Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 1 SC037861 Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council 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 local authority. It provides residential short-break and emergency care for up to three children with social or emotional difficulties alongside an outreach and in-reach support service.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, the home was providing care for four children who attend over a weekend for a short-break provision. The children do not all attend at the same time.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager registered with Ofsted in March 2020.

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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: SC037861 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has experienced notable change since the last inspection. The home changed purpose in August 2023 to provide a new service following an identified need, along with a new staff team. The home offers short-break respite for children on the edge of care over a weekend.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed. Staff support children to build positive relationships with them. Conversations that staff have with children help them to understand their risks and vulnerabilities and make safer choices. Managers and staff work closely with parents/carers and other agencies and professionals and build effective working relationships to secure positive outcomes for children. Staff take time to understand the individual needs of children so they can provide tailored care from the start.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in a wide range of home-based and community activities and have the opportunity for overnight stays further afield. These activities are captured in photos and uploaded onto activity sheets for the children, which document their time spent in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel able to speak to staff should they want to make a complaint and are provided with information about how to make a complaint. However, the complaint forms are not accessible to children without the assistance of staff. This means children are not able to make a complaint confidentially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a good standard. However, the children’s presence is not evident throughout the home, and there is no opportunity for the children to personalise any space in the home. The bedroom spaces are lockable from the outside, which means the children can store personal items securely in their bedroom. One child told inspectors that he felt safe at the home and enjoyed living there.

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

Children told inspectors that they feel safe in the home. Safe recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed, which ensure that they are suitably vetted and qualified to provide care. Where possible, before children move into the home, a suitability report is completed. The report identifies the potential impact of known risks on the children already accessing the service and the potential impact on the child who needs to access the service.

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

Children who go missing from the home are reported missing in line with the child’s missing-from-home plan. Staff actively take steps to locate the child. This includes driving to locations the child is known to frequent, trying to maintain contact by telephone, and contacting the child’s family. Once children are found, they are Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 4 offered return home interviews. However, the records do not reflect management oversight with staff to identify how missing from care incidents have occurred or identify any changes staff can make to prevent any reoccurrence.

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

The registered manager has developed multi-agency links across teams which are relevant to children using the short-break service. Good levels of communication with the families and professionals working with the children are promoted. This supports the quality of care provided in the home.

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

Children’s risk assessments and placement plans are well written and easy to understand. They identify the known risks and are updated regularly to ensure that they are kept up to date. The risk assessment informs staff on how to respond or to manage risks appropriately.

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

There is a risk assessment for the home which is reviewed regularly. However, health and safety are not discussed regularly at team meetings, which was a recommendation from the most recent health and safety risk assessment. This impacts on the staff being able to ensure that the home environment remains safe for children who use it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. Feedback from staff and professionals about the registered manager and deputy manager is positive. Staff feel supported and are confident about seeking advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and the service they are providing. The registered manager ensures that all new staff joining the home receive an induction and mandatory training. Managers and leaders have a clear vision for the home, and there is a clear development plan in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision with a focus on the children. However, there is little evidence of reflective supervision. This means that staff are not consistently provided with the opportunity to reflect on their experiences of caring for the children and amend their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some children’s records are of good quality and are written to the child. This will be helpful if the child wants to read their records in the future. However, the registered manager does not effectively monitor and review records or documents completed by staff with effective oversight. Some records are brief and lack detail, and there are examples of missing dates and information being stored in several locations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a clear development plan for the home, and the managers and senior managers have high aspirations for how the service could be developed to best help children in the local area. However, the registered manager has not developed a system to effectively gather feedback to inform a review or evaluate the support Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 5 provided. A scaling system is used to evaluate a piece of work once completed. However, the scaling has no explanation, which means it is limited in informing further service development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has clear monitoring and auditing systems in place to ensure appropriate care of the children and the practice of staff. The registered manager uses these tools to identify shortfalls and address them to effect change. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 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, 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that feedback tools are developed and used to inform further development of the service. The registered person must ensure that there is clear management oversight of documents to support reflection and learning for the staff. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 20 March 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that children are aware of the complaints procedure and are able to access the forms and make a complaint without the need to ask staff, to protect their privacy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming. This includes maintaining the grounds around the home for children to enjoy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.7) Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 7  The registered person should ensure that health and safety recommendations are complied with, providing a homely, domestic, safe environment for children to enjoy. The registered person should ensure that staff at the home can support this through consultation to ensure the home is safe for the children accessing the service. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC037861 8

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

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Inspectors

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 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 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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Inspectors

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