Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 1 SC472381 Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council

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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 experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2023 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good 07/03/2022 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 3

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improvement to be good

Not all children have had a good experience of moving into the home because of decisions taken by leaders and managers. For example, one child moved in without the home being ready to care for them. Consequently, the child then moved into temporary accommodation just before Christmas. All four children moved in within nine days of each other. This impacted on their ability to settle into the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have not been able to build positive relationships. They are being cared for by a new staff team supplemented with unfamiliar agency staff. The staff were unable to instil the structure and routine needed to create a sense of safety. Consequently, children felt unsafe and there were incidents of bullying. Staff were responding to increases in negative behaviours and were unable to engage children in more positive experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children’s progress in education is mixed. Some children are attending school and are making progress with their education. Other children are not attending school. Staff try to ensure that these children are provided structure and learning opportunities in the home. However, children do not always engage with this, and staff continue to work with professionals to encourage them to learn.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is warm and comfortable. Children have been helped to personalise their bedrooms and the communal areas are colourful and well furnished. Any damage caused to the home is addressed quickly and broken items are replaced. This provides an appropriate environment for the children to live in.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to see their family members and the people who are important to them. There are clear plans around these arrangements to ensure that children have regular quality time with loved ones. As a result, children can maintain those close bonds.

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improvement to be good

Children’s behaviours have escalated because staff have not instilled appropriate rules and boundaries. The children experience inconsistencies in how staff respond to their behaviour and staff will call the police to assist them in managing incidents. Children are exposed to police involvement, which risks criminalising them unnecessarily. For one child, this has impacted significantly on their placement in the home, and they are now cared for in an unregistered provision.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always respond appropriately to known risks for children. Risk assessments do not capture all risks and do not give clear directions to staff to assist them in managing those risks. For example, the night-time staffing arrangements have not been Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 4 effective in ensuring that children are not able to enter each other’s bedrooms. This leaves vulnerable children at an increased risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff have a good working knowledge of the children’s risks and plans. Permanent staff have a good understanding of the children’s backgrounds and vulnerabilities. However, agency staff are not able to demonstrate their understanding of how to meet the children’s needs. Consequently, the care of children is inconsistent, and staff are not working effectively together to keep children safer.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, staff have clear directions on how to respond. Staff search known locations continuously, while friends and family are contacted to obtain information and keep them updated. This helps to ensure that children return home quickly and safely.

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improvement to be good

When children make allegations, staff take them seriously and respond quickly. Children are listened to, and their views are considered. The manager follows the home’s procedures and informs the police, the local authority designated officer and the children’s social workers. This promotes a positive safeguarding culture and ensures that allegations are managed effectively. Staff work with children to understand the nature of their concerns and work with them to repair relationships. This helps children to trust that staff will help them and keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers made decisions to admit children to the home in quick succession without having adequate staffing in place to meet their needs. This placed increased pressure on staff and consequently an increase in the use of agency workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager does not always notify Ofsted of serious incidents. This hinders Ofsted from maintaining oversight of the manager’s ability to address safeguarding concerns effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. Supervision is reflective and takes place regularly. The staff discuss their role and how to improve the care of the children. Agency staff feel that they have been welcomed into the team and have worked towards changing things for the better.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager and staff work well with the wider system. The home has close ties with local policing teams who are familiar with the home and local neighbourhood. The manager and staff have close relationships with the social workers, their managers, and agencies to address and manage concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has made some improvements to their auditing and monitoring systems. This has allowed her to identify some of the shortfalls and areas for development. The manager has arranged for additional training to take place to enable staff to better meet the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 5 The manager has recently registered with Ofsted and is reflective about the challenges that the children and staff have faced. Leaders and managers have identified that improvements are required and that lessons have been learned. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(iii)(c)) 29 May 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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 29 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f))

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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

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)(iii)(iv)(b)) 29 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 29 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 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: SC472381 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 TS1 2RH

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Inspector

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472381 10 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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