Children's Home run by Interactive Development Residential Limited in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 1 Registered provider: Impact Childcare and Education

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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 an independent provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to one of the children during the inspection.

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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: 2534102 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/07/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Good 10/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lived at the home for many years. For those that had frequent moves before moving to the home, they now have stability, which has been life-changing. Children create good relationships with staff, which allows them to develop trust and talk to staff about their feelings. Although they have people that they are closer to, each child has someone they can talk to when needed. This makes sure that children have a trusted person who will listen to their views and any worries that they have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress with their educational achievements. One child is going to their alternative provision most of the time. Feedback from their teacher is positive. Staff have supported another child with their education, despite the child not going to school for several months. By supporting their learning and revision, this child has sat all their GCSE exams, which is a big achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another child has made excellent progress with their practical skills, learning to shop, cook and budget for themselves. They are now ready to move into their own flat. This is the best outcome for this child, who until a few months ago was struggling to develop the knowledge needed to live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding about the emotional well-being issues that children experience, for example self-harming behaviours. There is a clear approach for staff about how to support children at times when they are struggling. Staff provide help and reassurance. When needed, staff remove items from the children’s bedrooms that could be used by children to harm themselves. Training enhances staff’s knowledge, helping them to keep children supported at times of crisis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where possible, staff have tried to develop relationships with the children’s families. One parent said there is good communication from their child’s staff member, who keeps them up to date so that they know what is happening.

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

The current risks for children are well understood and responded to by staff. For example, newer risks for one child have come to light recently. There are strategies in place to keep children safer. However, the safety planning and message from the placing local authority are confusing. This is something the manager plans to address.

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

Staff use a collaborative approach to manage behaviours. Staff use their relationships with the children to have conversations and talk about their risks and vulnerabilities and consequences of their actions. Rewards and consequences help to set rules and boundaries. This helps children to understand expectations. There have been no incidents that have needed a firmer response. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 4 Children rarely go missing from home. There has been a recent increase in the times one child has been missing. The reasons for this are well understood by staff, who have a good understanding about their responsibilities and the actions they should take. Their actions help to reduce the risks to children when they are missing from home.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. The manager investigates and shares outcomes with the children. Listening to children and acting on their behalf help to further develop trust. Children know that they can rely on the people who look after them to take complaints seriously.

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

The approach to allegations against staff is not consistent, and the allegations procedure has not always been followed. On one occasion, the placing authority completed their own investigation without sharing this with the manager. The manager did not then complete her own investigation. This does not provide reassurances that the placing authority reached the right conclusion, and children were left vulnerable.

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

Arrangements for medication are appropriate. However, the provider is not consistently following its own medication policy, which states that two staff should sign when medication has been administered. This has not always happened.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When children move into the home, this is well planned. The manager assesses the needs of the new child as well as the needs of the existing children to determine if the group can live together harmoniously. When a child must move out of the home, these moves are also well planned to ensure that children are supported at the time of introductions or their departure from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and has an enthusiasm for leading the home and wanting to improve things for children. Currently, the manager is caring for the children and providing significant support to the staff team. However, this has had an impact on her managerial tasks, in that there are gaps in the manager’s monitoring and reviewing. Some dates and signatures were missing from paperwork, audit trackers were incomplete, and paperwork was found in different places. Some gaps in staff supervisions were also not identified sooner. The direct impact on the children is minimal; however, the manager needs to have a thorough oversight to ensure that good standards are being achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs. They talk about the positive experiences that the children have as well as their challenges. Staff speak warmly about the children; however, this is not always reflected in the staff’s recording. Daily records are factual and lack humour. If children access their records when they are adults, it will be difficult to gain a sense of their day-to-day experiences in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 5 The staff feel well supported by the manager and leadership team. Furthermore, training is provided to enhance staff’s knowledge and skills, which helps to improve staff’s support to the children. For example, training for suicidal ideation has been sourced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good working relationships are evident with the teams around the children. One social worker said that staff ‘go above and beyond’ in wanting to support and help children reach their potential. When speaking about the staff team, one professional said that staff are ‘not afraid to try new approaches if this will help children gain the care and support that they deserve’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 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(s) 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vii)(e)) 31 July 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 31 July 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 7 way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2534102 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Impact Childcare and Education

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3-5 Brenkley Way, Blezard Business Park, Seaton Burn, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE13 6DS

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Inspectors

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Kerry Chater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2534102 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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