Children's Home run by North East Autism Society in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 1 SC458754 Registered provider: North East Autism Society 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 private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to eight children with learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

There are five children and three young people living in the home. The inspector spoke with/observed the children and young people during this inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 16 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/11/2021 Full Good 21/01/2020 Full Outstanding 12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children and young people have lived at the home for several years. They are settled, and they have positive relationships with the staff. Staff provide well-organised care for the children and young people, and this has helped them to make progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people in a caring and nurturing way. Children and young people are offered lots of reassurance and affection. This helps them to feel valued. Staff use soothing strategies to help the children and young people to manage their routines and to ease their anxieties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise the children and young people’s education, and this has helped the children and young people to make good progress with their learning. The children and young people enjoy attending education, and the staff help them to practise their learning at home. As a result, they have learned to put plates away, make cold drinks, make dinner, and attend to their personal care. This has increased the children and young people’s independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s health needs are well met. Staff ensure that the children and young people have access to support from community and/or specialist health services. Furthermore, when staff identify that a child or a young person requires more specialist support, they take appropriate steps to arrange access to this. Staff are tenacious in pursuing the right support for the children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff know the children and young people well. They have developed creative ways to communicate with children and young people with very complex needs. The children and young people are helped to make choices, and they are building trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people take part in a range of activities, including day trips, trampolining and going to the play parks. They have regular opportunities to request different activities, which the staff facilitate. This helps to develop the children and young people’s confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is well maintained. Children and young people have personalised their rooms and apartments. The communal area is decorated warmly with the children and young people’s photos displayed on the walls. This provides a homely feeling for the children and young people.

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

Children and young people with very complex needs are supported by patient, caring staff. The staff work well with a range of different agencies. Between them, Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 4 they devise strategies to help the children and young people to manage their emotions and behaviour in a more socially acceptable way.

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

Staff are skilled at de-escalating challenging situations. There have been occasions when the staff have held the children and young people to stop them from hurting themselves. The staff carry out welfare checks on the children and young people after an incident. This ensures that the children and young people’s well-being and safety are maintained.

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

Staff use positive reinforcement and praise to support the children and young people’s behavioural development. The children and young people have been involved in setting goals and targets for themselves, which has improved their engagement and helped them to recognise their own progress.

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

Risk assessments identify the vulnerabilities of the children and young people, and they provide the staff with the strategies to mitigate these risks. Staff demonstrate that they understand the risks that the children and young people face, and that they adhere to the measures in place to protect the children and young people.

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

Staff prepare well before taking the children and young people out of the home. Staff carry the rescue medication and the equipment that they may need to respond to the children and young people’s urgent medical needs, or to maintain the children and young people’s dignity. This helps to ensure that the children and young people are kept safe in the community.

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

The manager shares significant incidents that involve the children with the relevant agencies. However, she has not notified Ofsted of one serious incident. This oversight prevents Ofsted from scrutinising how significant incidents and potential safeguarding matters are investigated. This prevents Ofsted from being assured that the manager and staff have taken effective action to safeguard the children.

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good

Since the last inspection, there has been a change in the management arrangements. The registered manager left the home in January 2022 and a new manager was appointed. This manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2022 and is suitably qualified.

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good

The leadership and management arrangements of the home are not yet consistently good. However, the registered manager has a clear vision for the home, and she is committed to ensuring that the children are provided with the right support to help them to succeed. She is supported by a team of assistant managers and senior staff.

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good

Staff are not provided with regular supervision as set out on the home’s statement of purpose. This oversight means that the staff are not provided with regular opportunities to reflect on their practice to raise the standard of care that the children receive. As a result, issues which may affect the children continue. In Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 5 addition, the staff do not complete their annual appraisals within the required timescale. Therefore, the manager has missed an opportunity to set long-term goals and implement them in supervision to develop the staff’s practice.

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good

There is an ongoing training and development programme that is aligned to the needs of the children. However, not all the staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training. This means that not all the staff have the current knowledge and skills required to support them in their roles. Furthermore, the manager has failed to ensure that the staff who are in charge during waking nights have refreshed their physical intervention training. This oversight hinders these staff from providing an appropriate and safe response, should this be needed.

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good

The manager reviews the quality of care that the staff provide to the children and young people, and she submits her report to Ofsted within the required timescale. However, the manager has failed to take into consideration the feedback from children, young people and other key stakeholders about the care that the staff provide. This restricts the capacity of the home to improve.

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good

Children’s case files are incomplete. Supporting documents, such as the children’s annual health assessments and their education, health and care plans, are not consistently and quickly obtained by the manager. The manager has missed an opportunity to demonstrate how she has escalated the lack of these documents to the children’s placing local authorities. As a result, the staff do not always have the most up-to-date information to coordinate the children’s care, which may affect the children’s progress.

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good

Staff are enthusiastic and demonstrate a good understanding of the children and young people’s needs, and how best to support them. Staff are positive about their roles, and the support that they receive from their managers and the wider team.

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good

The home follows safer recruitment and selection procedures to make sure that people employed are suitable to work with the children and young people. New staff are required to complete a detailed induction programme before they work at the home. These measures further safeguard the children and young people. Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must escalate their concerns to the director of children’s services of the placing authority when documents, such as the looked after children health assessment and education, health and care plan, are not received in a reasonable time. 30 July 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. 30 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 7 (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that the staff are provided with regular supervision as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. The registered provider must ensure that staff who are in charge of night-time duty have up-to-date training in physical intervention.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 30 July 2022

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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, the registered provider must ensure that looked after children health assessments and education, health and care plans are obtained and kept up to date. 30 July 2022

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child, which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 30 July 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 feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b)) 30 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 8

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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: SC458754 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Autism Society

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Lumley Court, Drum Industrial Estate, Chester- le-Street, Durham DH2 1AN

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC458754 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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