Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 1 SC037984 Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in January 2022. A new manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted inspected this home on 22 and 23 August 2022 and found significant shortfalls in the help and protection of children and the leadership and management of the home. The home was judged to be inadequate and Ofsted issued four compliance notices under regulation 11, 12, 13 and 14. Ofsted completed a monitoring visit on 11 October 2022 and found that sufficient action had been taken to meet the steps in the compliance notices under regulation 12 and 14. The steps Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 2 required to meet the compliance notices issues under regulation 11 and 13 had not been met and these were reissued. Progress to meet these notices has been considered as part of this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 3

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2022 Full Inadequate 01/03/2022 Full Good 14/08/2019 Full Good 15/05/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s relationships with staff are improving. They now have opportunities to enjoy a range of activities and have recently been on a short holiday with staff. Photographs show the children having fun and making happy memories with staff. This is a significant improvement since the last inspection and supports children’s development.

p.4

improvement to be good

Education progress for some children is not yet good enough. During the inspection, some children did not attend education, despite encouragement from staff. Staff did not offer structured activities throughout the day to provide a routine, or alternative learning opportunities. Non-attendance in education is having a negative effect on children’s educational progress and social development.

p.4

improvement to be good

One child’s health needs are difficult for them to accept and manage. Although staff carry out one-to-one sessions with the child, these sessions are only partly effective. These sessions do not help to raise the child’s awareness about the associated longer-term risks of their medical condition. This does not encourage the child to make any positive changes to managing their physical health.

p.4

improvement to be good

Some children receive therapy to help them to manage their anxieties and improve their emotional well-being. Staff support children to reflect on their feelings and frustrations. This means that children learn new coping strategies and their self- esteem is developing. For one child, this has greatly influenced their self-confidence, so much so that they will be presenting their artwork to an audience.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. They help rebuild relationships between children and family members and, for one child, this has resulted in overnight stays. This helps children to retain a sense of their identity.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments are detailed and provide staff with clear actions to follow when children are at risk of harm. The manager reviews and updates these risk assessments. This provides staff with up-to-date information, which helps them to determine the severity of the risks to children’s safety and how to manage and reduce these.

p.4

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, occasions when children go missing from the home have reduced. When children are missing from the home, staff go out and look for them. This tells children that the staff worry about them and will do what they can to bring them home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 5 There have been no physical restraints since the last inspection. Staff know children’s triggers and mitigate the escalation of their behaviours through verbal redirection and following children’s support plans.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff respond to self-injurious incidents in line with internal policies and procedures, and with the child’s safety plan. One child’s family said, ‘We all work consistently when supporting [child’s name] with their social and emotional well-being.’ Consequently, self-injurious behaviours have significantly reduced and this is recognised by other professionals.

p.5

improvement to be good

Some children receive financial reparation when they cause damage to property. The manager has recognised that this is ineffective and has adopted a restorative approach across the home. Children now help to fix any damage that they cause. This helps children to take responsibility for their actions.

p.5

good

The manager has a clear understanding of the shortfalls in the care provided to the children. Leaders and managers have recently taken steps to make improvements to the quality of care that children receive. This includes better-quality staff training and the redecoration of one child’s bedroom.

p.5

good

The manager has effective working relationships with other professionals from health, education and social care. She will direct staff to professionally challenge placing authorities to make sure that children’s records and plans are up to date and reflect all of their support needs.

p.5

good

All staff have had training in trauma-informed care by a therapeutic social worker. Staff have easy access to therapists for support with their practices, and this helps them to overcome any barriers of delivering better care to the children. This means that staff can now provide the children with therapeutic responses and consistent care.

p.5

good

Staff are supported to reflect and focus on their practice through regular supervision sessions and team meetings. This ensures that staff are learning about new approaches to supporting children and increases their opportunities to share good practice. Staff said that they feel supported by the manager and find supervision sessions useful.

p.5

good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and the areas for development. The monitoring systems in place mean that when shortfalls are found, the manager can take action to address these.

p.5

good

The inspector concluded from this inspection that the compliance notices issued under regulation 11 and 13 have been met. Staff are now trained in building positive relationships with children and are trained in trauma-informed practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)) 29 December

p.6

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 29 December

p.6

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: SC037984 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

p.7

Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8