Children's Home run by Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 1 SC455864 Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited 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. The home provides care for up to eight children who may have social and emotional difficulties. The home may provide care for children with mental health conditions excluding learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There are four children currently living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started in post on 3 April 2023 but has not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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 inadequate

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/08/2019 Full Good 18/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s progress and overall experiences of living in the home are variable. Ineffective leadership and management and poor record keeping are affecting their experiences. Although there are positive relationships between children and staff, children’s overall well-being is not consistently promoted.

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improvement to be good

Not all children are accessing education, employment or training. For children who are not in education, there are no agreed daily education plans in place for the staff to follow. Not all children have personal education plans on file. This means that the children are not supported to reach their academic potential.

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improvement to be good

Children have limited opportunities to develop their interests and hobbies or to participate in activities outside of the home. This does not provide children with chances to socialise with peers and the wider community.

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improvement to be good

Some children’s files lack important information from their social workers. The manager and staff do not challenge local authorities or escalate their concerns. This means that the staff are not advocating on behalf of the children, and the staff do not have all the up-to-date information about the children when providing their care.

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improvement to be good

When children move on from the home or move into the home, this is managed sensitively and with care. Transition plans are detailed, which supports the children settling into their new home.

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improvement to be good

For children who move into the home who speak English as an additional language, staff work hard at finding alternative ways to communicate with them. Staff use translators and all have translation apps on their phones. For one child, staff identified a community of people who were from his country. As such, this child now has contact with this community. However, not all essential documents have been translated into the first language of some children, which means that they cannot access the same information as other children.

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improvement to be good

The home looks tired and requires refurbishment and decoration throughout. There is no evidence of the children’s presence throughout the home, and there are no photos of the children anywhere. In certain areas of the building, there are some unpleasant odours that have not been addressed. Damage has been caused in the communal areas and on the wall in one child’s bedroom. Immediate remedial work was not undertaken during the inspection despite assurances by the manager. This is not a homely and inviting environment for the children to live in. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 4

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improvement to be good

Children say they feel safe living in the home. This is a view supported by their placing social workers. Staff respond to the immediate risks and act to reduce them. However, there is a lack of consistency in the staff’s follow-up responses to safeguarding incidents.

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improvement to be good

Before children move into the home, a risk assessment is completed to ensure that the placement is safe for the child moving in as well as for the children already living in the home. However, the potential effect of the known risks of the children currently living in the home on the child moving in is not considered. There is also no clear manager’s evaluation of the risks and how staff will manage these. This means that children are moving into the home without careful consideration being given to whether the children are well matched.

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improvement to be good

Children’s day-to-day risk assessments identify all known risks and are updated if a new risk emerges. However, there are no identified strategies for staff to use to manage these risks effectively. This means that staff do not provide a consistent approach to children when managing risk, which leaves staff and children vulnerable to harm.

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improvement to be good

A requirement was issued following the last inspection to inform Ofsted of any serious incidents that occur in the home. However, this shortfall has continued, and further serious incidents have either not been notified to the regulator or there has been a delay in notifying the regulator. This failure means that Ofsted is unable to scrutinise information to ensure that children are kept safe.

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improvement to be good

The previously issued requirement about consequence records has been reissued. While most consequences are appropriate, some are punitive in nature and not restorative. In addition, the recording of the records is still not completed as required. This means that the manager cannot be assured that the measure used is fair, appropriate and proportionate.

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improvement to be good

Some internal doors downstairs were found to be locked during the inspection. This denies children access to these areas of the home. One room houses the children’s telephone, which prevents them from contacting the people who are important to them should they wish to. This practice creates an institutionalised environment for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake bedroom searches when needed. However, children are not always made aware of the need for the room search. Furthermore, consent is not requested, and children are not offered the opportunity to be present during the search. This means that children’s private space and their personal belongings are being looked through without their involvement and knowledge.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, which is a frequent event for two children, staff follow missing-from-home procedures. However, there is an inconsistent Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 5 approach by staff as to whether the local area is searched and whether staff try to contact the child on their phone. When children return, it is not always clear if they are being welcomed back into the home and offered something to eat and drink. In addition, return home interviews are not always carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home are negatively affecting the children’s experiences and the quality of care they receive. The home has been without a registered manager since September 2022, and there have been several changes in management since this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback received about the management of the home identifies a lack of support and management oversight. This has been adversely affecting the morale in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to ensure that there are effective internal auditing systems to monitor how the home functions and the performance of staff. This means that the manager is unable to identify shortfalls in the quality of care provided and understand the impact that these have on children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The shortfall that was raised at the last inspection about the keeping of case records continues to be an issue. Some statutory documents are not on the children’s records, there is a lack of consistency in the quality of record-keeping and there are inaccuracies in the information recorded. This means that the staff do not have the most up-to-date information when providing care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The most recent statement of purpose contains inaccuracies and is not completed as required. This means that parents, Ofsted and other professionals do not have the correct information available to ensure that children are cared for in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider reviews and monitors the children’s progress and the development of the home. However, the provider’s quality of care review report does not include the feedback and opinions of the children about the quality of their care. Furthermore, the quality of care review does not consider the views of children’s parents and families, professionals and the staff. The report does not include an action plan to make improvements, and it has not been sent to Ofsted within the required timescale. These shortfalls hinder Ofsted’s ability to monitor and review the progress that is being made to improve practice and outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s location risk assessment does not evidence what feedback has been received from relevant professionals about the local area and how this has informed the assessment of risk. This means that the staff do not have recorded, up-to-date information about the local area or consider how this may affect the children living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 6 The independent visitor does not always consult with the children, their parents, professionals and the staff working in the home. Failing to speak with children and stakeholders does not give the independent visitor the information needed to assess whether children are safeguarded effectively and whether their well-being is being promoted by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The previous shortfall with regard to the use of CCTV remains. The necessary permission for this measure has not been obtained for one child. This means that for one child, surveillance is in place that has not been consented to. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the effective assessment of children’s needs and their suitability to live with other children before they move into the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also specifically relates to overall assessment of risks affecting children and how to mitigate these risks.

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Requirement Due date

This also specifically relates to home conditions. 7 August 2023

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 7 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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 (a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)) 7 July 2023

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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

that staff— 31 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 9 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

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 7 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the locking of doors to prevent children from accessing certain parts of their home. 8 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— 7 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 10 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.

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to 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; and

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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)(i)(ii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This 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 kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 7 August 2023

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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; 7 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 11 seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; and

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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

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 quality of care provided for children;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)) 7 July 2023

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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). 7 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 12 When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that a child’s bedroom is not generally entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission and given the option to be present. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability, culture and language in the development and implementation of any

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Recommendations

consultation of information-sharing processes. Children should be able to see and understand the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities, both inside and outside of the home, and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home. The registered person should also ensure that staff provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home

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Recommendations

interview. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person they appoint has the skills and understanding necessary to relate to children in a home’s care, assess all relevant information and form an impartial judgement about the quality of the home’s care by consulting with the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8) Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 13

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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: SC455864 14

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Fox Street, Sunderland Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE10 0BD

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Inspectors

Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Louise Walker, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 15 regulates and inspects 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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