Children's Home run by North Tyneside Council in North Tyneside

Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 1 Registered provider: North Tyneside Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated and managed by a local authority. The home can provide care for up to four children who have emotional and social difficulties, and with present drug and alcohol dependency.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in December 2022. The manager was also registered in December 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors observed three children and spoke to two children during the 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between the staff and children are nurturing. Children quickly build strong bonds with staff. Children said they feel happy, safe and supported by the staff and manager. Children can identify a trusted adult who they can speak to. One child said that they wish that the home was a long-term home so they do not have to move out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children attend education. Staff help children to understand opportunities available after leaving school or college. This helps children to have aspirations and the knowledge to make informed choices about their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager advocates on behalf of children. However, the registered manager does not follow the escalation policy to challenge other professionals, such as the placing authority. This has resulted in one child not attending an education provision which could impact on the child’s learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met which includes attending routine health appointments. When children struggle with a medication prescribed, staff act promptly. Staff liaise with appropriate health professionals to seek alternatives that may better suit the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend activities that they enjoy. This includes youth groups and activities that promote a healthy lifestyle such as swimming and bike rides. Children also attend a children in care counsel. This helps children to influence decision-making and to see that their views are heard and valued. Additionally, it provides opportunities for children to improve their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family ties and support children to spend time with significant people in their lives. Family members can identify staff members who they can speak to which helps them feel involved in their children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are respectful of children’s personal belongings that they bring to the home. However, staff do not help children to understand how to take care of their items. As a result, some children’s bedrooms present as unkempt. This is a missed opportunity by staff to help children develop independent skills that will benefit them in adulthood.

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

The registered manager and staff know the children well. Regular discussions take place with the children about topics relevant to them. These discussions include exploring risk-taking behaviours which help the children to understand how they can keep themselves safer. This also helps staff to develop their relationships with the children and helps staff understand how they can best support the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 3 When children find it difficult to manage their emotions, staff will physically intervene to keep the child and others safe. This is only used as a last resort. Staff said that they do everything possible to de-escalate a situation before needing to guide or hold the child. When physical intervention is used, the staff and the child have separate conversations with someone independent to reflect on the incident. This helps the child understand why they have been held and supports the positive

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

relationship between the staff and children to continue.

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

However, the registered manager does not always have good oversight of the staffing rota. This has resulted in occasions when night staff have not completed physical intervention training. If needed, this could result in children being physically held by untrained staff. This places both children and staff at risk.

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

The registered manager’s response to complaints is timely, thorough and takes into account the voice of the child. When the registered manager is unable to resolve the complaint herself, she escalates this to senior managers and advocates for the children. This demonstrates to the children that their voices are heard and this adds to them feeling valued.

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

If staff have to search a child's bedroom this is done sensitively and, where possible, with the permission of the child. This has only taken place when there has been genuine reason which may place the child or other people in the home at risk. Children are then spoken to and their views relating to the room search are recorded.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff prioritise the children’s welfare. Staff make sure children are returned home as quickly as possible. However, staff’s actions are not always consistent. This is because the registered manager does not make sure that staff follow the policies in relation to children missing from the home. In particular, there is not sufficient information in the child’s profile which is used by police to help them locate a child if they go missing.

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

One child has had an overly punitive consequence put in place to address damage they had caused to the home. This has not addressed the reason why the damage was caused and was not restorative in nature. Additionally, on occasions staff do not always use sensitive language that would help children to overcome difficult situations.

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good

The register manager’s assessment of how children can live together is inconsistent. The manager completes a relationship tool to consider children’s risks and compatibility. However, this does not sufficiently assess the impact of a child’s risk on other children who live at the home. As a result, children do not always have a positive relationship with each other. Additionally, when children move out of the Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 4 home, insufficient details are recorded about the preparation and actions taken to support the child’s move.

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good

Staff sometimes complete specialist training to help support children’s identified needs. This includes training around sexual health so that children can have immediate access to educative information and provisions. However, staff have not completed specialist training to meet some of the children’s individual care needs. This has resulted in missed opportunities to respond to children’s personal needs. Additionally, the registered manager has not identified that other specialist training would improve the quality of care provided. This includes staff having more advanced training to support children who are dependent on substances and alcohol.

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good

Staff limit the children’s access to all areas of the home. Doors are also locked during an evening preventing children from leaving. The manager has not looked at the associated risks for each child and whether these restrictions are necessary for all the children. This means that all children have limitations placed on their access to all areas of the home.

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good

The quality of the registered manager’s oversight varies. However, the registered manager completes audits of children’s files and identifies actions for staff to complete. This helps to ensure children’s needs are being met. Consequently, staff knowledge also improves.

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good

The registered manager understands the importance of oversight from the independent person who visits monthly. The registered manager has identified some shortfalls in the service provided and has taken action to address this. This will improve the quality of the external scrutiny, and consequently should help to improve the care provided to the children.

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good

The staff and leadership team work well together. Staff said that they feel supported by the registered manager and each other. Staff have regular individual and group supervisions. The group supervisions help staff to reflect on their practice and helps to provide a consistent approach. The positive morale and teamwork help to create an affable environment for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 5

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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 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2) (a)(i) and (vii)) 22 September

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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

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2) (a)(c)) 22 September

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 22 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 6 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 (b)(c))

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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)(iv)) 22 September

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and 22 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 7 plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii) and (iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and

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Requirement Due date

the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent.

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Requirement Due date

Before implementing, or making an amendment which the registered person considers to be substantive to, the missing child policy, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person; and

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Requirement Due date

have regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. (Regulation 34 (4)(a)(b) and (5)(a)(b)) 22 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that sanctions used by staff should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In particular, staff should review the effectiveness of monetary sanctions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should make sure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, use language that is sensitive to the child’s needs or situation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should make sure that staff help each child to prepare

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Recommendations

for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. In particular, support children to develop skills to care for their own belongings. (‘Guide to Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 8 the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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: 2694582 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear NE27 0BY

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Inspectors

Cat Makel, Social Care Inspector Gail McGann, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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