Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 1 SC033840 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 children’s home is owned and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide short-breaks for up to nine children with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager who registered with Ofsted in April 2003.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2023 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good 18/02/2020 Full Good 29/01/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to have fun during their short-breaks. The staff enjoy spending time with the children and encourage them to take part in a wide range of activities that are aligned with their individual preferences. This includes activities in the community and spending time in the home with the other children. Children are able to share mealtimes, play board games and watch television and films that the children enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote positive relationships between the children and help them to make friends with each other. This enhances the children’s experiences when they stay at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to build safe and secure relationships with them. The staff focus on getting to know the children, their preferred style of communication and their likes and dislikes. The staff know the children well and provide care that is sensitive to the children’s individual needs. One carer said that they could see that the staff ‘loved’ [the child] and that [the child] felt comfortable to hug the staff and spend time with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationship between the staff, parents, carers, and external professionals is good. This supports effective communication between the adults involved in the children’s lives. One professional stated that the staff always attend meetings for the children and that ‘the staff always ask what they can do to help children in their care make progress’. This has supported the children to make progress with their communication, independent living skills and self-care skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care plans capture the children’s individual needs, vulnerabilities, likes and dislikes. They are easy to understand and help the staff to understand how the meet each child’s needs on an ongoing basis. They are reviewed on a regular basis by the staff and inform the children’s individual progress reports. These reports help the children, their parents, and carers to see the progress that the children have made and celebrate their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are at the centre of everything that staff do. Staff hold events that celebrate the children’s achievements. The children are provided with numerous opportunities to share their views about their experience of staying in the home. Their views contribute to shaping the home’s policies and procedures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a spacious, clean, welcoming, and calm environment for the children who use the service. The staff take pride in the home which is decorated to a high standard is child friendly. This provides a safe and inclusive home environment for the children during their stay. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 4 The children’s guide informs children of their rights and what they can expect from the home. However, the guide contains a lot of information which may be difficult for some children to understand. This may mean that some children are not aware of important information related to their care.

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

Parents and external professionals have confidence in the staff’s ability to keep children safe. One parent stated that they felt their child was ‘300 percent safe’ due to the security measures in the home. Professionals were unanimous in their view that the staff keep the children safe and one professional stated that the staff are ‘attuned’ to the vulnerabilities of children.

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

Prior to children being welcomed into the home the registered manager ensures that relevant information is gathered about the child’s needs and vulnerabilities by liaising with parents, carers and professionals. The information gathered informs the children’s individual plans and supports staff to have a good understanding of what they need to do to help and protect the children who have stays at the home.

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

The staff have focused conversations with children that help the children to make safer choices. For example, the staff have conversations with the children about bullying, internet safety, and knife crime. One professional stated that staff have a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and help children to take risks in line with their ability and understanding. This helps children to develop important life skills that will serve them well in their adult lives.

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

The staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures. Although there have been no instances of children going missing from the home, the staff know what to do should a child go missing from the home or in the community. In addition, the staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe from unsuitable adults and reporting mechanisms such as the whistleblowing policy.

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

The manager has completed an assessment of the risks in the local area. This is a comprehensive document which provides important information about the location of the home and the known risks. Agencies such as the police contribute to this document. This helps the staff to keep the children safe whilst out in the community.

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

The arrangements in place for managing children’s medication are safe and effective and promotes independence where appropriate. Records are well organised and provide a safe and systematic approach to the administration of medication. This means that medications errors rarely occur. There has been one recorded medication error since the last inspection and this was addressed appropriately by manager. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who is supported by her deputy managers and the responsible individual. Leaders and managers have a shared vision of the home and are ambitious for the children who receive short- breaks. Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the shortfalls of the home and have clear plans in place to remedy the shortfalls through staff training and enhancing their consultation with the children who stay at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children benefit from having a stable staff team to care for them. One parent said that the stability of the staff team has meant consistency of care to their child. The parent said that this consistency has meant that the staff know their child well and described them as the ‘glue that keeps the family together’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is good. The staff enjoy working in the home and are committed to helping the children to succeed through working together as a team. The staff have confidence in the registered manager and value the support they receive through supervisions, appraisals, and training. Staff have access to a wide range of training that assists them to meet the needs of the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s plans and case records are generally of good quality and reflect their stay in the home and the work that is carried out with them. However, some body maps were not signed or dated and lacked detail. This shortfall weakens accountability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a delay in the registered manager notifying the regulator of a significant incident. In addition, the notification lacked detail of how the child was helped by the staff. This hinders Ofsted’s oversight of how significant incidents are managed by the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s case records are kept up to date and are accurate. Managers should ensure that any gaps in information or errors are corrected. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should ensure that the home produces a children’s guide. The guide must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure that they understand it. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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: SC033840 7

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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

Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033840 8 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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