Children's Home run by Together for Children in Sunderland

Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 1 Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed under trust arrangements. It provides care for up to six children.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke with two of the five children who live in the home during the inspection. The other children declined to speak with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2017.

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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 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2022 Full Outstanding 02/07/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Good 12/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 3 C87

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in the home. However, while some children make excellent progress, the progress of others is less clear. One child scored living in the home as eight out of 10, while another scored it three out of 10.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a good standard. Photos of the children are on display throughout the home. An abundance of soft furnishings makes it an inviting and homely environment for the children to live in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint and are confident speaking to the staff if they need to raise a concern. Complaints leaflets are accessible to them in the home, along with a post box to put them in should the children want to make a complaint confidentially. Providing children with different methods to complain gives them a clear message that any concerns they have will be taken seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are made to feel welcome when they move into the home. They are offered a visit and stay for tea before moving in. They are also provided with a copy of the children’s guide and a welcome pack. When they move in, the staff spend time with them, helping them to settle in and supporting them to personalise their bedrooms if they wish to. This allows children to settle quickly and gives them a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills and are supported to move on to their next home when the time is right for them. The staff develop a clear plan of work with the children in preparation for them moving on, and an independent living programme is completed with them. One child who has moved on from the home said, ‘I feel I have become a good person from living there.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children are in education, employment or training. One of these children does not have a recorded education plan in her risk assessment or care plan. The care plan for another child is out of date. While the home has a daily education plan in place for the children who do not attend an educational setting, they do engage in this. There is also a lack of evidence of challenge and escalation from the staff about progressing tuition for one child and pursuing an educational provision for another.

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

Staff work hard to keep children safe and to manage the risks that they are faced with due to the children’s complex needs. Staff understand safeguarding procedures and follow them. Staff respond to the immediate risks and act to reduce them. Following every incident, staff attempt to engage with children in key-work sessions to raise their awareness and thus make the children increasingly safer.

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

Children’s records, including impact risk assessments and day-to-day risk assessments, are thorough and clear to read. They identify all the known risks and Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 4 have a detailed plan of how the risks will be managed. These reports provide the staff with clear guidelines of how they should support the child when risks occur.

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

There has been a significant increase in the number of missing-from-home episodes in the home. When children go missing, the staff follow the home’s procedure. Staff proactively take steps to locate the child. This includes trying to contact them by telephone, contacting their families and friends, as well as driving to all known locations to find them. Once children are found, return home interviews are offered to them.

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

Recordings of physical interventions are not completed as required. Some records do not contain the necessary information, such as the time of the intervention and the signature of the manager. Other records have not been signed and dated by the manager within the required timescale, and there is a lack of analysis in the management oversight of some documents. This means that there is insufficient scrutiny by the registered manager of the staff’s practice, which exposes the children to the potential risk of harm.

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

The use of consequences is rare in the home. When they are used, they are appropriate and restorative in nature. However, one record was not signed and dated by the manager within the required timescale. This means that the management oversight of whether the consequence was fair and proportionate was delayed.

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

When room searches take place, the children are rarely present, and the recording of the documents is poor. Some documents lack the rationale for the search, and one record is not signed or dated by the manager. Another record is signed by the manager despite him being involved in the room search, and there is a lack of management evaluation throughout. This means it is not clear if the room searches are appropriate and proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership of the home is effective. The home is managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. The manager is passionate about his role and the therapeutic reparenting model, which is fully embedded in the home. The home is properly staffed by suitably vetted staff. There is an induction period in place for new members of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A wealth of positive feedback has been received from family and professionals during the inspection. The commitment and patience of the staff, the trusted and secure relationships that the children enjoy with the staff and the level of communication from the staff were themes throughout the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is of a good quality and is reflective in nature. However, some supervision sessions have not taken place in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose. The lack of consistency in the timeliness of supervision sessions means that children are potentially not provided with a consistent level of care. Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 5 A review of children’s documents identified a lack of signatures and dates on some records. One child’s care plan was out of date and not relevant to her current care arrangements. This had not been identified and challenged by the staff. This means that the staff do not have the most up-to-date information when caring for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The location risk assessment does not include evidence of consultation with the police and wider community. This means that the manager cannot be assured that they are aware of and have considered all the known risks in the local community. Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vii)(x)) 4 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 4 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

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 date, time and location of the use of the measure and

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure;

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(iii)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to physical intervention records.

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Requirement Due date

This also specifically relates to consequence records.

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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 signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 4 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

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).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 4 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are only searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission unless there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s immediate safety or well-being. The rationale for the room search should be clearly evidenced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place for all staff, including the manager, to receive regular supervision so that they can reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 1254835 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stanfield Business Centre, Addison Street, Sunderland SR2 8SZ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Majella McCarthy

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Inspector

Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1254835 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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