Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 1 SC472392 Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough 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 care for up to five children who may have emotional and social difficulties or mental health issues.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, the home was providing care for four children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019.

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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: 22 February 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Good 01/03/2022 Full Good 11/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/02/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in the home because of the quality of care that is provided to them by the staff, who know the children well and are committed to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children’s health needs are met. Children are supported to attend routine appointments as well as specialist services where appropriate. Staff are encouraged to engage with the in-house psychologist, who supports them to understand how best to work with the children given their specific experiences and needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, their transition is managed sensitively and with care. This includes visits to see the children in their previous home, discussions with key professionals and visits to the home to meet staff and the other children. The family also visit the home if appropriate. This approach allows the children to settle in quickly into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a clear pathway for the children to move on from the home to independent living. Staff support the children to complete an independent living skills programme and actively support the transition plan. When children leave, they are given memory books, which creatively document each child’s journey since moving into the home. Staff remain in regular contact with the children as part of the staying close arrangement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard. The children’s presence is evident throughout the home and photos of the children enjoying time with the staff are displayed throughout. Children say they can personalise their bedrooms to their individual likes. However, none of the children have a locked drawer where they can store personal and precious items.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children know how to make a complaint, or know where the complaint leaflets are in the home should they wish to do this confidentially. When complaints are received, the manager takes them seriously and responds appropriately. However, when a child recently made a complaint about a staff member, the child was not informed of the outcome of the investigation or of the plan for the staff member to return to the home, which caused the child unnecessary distress. This does not give children the message that their views are valued.

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

There is a strong safeguarding culture in the home as the staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. As such, the safeguarding procedures are consistently followed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 4 There have been no physical interventions and only two consequences since the last inspection, which would indicate that the children feel safe and settled in the home.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. When they do, the staff are proactive in their efforts to secure the child’s safe return. This includes persistently trying to contact the child by telephone and remaining in contact with the child’s family members, as well as driving to all known locations where the child might be to locate them. Once children are found, they are offered a return home interview.

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

There have been a significant number of bedroom searches since the last inspection. These have all taken place in response to safeguarding concerns. Children are usually present during the room searches and provide consent. This demonstrates a culture of mutual respect between the staff and the children.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed. This assures that the staff are suitably vetted and qualified to provide safe care to the children.

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

Reports, including children’s safety plans, are clear and easy to understand. These reports provide the staff with a detailed plan of how they will support the child when risks occur.

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

Before children move into the home, the registered manager completes a ‘matching risk assessment’. However, they do not evaluate the impact of the identified risks on the child moving into the home or on the children already living in the home. They also do not consider whether the staff can meet the child’s identified needs. This means that children are coming to live in the home without a clear understanding and evaluation of the known risks and how these can be managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. She is supported by a very experienced deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from staff and professionals has been overwhelmingly positive during the inspection. Staff feel supported by the management team and have shown empathy and understanding when describing the children who live in the home. Professionals also highlighted the good level of communication as a key strength of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a clear induction process in place for new staff, which includes shadowing shifts. All staff receive regular supervision, with the staff in their probationary period receiving this more frequently. However, there is no evidence of reflective supervision. This means that staff are not being provided with the opportunity to reflect on and amend their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that the staff have a structured training programme in place. All staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training as well as training specific to the children’s individual needs. However, two members of staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 5 have not gained their required residential qualifications within the required time. This means that some staff are not appropriately qualified to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s case records are up to date and of a good standard. They are child- focused, written to the child and difficult issues are recorded sensitively. However, there are no written consent forms on the children’s case files for the use of CCTV.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are not always given the opportunity to speak with the independent visitor about their experiences in the home, as some visits are being undertaken while the children are at education, employment, or training. There have also been occasions where parents, professionals and members of staff have not been consulted as part of the independent visits. This means that there is a lack of independent scrutiny, which potentially places children at risk by limiting the opportunities for feedback. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 6

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to responding to children when they make complaints. 17 February 2024

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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

This is specifically in relation to ‘matching risk assessments’. 17 March 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b)) 17 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any home using CCTV or other monitoring equipment should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. Homes must 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 children are provided with appropriate furniture, such as a lockable cabinet or drawers, to securely store personal items, including any personal information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 16, paragraph 3.19)  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

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Recommendations

need to ask staff, in order 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 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 not only to reflect on their practice and development but also to focus on the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered provider should ensure that the independent person consults regularly with children, families and other professionals and records the outcome in their report. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 65, paragraph 15.8)

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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: SC472392 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Middlesbrough House, 50 Corporation Road, Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough TS1 2RH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kalia-Marina Kourou-Paradeli

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Inspector

Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 10 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted Inspection report for children’s home: SC472392 11

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