Children's Home run by Together For Children Sunderland in Sunderland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 1 Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties or have learning disabilities. Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023 and is suitably qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home through a planned transition where possible. Staff ensure that children have sight of the welcome guide before moving into the home. Children have developed the welcome guide, which uses QR codes alongside written information to create a format that is easily accessible to children.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is kept to a high standard. Children’s bedrooms are lockable from the outside and children are provided with a lockable safe inside their bedroom to keep precious items secure.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are building positive relationships with staff. One child said that staff listen to them and ‘look out’ for them. Children stay at the home for a short time and benefit from the support provided by a consistent staff team. Children are supported to trust staff and keep those relationships after they have moved on.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to be physically and emotionally well. Staff have access to a clinical support team if they require training and insight to help them support children’s individual needs. This means that children are cared for by staff who are informed about their experiences and who can promote their emotional well-being and help them stay physically healthy.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote education and learning. They follow children’s plans to encourage and support a learning culture. At times when children are not accessing education, staff provide opportunities for learning activities. One education professional said that communication is excellent between education staff and the staff at the home.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to experience new opportunities and to explore hobbies and interests. Children benefit from a wider experience base and the learning opportunities this creates. Staff capture children’s experiences in photos and share these with the children before they move on. Children would benefit from memory books when they are leaving the home to support a positive ending and help them build their life story.

p.2

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

Staff understand children’s risks. Risk assessments and plans are regularly updated by the children’s key workers. Staff are provided with clear guidance and strategies to manage identified risks and keep children safe.

p.2

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

Children who go missing receive a consistent coordinated response from a knowledgeable staff team. Staff understand the risks and are proactive in following each child’s plan to promote their safety. Children are offered return home interviews when they come back home. Management oversight does not follow the missing-from-care Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 3 policy to offer detailed analysis or identify actions to prevent further incidents from occurring.

p.2

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

Children are provided with positive praise and achievements are recognised. This is a strengths-based approach which reinforces the progress of each child. Incidents which result in a consequence are limited. However, records reflect a lack of a restorative approach to help children understand the impact of their behaviour.

p.3

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

Staff are skilled at de-escalating incidents, which means that the use of physical intervention is minimal. Staff are trained to use physical intervention techniques when necessary. Debriefs are carried out within timescales to ensure that the child’s voice is heard and their views are explored. However, records are misleading in parts, with information recorded in up to four documents. This means that records lack clarity and would benefit from one comprehensive written record to increase quality and promote safeguarding.

p.3

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

Alarms are used on children’s bedroom doors to monitor children entering and leaving their bedrooms. This is not an assessed need and is not reviewed for children living in the home. Records do not show the use of door alarms is necessary and proportionate.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff relationships with each other and management are positive. Staff speak highly of the management team and feel valued and supported. Staff promote effective communication during shifts and handovers to ensure that essential information is shared. Team meetings are regularly held, which provides further opportunities for staff and management to share information. This ensures a shared sense of ownership and accountability, which promotes the safety and well-being of the children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from partner agencies is positive. There is evidence of effective communication and information-sharing, which supports positive outcomes for children in the home. One professional said that staff are proactive in following plans, and another professional commented that staff communicate well. Evidence of positive professional relationships further supports the children’s safety through well-coordinated information-sharing and responses.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive timely, good-quality supervision. Staff feedback is positive and confirms that supervision is held regularly in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Staff can reflect on their practice and understand how this affects the children in their care. Staff are encouraged to take positive action, which promotes a culture of accountability among staff to ensure that their work continually helps and protects the children in the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders are reflective in their roles around the care provided to children in the home and this is seen in supervision notes and the planning of team development days. For example, the leadership team has considered feedback from the children to improve the children’s guide and feedback from parents about the preferred methods of keeping in Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 4 touch and sharing relevant information. This demonstrates that leaders and managers are working to develop their service to better promote positive outcomes for children in the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is evidence of staff consistency to prevent excessive use of agency staff, and the registered manager is actively recruiting to address the current staff vacancies. Safer recruitment procedures are followed to ensure that prospective staff are safe and able to meet the needs of the children. There had previously been concern from the leadership team around the impact that staff vacancies were having on the registered manager’s ability to carry out her work. However, there is evidence of a plan in place to build the staff team, and the registered manager now has more capacity to fulfil her role.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager are passionate about the care the children receive. However, they do not currently hold up-to-date plans for some of the children due to delays with the local authority. The registered manager and deputy manager have not challenged this effectively, which is likely to have an impact on the knowledge that staff and management have about the children’s needs and how these can be best met.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The system for monitoring and review is not effective enough, and this has led to a lack of robust management oversight on some documents. For example, the home’s missing- from-care records do not always have evaluative comments from the registered manager, which may result in missing opportunities to identify learning from incidents and changing elements of practice to prevent future occurrences. If not addressed, this may have an impact on the care children receive in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that they have the most recent care plan relating to the child. 24 July 2024

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

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)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must have oversight of incidents happening in the home in line with policies to support learning and keeping children safe. 24 July 2024

p.5

Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

p.5

Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

p.5

Requirement Due date

is necessary and proportionate; 24 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 6 is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

p.5

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 (1)(a)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv))

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand their important role in encouraging children to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and ability Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

p.6

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: 2744459 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall Floor 2, Plater Way, Sunderland SR1 3AA

p.7

Inspectors

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Ladean Wilson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2744459 8 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8