recordings should contain all relevant details including who finds 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 home: 2568244 8

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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 Inspector Inspection report for home: 2568244 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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