Children's Home run by Advocate Recruitment Ltd in Gateshead

Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 1 Registered provider: Advocate Recruitment 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 by a private provider. The home can provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in October 2021. The manager was registered in February 2022. The inspector spoke with two children who currently live in the home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children build trusting relationships with staff. The children chat, laugh and share jokes with the staff team. This gives children a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children with their education. Some children attend school regularly, with alternative plans in place for those children who find going to school difficult. There are celebrations for big achievements, such as children graduating from their school year or sitting their exams. This builds self-confidence and helps the children to feel proud of the things they have done.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to develop independence skills. This includes children having weekly individual targets to help to prepare them for later life. However, a pathway plan is missing for one child. The manager has escalated her concerns to the placing authority, but this has not been effective as the plan has been outstanding for several months. This document is important as it outlines the child’s future plans and their move into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. If there are issues with a child’s emotional well-being, extra support is available. If children decide not to work with the community mental health team, the staff help the children to access other resources. For example, a mobile application for well-being is used. This helps children to understand how they are feeling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child spoke about their positive move into the home. This was well planned as there were opportunities for them to meet the other children and staff before moving in. This helps to prepare children for their transition, supporting them in a child-focused way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team makes sure that children have good opportunities for socialising with friends. For example, the manager worked hard to ensure that a child could go away with friends for a holiday. This gives the children opportunities that they should have while growing up.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop relationships with children’s families where possible. Staff support the children to spend time with people who are important to them. This helps the children to maintain important relationships.

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

Each child has a risk assessment, which outlines individual concerns and action that staff will take to keep the children safe. Staff know about issues such as self- harming behaviours and how to support the children. For example, sometimes, staff undertake room searches to remove items that children could use to harm Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 4 themselves. Children know that staff complete these room searches. This support helps staff to manage risk and helps to keep the children as safe as possible.

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

Children do not regularly go missing from the home. If a child does go missing, there is an organised response, which includes the staff trying to find children to make sure that they are fit and well. This helps to keep the children safe. Most of the missing-from-home paperwork is up to date, although one child’s missing-from- home document needs to be updated. It has no photo of the child, and not all the information is correct.

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

Staff do not use physical intervention to manage the children’s behaviours. However, staff have received training in physical intervention if this is ever needed. Instead, staff use conversation, diversion, and humour to de-escalate a situation. Consequences and rewards help the children to understand the impact of their behaviour on others. This approach is successful due to the good relationships that the children have developed with the staff team.

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

The manager follows the safer recruitment process. However, one reference for a newer member of staff was not received, and another reference was not verified. This means that the manager cannot be assured that all the staff are safe to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the team and areas for development. Additionally, the manager seeks ways to improve the service. This includes speaking to managers from other homes to share ideas to improve the care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager challenges staff practice and, when necessary, the local authority designated officer is involved. The manager undertakes internal investigations and will deal with any staff member’s misconduct issues. Furthermore, work completed with the team focuses on professional boundaries and expectations of staff. The provider also updates internal policies when needed. However, the manager failed to notify Ofsted of one investigation. This means that there is a lack of external scrutiny.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records reflect the children’s daily lives. The staff discuss the children in their daily handovers, and this provides a reflection of the children’s experiences. However, staff’s recording is not always consistent. Some documents were not signed or dated by staff. One local authority care plan was missing and another was out of date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has experienced recent changes due to some staff leaving and new people starting. There is a core group of staff who have remained consistent for the children. This lessens the impact on the children by having familiar people caring for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 5 The staff said that the team members are supportive of each other. They have a good induction process and probationary period. Mandatory training covers broad topics and helps to develop the skills of the staff. This ensures that staff have the training and experience to look after the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have good working relationships with multi-agency professionals. This helps to improve the outcomes for the children and gives them a predictable approach with these professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that the children’s missing-protocol paperwork includes the child’s photo and has the right information for each individual child. 11 July 2023

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that there is a suitable pathway plan in place for children from their placing local authority, and escalate concerns further if necessary. 11 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— 25 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 7 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that each child has an up-to-date care plan on their file from the local authority.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure consistency in case records, that the author has signed and dated documents, and that staff sign when they have read updates. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that good recruitment practice is followed, including obtaining and verifying references. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that Ofsted is notified of all serious issues relating to children’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: 2656590 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Advocate Recruitment Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bell Anderson, Lindum, 264-266 Durham Road, Gateshead NE8 4JR

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Inspector

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2656590 9 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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