Children's Home run by Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 1 SC455864

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Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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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 a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to eight children with social and emotional difficulties and children who may have mental health conditions.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There were five children living in the home at the time of 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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff who know them well. Staff provide good care and support to meet the children’s individual needs. Children make progress from their starting points as staff give priority to children’s emotional and mental well-being. This leads to children making improvements in other areas of their lives, such as sitting exams and learning new languages.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children are doing well in school or employment. For these children, attendance and engagement in studies are good, with one child progressing into full-time employment. Staff support and encourage those children who are not attending an education or training provision to increase their engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respect children’s cultures and religions. Staff make sure that children have access to prayer and other items of faith, which includes instruments so that children can play music linked to their culture. Staff follow children’s religious needs that are related to their food and food preparation. Additionally, staff support children to have access to social groups from their own country. Staff are also learning two different languages to further support the inclusion of all children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their families and friends. Staff have developed good relationships and maintain communication links with those that are important to the children. This helps to preserve children’s links with their family. Family members say that they receive regular information from staff and feel involved in their children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to communicate and manage their difficult emotions. Staff work alongside mental health professionals to identify children’s needs to ensure that children receive the correct support. This encourages children’s feelings of safety and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When a new child moves into the home, they experience a well-planned and individualised introduction. Staff and the existing children’s views are considered in advance of any move. The manager and staff are provided with information about the new child so that they can make an informed decision about whether the staff can meet the child’s needs. This means that the new child can enjoy a positive experience of moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, one child had a poor experience when they had to leave the home. This was due to the speed of the placing authority’s decision-making. The manager did not challenge this effectively, so staff were unable to properly prepare the child practically or emotionally for their move. This prevented a positive ending for the child and their peers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 4

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

Staff know the risks that children face and work in collaboration with family and safeguarding agencies to reduce these. Children’s risk assessment documents provide staff with information about each child’s risks and vulnerabilities, with clear strategies on how to minimise risks. Staff obtain children’s views and incorporate these in the plans, which provide staff with information about how children want them to respond when they are distressed. As a result, there have been no occasions when staff have had to physically intervene to keep children safe.

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

Since the last inspection, one child has had a number of missing-from-home episodes. Staff act quickly and are proactive in their efforts to ensure that children are returned safely. Family’s homes and known locations are checked by staff, and information is shared with the police and missing-from-care teams. On two occasions, the child did not have the opportunity to speak to someone independent when they returned home. This was not challenged by the manager and was a missed opportunity to find out more information to keep the child safer if they go missing again.

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

Children are supported to take appropriate risks. Children can spend time with their friends and social groups in the community. Staff complete proportionate checks to allow children to have increased freedom. Staff speak to children to help them recognise their vulnerabilities and exploitation risks to support them in keeping safer.

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

Staff give praise and rewards for children’s positive engagement. Regular discussions take place with children to help them understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and those around them. The children learn strategies to maintain relationships and develop resilience for the future.

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

The children’s risk assessments are updated so that children receive an up-to-date response from staff; however, there is no rationale from the manager when specific assessments are no longer deemed necessary.

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good

Staff said that they feel supported by the new manager and spoke about the positive changes made since his arrival. However, there are shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home.

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good

The provider’s safer recruitment practice means that new employees are carefully checked and vetted before they work at the home. New staff receive a thorough induction, attend training and are subject to probationary reviews. This means that children receive care from staff who are safe and suitably trained to meet their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 5 The manager has identified the strengths and shortfalls in the staff team’s knowledge and skills. This has led to improvements, for example with the quality of staff’s recording, although this still needs to be embedded in their practice. Staff are also developing a more therapeutic parenting approach to the children, which is improving the experience of care for children.

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good

Staff receive effective support and guidance from the manager. This includes regular supervision sessions where discussions take place about children and the manager’s plans to promote good oversight and improve staff’s practice.

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good

The manager is not consistently reporting serious incidents to Ofsted. The conduct of a staff member and a significant missing-from-home episode were not reported. This reduces the oversight of Ofsted to determine if children are safeguarded effectively.

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good

The review of the quality of care is not effective. The review report does not include important information, such as about a child’s complaint or a safeguarding incident during the review period. The feedback from children, parents and professionals has not been included as part of the review. This means that lessons learned have not informed future practice and important feedback has not been obtained to improve the care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(e)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that when children move on from the home, plans are agreed with the placing authority to allow sufficient time to prepare the child practically and emotionally. 17 July 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; and 17 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 7 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered timely independent return home interviews on each occasion they are missing from home without authorisation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, children’s risk assessments should be reviewed effectively before they are removed. (‘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: SC455864 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Fox Street, Sunderland Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE10 OBD

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Inspector

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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