Children's home run by North East Specialist Therapeutic Services CIC in Northumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 1 SC488112

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Registered provider: North East Specialist Therapeutic Services CIC

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2015.

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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: SC488112 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/07/2023 Full Good 15/08/2022 Full Good 08/07/2021 Full Good 29/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard, and the children can personalise their own bedrooms. The communal areas are spacious, and there are lots of games, books and activities to suit all children and many interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care from staff who know them well. The children meet staff with excitement when returning home from school and seek them out to talk about their day. The staff respond to children with empathy and understanding, enabling children to talk about how their day has been with staff that they trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection most children have attended school and made goodprogress. They are supported to achieve good attendance, and staff organise extra tuition for children taking exams. Children who live outside of their school’s local area remain involved in social groups and organised parent and child events. Children feel part of their school community and benefit from those stable attachments. This has helped those children to thrive in education. For one child, their attendance and engagement in education declined. Staff continue to offer encouragement and work with professionals to address this, but it was not effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain good physical and mental health. Staff work closely with health professionals to monitor any medical conditions and ensure that children receive the right treatment or support. Children receive emotional support from staff and professionals who understand their trauma and experiences. Children can talk about their experiences in a safe space, supporting the progress they make with their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to build better relationships with their family and friends. They help children to understand their feelings and how to manage conflict. The staff ensure that regular family time takes place, regardless of distance. This supports children to maintain those important links.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a high turnover of staff. For one child, this involved the staff who were most important to them. This loss increased difficult thoughts and feelings for the child. The impact of these changes was seen in the child’s behaviour, both in the home and at school. Staff supported them to build new attachments, and this has resulted in the child now feeling cherished and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child had a poor experience of moving on from the home. Following a serious incident which placed them and others at risk of harm, the child moved to another of the provider’s homes briefly before their placement was ended. As a result, there was no opportunity to prepare the child for moving on. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 4 Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 5

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

Staff support children to take age-appropriate risks that reflect their age and stage of development. Staff complete direct work with children to help them understand how to keep themselves safer. Staff also work in partnership with other professionals to ensure that there is always responsive support available to children.

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

The manager takes safeguarding matters seriously. When children make allegations, they are listened to and believed. Staff take time to explain the process and outcome in a way the children understand. The manager acts quickly and supports the child and staff throughout the process. Lessons learned are shared to improve the care and experience of children.

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

When children are missing from home, staff act quickly to find them and return them safely. Staff search known places and contact friends and family to gather information about where the children might be. Staff try to disrupt negative influences and encourage children to talk to staff about any worries or concerns. As a result, missing-from-home episodes are rare.

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

Staff act quickly and professionally in an emergency. Support was provided to children that reduced the impact of a significant event.. A fire was started in the home, which placed children and staff at risk of harm. The staff followed their procedures and training to keep children safe and worked with professionals to ensure the children received appropriate emotional support.

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

The records of physical interventions in the home are not always reviewed in the appropriate timescales by senior leaders and managers. On one occasion, this review did not take place for some weeks. Furthermore, inaccuracies in the records were not picked up by when leaders and managers reviewed them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high ambition for what the children and staff can achieve. There is a focus on developing the home, using new learning to improve the approach to meeting the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses systems to review and evaluate incidents in the home. This allows him to maintain oversight of patterns and trends and identify learning for the staff team. This allows staff to then reflect on their practice and make improvements to how children are supported. This learning has significantly reduced the number of incidents, such as children needing to be held, in a short period of time. One child is now increasingly able to manage their own emotions and enjoy more positive relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by leaders and managers. They have regular supervisions and also take part in consultations with the organisation’s psychotherapist. This provides a safe space for staff to reflect on practice and also supports their own well- Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 6 being. The individual children are discussed to better understand their experiences and improve the personal impact that staff have on the care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment practices for new employees. New staff receive a thorough induction, including the opportunity to shadow experienced staff. This helps them to learn about the children and understand the dynamics in the home. The home is suitably staffed and resourced to care for children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and a placing authority did not work effectively to ensure consistency of care for a child. The relationship between the manager and social worker was not effective in agreeing a plan for the child. The independent reviewing officer was not used to address these concerns.. Consequently, there was a disconnect between the local authority plan and that of the home, which led to an inconsistent approach to supporting the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s six-monthly report is a detailed document that demonstrates that they have included the views of children to evaluate the quality of care provided to them. The report generates an action plan so the home can drive improvement for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 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 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)) 7 August 2024

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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

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of 7 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 8 needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure they respond promptly where any issues or concerns emerge through the use of physical interventions with children. The review should provide the opportunity for amending staff practice to ensure the needs of each child are met. ('Guide to The Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', Page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that, as far as reasonably possible, there is continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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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: SC488112 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Specialist Therapeutic Services CIC

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jason Darbyshire

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Inspector

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC488112 10 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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