Children's home run by North East Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 1 Registered provider: North East Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2023. It is owned and managed by a private provider. The home is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There are two registered managers working at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living in the home and one child was moving into the home.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in the home is supported by staff to build secure and trusting relationships with them. The staff enjoy spending time with the child and show a genuine interest in them. The child and staff take part in shared activities such as eating meals together, cooking, playing games, and watching the child’s preferred videos and films. The staff are visible in the home and ensure that they are always available to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff assist the child to take an active part in day-to-day decisions about the child’s life. This is achieved through the staff having regular conversations with the child about their likes and dislikes, what is working well for the child and what they need help with. This helps the child to take part in more complex decisions about their life by supporting them to express their wishes and feelings. For the child living in the home, this has helped them to strengthen their relationship with their family, supported them to progress with their education, be healthy and enjoy taking part in activities in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, they receive a warm and friendly welcome from the registered manager and the staff. Before any child is welcomed into the home, the registered manager ensures that her staff have a good understanding of the child’s needs and have the right skills to meet these needs. This helps the staff to provide individualised care and helps children to quickly settle into the home. One professional stated that the staff ‘went the extra mile’ in welcoming [the child] into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The childcare plans are ambitious, align with the child’s needs and vulnerabilities and are goal orientated. They are reviewed regularly by the registered manager and the staff and include the views of the child. This has helped the child living in the home to make good progress in all areas of their lives. One professional described the progress that the child has made as ‘night and day’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of relationships between the child, the registered manager, the staff, professionals and family members are good and there is a unified and collaborative response to helping the child to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and the registered manager take great pride in the home and provide a modern, clean, safe and spacious family home for children. All areas of the home are maintained to a high standard. The child living in the home is supported by the staff to personalise the shared areas of the home and make the home their own. The child has an interest in mechanics and the staff have plans to turn the summer house into a workshop for this child. This helps the child to develop a sense of belonging and ownership of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 3

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

The child living in the home feels safe and feels able to talk to the staff if they have any worries or concerns. The child’s parent was complimentary about the care their child is receiving, are confident that the staff keep their child safe and stated that they now have ‘real hope’ for their child.

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

The staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in helping and protecting the child living in the home. The staff know what to do if the child should go missing from the home following their policy and procedures. The staff also have a good understanding of the whistle-blowing policy.

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

The child’s risk assessment is well written and is a dynamic document that is amended in line with the changing needs of the child. This ensures that the risk assessment is relevant and supports the staff to understand how they should help the child.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted through the adults in the home modelling behaviours that are kind, thoughtful and empathic. Conversations that the staff have with the child are supportive and help the child to reflect on their behaviours and make positive choices. There have not been any occasions where the staff have had to hold the child. The staff are appropriately trained in holding techniques but understand that this is a last resort and work hard to calm the child when they are in distress.

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

The staff have focused conversations with the child which helps the child to understand how to keep themselves safe. In addition, these conversations have helped the child to develop tolerance and respect for others.

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

The registered manager is trained in safer recruitment and ensures that any new 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

Leaders and managers are ambitious for children and have high expectations of themselves and their staff. They are visible in the home and have a good oversight of the quality of care given to the child living in the home. Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the needs of the child living in the home and what the child needs to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is good. The staff are proud of their roles, and they are committed to helping the child in their care to be safe and achieve their goals. The staff speak about the child living in the home with fondness and are quick to celebrate the child’s achievements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 4 The staff feel able to contribute to the development of the home and value regular practice-based supervision as this supports them with their professional development and promotes their well-being. The staff have confidence in leaders and managers and feel supported by them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have access to a broad range of training opportunities that support them to meet the needs of the child living in the home. However, not all staff have received ligature training. In addition, the staff have not received formal training in any therapeutic parenting model. Although this has not had any impact on the child living in the home, it weakens the skill set of the staff team and precludes the staff from having a clear understanding of the care they should deliver as stated in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s case records reflect their everyday life and the work that is carried out with them. They are well written and help the child to understand their time in the home. However, some case records are not dated and signed by the author. This shortfall weakens accountability. Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 5

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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(s) 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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, ensure that all staff receive ligature training and training which supports the staff to deliver care based on therapeutic models; and use monitoring systems to ensure that all case records are dated and signed by relevant parties. 01/05/2024

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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: 2731357 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: JWS Hopper Hill Road, Eastfield, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 3YS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jason Darbyshire

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Megan Crooks and Samantha Knight

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Inspector

Shirin Khan Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2731357 7 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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