Children's home run by North Yorkshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 1 Registered provider: North Yorkshire Council 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 local authority. It provides short-break services for up to six children with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. The home also provides extended and bespoke packages of care. The home currently supports 14 children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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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: 2 November 2022

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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: 1256500 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/11/2021 Full Outstanding 14/01/2020 Full Outstanding 05/02/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home in a planned and considered way. Relevant information is gathered by the registered manager before a child spends time at the home. This information helps to inform the child’s care plan and helps staff to deliver individualised care from the start.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move from the home, the manager and staff work closely with the child’s parents, carers and professionals to ensure that the child has a positive ending. One parent spoke positively about the support that the staff and manager gave to their child when they moved to a new home. The parent said that the manager and staff ‘helped massively’ with the child’s move by visiting the home, supporting the child to visit their new home, and sharing relevant information. This helped the child to manage this key event in their life in a positive and informed way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children and their needs well. They enjoy spending time with the children, helping them to make progress, and are passionate about giving children experiences that enhance their lives. Staff have a good understanding of the communication needs of the children they care for and their vulnerabilities. This helps children to build trusted and safe relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff help children to make progress from their starting points. One parent said that the home helped to support their child to make progress with their communication skills. Another parent described how the staff supported their child to develop their independent living skills. One social worker stated that the home has provided the child with ‘stability, routines and boundaries’ and has helped the child to feel ‘regulated and safe’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in a variety of activities that enhance their life experiences and support their interests. One child has a passion for playing darts and staff have promoted this interest by putting a dartboard in his room where the child can enjoy a game of darts with the staff. Another child has a keen interest in the air ambulance service and has been supported by the staff and manager to write a letter to them. This resulted in some of the air ambulance staff visiting the home and meeting with the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are comprehensive, child-focused and support staff to understand the needs of the children they care for. They are progressive and help children to make progress during their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, warm and welcoming. Children can personalise their bedrooms to their specific likes. This helps them to have a sense of belonging and feel valued. However, the home requires some repair work and the play areas for the children require some attention. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 4

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

Guidance is in place for staff to support their decision-making about when they should seek medical advice should a child self-injure. In addition, body maps are completed by staff daily and the oversight and scrutiny by senior managers of body maps are now embedded. The completion of body maps and incidents where children self-injure are routinely discussed in team meetings. This has helped to improve staff practice in these areas and helps to protect children during their time at the home.

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

There have been no missing-from-care incidents. However, each child has a missing- from-care plan that supports staff to know what to do should they go missing. Children’s plans contain information that supports external agencies in their search for a child should they go missing and their interaction with the child when found.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour in the home. They understand each child’s specific needs as detailed in their care plans, risk assessments and positive behaviour support plans. This means that there are very few incidents where children must be held by staff. On the few occasions where children are held, staff use the least restrictive methods to help and support the child. All incidents are recorded, reviewed and monitored by the registered manager. Although staff debriefs take place, they are not always clearly recorded in the incident reports.

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

Staff listen to and act on concerns raised by children and report these to the manager. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and the whistle-blowing policy. Investigations into harm or suspicions of harm are handled quickly and effectively by the manager and are shared with the relevant agencies. However, on one occasion, the on-call procedure was not followed, which caused a delay in safeguarding concerns being reported to the manager.

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

Staff are recruited in line with safer recruitment procedures. This reduces the risk of unsuitable adults working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified registered manager who has long- standing experience working with children with disabilities. He is passionate and ambitious for the children who spend time at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is supported by the responsible individual and the deputy managers. They have worked well together as a leadership and management team to address the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. Staff speak positively about the improvements that have been made since the last inspection and have confidence in the leadership and management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel valued and supported in their role. All staff now receive support through regular supervision and access to relevant training Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 5 which assists them to continually develop their practice and meet the needs of the children they care for. The manager has good oversight of the frequency of staff supervision and training through the supervision and training matrices. This helps him to quickly identify and address any gaps.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although staff receive regular supervision, they would benefit from it being more reflective as this will help to support them with their day-to-day practice. The registered manager has very recently taken steps to remedy this shortfall through the introduction of a supervision template that encourages staff to reflect on all aspects of their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly and are well attended. These meetings are child- focused and provide a space for the staff team to celebrate the successes of the previous month and discuss shortfalls and how these will be addressed. The manager uses the team meetings to review policies and procedures that are designed to keep children safe and promote their well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff have effective working relationships with parents and carers. Parents and carers report feeling confident to leave their children for their stay and they understand what the home can offer. Communication between the manager, staff and parents is good, and parents feel confident about raising any concerns or complaints they may have. One parent said that they feel that the staff can meet their child’s needs and keep them safe and because of this, they feel able to ‘switch off’. Another parent said that they feel able to raise any concerns about their child with the manager and senior residential workers in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the staff work well with other agencies and professionals to secure positive outcomes for children. The professionals spoken to were positive about the manager and the staff and the impact that they have on children’s lives. One professional stated that the home has worked well with another agency and together they have been able to provide a care package that has met each stage of the child’s key milestones. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and that the records enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that the policy for the protection of children from abuse and neglect is available and explained to all staff, whatever their role. The registered person must make sure that all staff are familiar with this policy and act in accordance with it, particularly with regards to how to use the on-call procedure to report a concern. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.21)  The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming. This includes maintaining the interior fabric of the home and the grounds around the home for children to enjoy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the registered manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. In particular, the registered person should ensure that copies of supervision notes are on staff files. (‘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: 1256500 7

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Children’s home details

Registered Provider: North Yorkshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Inspector

Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 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 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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