Children's Home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 1 SC472374

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Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council

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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 local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may have physical or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since April 2024. The new manager has not yet applied to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 20 February 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following a full inspection carried out on 20 and 21 February 2024, compliance notices were issued under regulations 12 and 13. A monitoring visit took place on 9 April 2024. Insufficient progress had been made to meet the compliance notices, and consequently, they were reissued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 2 A further monitoring visit took place on 14 May 2024, and both compliance notices were met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2024 Full Inadequate 26/10/2022 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Good 28/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children have experienced trauma while living in the home. Children have observed really difficult incidents that have resulted in additional agency staff working in the home. This has affected their ongoing progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Not all children have felt safe living in their home. A staff member said, ‘No one wants a child to feel scared in their home – we had three.’ The manager added that the children ‘need time to process what they have been through’. This is because children have seen behaviours in the home that were not managed well, placing children at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child did not have a positive ending to their time living in the home. The manager had identified that they were no longer able to meet the changing needs of the child. However, the manager did not escalate this with the local authority in a timely way. This prevented staff and professionals from planning an appropriate move to a placement that better meets the needs of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Not all staff have the skills to communicate effectively with children in their care. For example, children who can only communicate through British Sign Language only have two staff members who are able to understand and converse with them. Staff learn communication methods in an informal way from each other, as planned training for staff has been cancelled. This prevents vulnerable children from being able to share their views or raise concerns with all staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to attend education, and all children attend school consistently. This gives them structure to their day and offers them opportunities to learn. Not all of the children are making the expected progress in school. The home’s staff and staff from the school are communicating with each other to explore the reasons for this and developing plans to help the children make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are enrolled with local health services, and staff support them to attend their routine appointments. All of the children have additional health needs. The staff engage with a wide range of professionals to access support for the children. This ensures that children have a network of professionals involved in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The property is well furnished and has been updated to have a more homely feel. The staff are no longer locking doors to communal areas of the home, and children are able to go outside into the garden. Children are now living in a less restrictive environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff take children to spend time with their families and friends. Children also take part in activities to help them socialise outside of the home. This includes children engaging in social clubs, surf club and swimming to enhance their experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 5 Children can explore their interests and hobbies with the support of staff. This helps to give them a sense of enjoyment and an opportunity to spend time with peers with similar interests.

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

Staff do not always act to keep children safe. One child was left in their bedroom overnight in a distressed state with damaged furniture following an incident. Staff did not ensure that the child’s bedroom was cleared of damaged furniture, and they chose not to ensure that the child was physically and emotionally safe. This lack of care led to a further series of incidents, placing the child at an increasing risk of further harm.

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

Children are restrained by staff who have not received training to enable them to do so safely. One child was restrained by several staff, and only one was trained. This restraint resulted in bruising to the child in places where staff had held them. The manager was present during this intervention and reviewed the associated documentation. They assessed the intervention as proportionate but did not consider that the lack of staff training may have contributed to the injuries sustained by the child. This does not provide assurances that staff practice is safe and that children are safeguarded appropriately.

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

Children’s risk assessments and plans do not explain how staff should support children when they are distressed. For example, they lack de-escalation techniques that work for the child and do not explain how they should be held to keep them safe. Consequently, children are not supported in line with their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been judged to be inadequate for the second time and is not making the required progress. Although leaders and managers are responsive during inspections, improvements have not been sustained. Proactive action has not been taken to better manage situations for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not have sufficient oversight of the home. When the manager is not in work, the interim arrangements to oversee the home are not effective. There are shortfalls in how those responsible for the home respond to issues or concerns. For example, staffing in the home was not adequate to meet the needs of children. Staff from other homes have been enlisted to support this home at very short notice when issues arise. There is no plan in place to address this in the longer term. This has, in part, led to a continuation of the serious concerns in how children are safeguarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s review of the care provided to children does not reflect the issues faced in the period covered. For example, managers do not evaluate the feedback from children about the quality of care provided in the home. Despite the managers being aware that children have not felt safe in the home, this has not featured in their Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 6 analysis. Consequently, plans to make improvements do not consider what is important to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff are following the children’s care plans as agreed by the local authority. This has resulted in an inconsistent approach to meeting their needs. Care plans completed by children’s social workers and reports about children’s education and health are available for staff to read. However, leaders and managers do not ensure that the staff are following these consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Less than half of the staff team have completed the basic qualification as required. Three of those staff have not completed their qualification within the relevant timescale. This does not provide assurances that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff feel well supported by leaders and managers during what they describe as a difficult time. Staff attend regular team meetings and have incorporated learning opportunities and time for reflection. Staff say that they can speak to their manager and can rely on her support. However, not all staff receive consistent formal supervision in line with the local authority’s policy. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to better understand the practice and development needs of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have responded immediately to address some of the shortfalls from this inspection. This provides assurances that children are safer and that staff are being provided with the training they require to better meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

One previous requirement and one recommendation were not considered as part of this inspection. They have therefore been restated and will be considered at the next inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 7

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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

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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)) 29 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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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 29 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 8 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been re-stated. 29 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 29 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 9 in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a))

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5)) 29 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff receive practice-related supervision that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16) This recommendation has been re-stated.

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 10 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: SC472374 11

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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

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472374 12 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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