Children's Home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 1 SC472374 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

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may have physical disabilities or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 26 October 2022

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/10/2022 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Good 28/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 3

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inadequate

Children are at risk of harm due to insufficient staffing levels. Children’s risk assessments inform how many staff are needed to care for a child. However, when children require a higher level of support, the risk assessment is not complied with which leaves vulnerable children without the supervision and support they need. Feedback from staff was consistent that there are not enough staff to work with children and to always keep the children and staff safe.

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inadequate

Children’s access in the home is restricted. Staff lock doors with keys or fobs in communal areas such as the kitchen and bathrooms. None of the children have access to a toilet on the ground floor as this is locked and used by staff only. The restrictions in place for all children are not always necessary. These are not reviewed by managers to consider the impact on the children.

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inadequate

Children are welcomed into the home in a planned way whenever this is possible. Children are given opportunities to visit and meet with staff and children ahead of their move. When children are admitted in an emergency, staff have the skills and experience to prepare children for their life in their new home. One child has been supported to move out of the home in a planned way. However, another child has had notice served on their place in the home and is yet to have a plan in place to support a period of transition.

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inadequate

Staff support children to attend education and health appointments. Children have good attendance at their schools, and staff work with professionals to keep them updated about children’s progress.

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inadequate

The home has access to support from professionals to work with the staff and the children to help develop their communication according to their needs and style. This helps children, some of whom are pre-verbal, to express their views. Children contribute their views to activities they would like to attend and their weekly menus through their communication with the staff.

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inadequate

Children’s progress in the home is varied. A staff member spoken to from education advised that they have noted a regression in one child. A Social worker also commented on a regression in behaviour with another child who had resumed previous behaviours. There is no evidence to support that these behaviours have been raised with other professionals for additional support for the children.

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inadequate

Staff develop positive relationships with children, and the staff spoke fondly about them. Staff work with children to try to help them make progress from their starting points. One child’s life is being enhanced due to support from staff to make progress with their personal care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 4 Although staff expressed concerns about the safety and well-being of children due to staffing levels, they remain committed to their care. The level of concern expressed by staff emphasised that the children have staff who care about their experiences.

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

Relationships between children are not always managed effectively to prevent vulnerable children from being placed at risk of harm. One child in the home has been assessed as presenting a risk to the other children. Staff try to manage this by alerting other children to move when there is a potential risk. The interim manager and staff accept that this impacts on children’s emotional well-being and experiences of living in the home.

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

Safer arrangements are in place to monitor the safety of children during the night. This is because a safeguarding referral from a health professional led to an increase in support for children at night time to ensure that monitoring is in place. This provides reassurance that children are monitored and have support from staff if they need it.

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

Managers do not have oversight of injuries to children when they occur. Strategies to record injuries to children on body maps are in place. However, when body maps of injuries are completed, the manager does not review these to understand how the child has been injured to help keep them safer. Staff ensure children receive medical attention if needed.

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

There has been one incident when a child has been reported as missing from the home. Staff learning from this incident has identified that they need to act quicker when a vulnerable child is missing. However, the child’s risk assessment was not updated to reflect this safer response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has not been in the day-to-day charge of the home since June 2023. Two different managers have been appointed to manage the home during this time. The registered person did not inform His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of the arrangements for the interim management of the home or of the interim managers details, qualifications, and experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not taken action to understand how the quality of care provided affects each child. Staff have voiced their concerns in team meetings and supervision about the lack of staffing and the impact on children’s safety and experiences. Staff report that despite raising these issues the leaders and managers do not put measures in place to reduce risk and make the required improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager identified that the home was no longer appropriate for a child several months ago, this was not actively progressed with the placing authority. Leaders and managers have not challenged a child’s placing local authority effectively Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 5 to ensure that a child has an appropriate placement identified to meet their needs. This has contributed to the delay in planning for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s records are not up to date. One child has lived in the home for months without a current care plan or placement plan in place. This means staff do not have an up-to-date plan for how to care for children or understand any risk factors. The absence of placement plans means staff do not have the consents they need to make day-to-day decisions for a child. The leaders and managers at the home were not aware of the absence of these important documents until raised by the inspector.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Procedures for the safe recruitment of staff to work in the home are not effective. The manager was unable to locate references for one member of staff who has been working in the home for four months. This does not provide assurances that adults who work in the home are safe to do so. The leaders and managers rely on a system of recruitment that is managed by human resources team. When applications are incomplete or there is a lack of evidence of safer recruitment, there is no evidence to show that this is followed up or challenged by the manager or responsible individual. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)) 7 April 2024

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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— 7 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 7 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

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 (a)(b)(c)) 7 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure if the person who is in day-to-day charge of the children’s home proposes to be absent from the home for a continuous period of 28 days or more, the registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI of the proposed absence.

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Requirement Due date

Except in the case of an emergency or unforeseen absence, a notice under paragraph (1) must —

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Requirement Due date

be given no later than one month before the proposed absence commences, or within such shorter period as may be agreed with HMCI; and

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Requirement Due date

specify with respect to the proposed absence—

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Requirement Due date

its length or expected length; 7 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 8 the reason for it;

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Requirement Due date

the arrangements which have been made for running the home during the absence;

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Requirement Due date

the address, name and qualifications of the person who will be responsible for the home during the absence; and

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Requirement Due date

in the case of the absence of the registered manager, the arrangements that have been, or are proposed to be, made for appointing another person to manage the home during the absence, including the proposed date by which the appointment is to be made. (Regulation 48 (1) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that communal areas such as the kitchen, toilet and bathroom are accessible to children. 7 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 7 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 9 In particular, the registered person should ensure that children have looked after documents on file, such as placement plans and up-to-date care plans.

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 31 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that references are obtained for each person to work in the home and that these references are verified. 7 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should 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)

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Information about this inspection

Inspector has 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: SC472374 10

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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 TS1 2RH

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Inspector

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 11 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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Inspector

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