Children's Home run by Acorn Care (UK) Limited in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 1 SC390751 Registered provider: Acorn Care (UK) Limited 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 provider. It offers care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, five children were living in the home.

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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

Date of last inspection: 20 September 2023

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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: SC390751 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2023 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Good 15/11/2021 Full Good 09/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from living in a home that feels warm and relaxing. There are lots of photos and personal items belonging to the children throughout the home. The staff create memory books for the children and celebrate their achievements. Bedrooms are highly personalised, and children have a say in how their home is furnished and decorated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff prioritise the actions from health assessments to ensure that children receive the appropriate healthcare. Work is carried out with children to help reduce their anxiety before important appointments. This helps to ensure that children attend and supports better overall health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to recognise the importance of their education. The home has a dedicated liaison officer, who works well with schools to actively seek better communication, attend meetings and resolve issues quickly. This relationship is important when new children come to live in the home. Staff share information and an understanding of each child’s needs with teaching staff. This helps school to prepare to welcome children into the classroom. Children who are being reintegrated into education do so successfully. The collaborative relationship improves the children’s perception of school and promotes their progress and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and new experiences. The staff encourage children to pursue their hobbies and interests. Organised clubs and sports groups are promoted in recognition of children’s talents and wishes. This has led to children achieving their goals and experiencing sporting success.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support the children to spend time with their family. Staff understand how important this is for children’s well-being and sense of identity. The manager has carried out research to better understand the impact of family time for individual children. Significant progress is made by staff in establishing or developing these relationships and working well with parents. The research and development of practice have led directly to improving the quality of children’s experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The complaints procedure is not fully understood by all children. There are gaps in understanding what a complaint is, who to contact or the procedure to follow. Children may not feel heard when raising important issues with staff.

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

Children are supported to recognise and manage their own emotions. The staff work with the children and support them during difficult times. Discussions take place following incidents to allow the children to reflect, learn new strategies and understand Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 4 the impact of their actions on themselves and others. This reflective work promotes resilience in the children and helps them to become increasingly safe and independent.

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

The children’s plans and assessments give clear guidance to staff on how to keep children safe. The plans are individual to each child and describe what staff might see if a child is becoming upset and how they should respond. The staff are familiar with these plans and know what to do to keep children safe.

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

When children are missing from home, they do not always receive a return home interview. For example, one missing-from-care episode involved two children leaving the home late at night for up to three hours. Professionals and family were notified, and staff had discussions with the children. However, neither child was offered an independent return home interview. This is a requirement when children have been missing, to allow children to discuss why they left the home.

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

The clinical psychologist provides a high-quality consultation and support to the staff team. She provides monthly therapeutic updates, attends team meetings and provides ad-hoc consultations when required. This provides staff with a deeper understanding of children’s emotional and behavioural needs. It also promotes a consistent approach to children in line with the therapeutic model, which helps to create a predictable and stable environment for them.

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

The home uses a monitoring device on the external doors, and the staff have locked the kitchen door at night. These measures were put in place to prevent children from leaving the home without staff being aware. The children believe the door is still locked, and there has been no review of the measure to assess if it is still necessary and proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager carries out a comprehensive review of all key areas each month. This helps them to identify any issues, such as gaps in case recordings or outstanding actions. It also allows the manager to identify any themes that will help to develop practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear system in place to maintain oversight of staff training and ensure that it takes place in agreed timescales. In addition to the mandatory training, online courses provide a broader range of development for staff members. Staff also benefit from attachment training in line with the therapeutic model of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides supervision that considers staff’s welfare and offers opportunities for staff to reflect on the impact they have on children’s experiences and progress. Supervision is thorough with detailed minutes and corresponding actions. Staff appraisal provides a review of the staff member’s performance and is carried out in partnership with the employee. This helps the manager to understand the needs of the team of staff to ensure that they have the necessary skills to care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 5 The manager has built positive relationships with social workers, parents and other agency partners. The manager maintains good communication with professionals and parents to ensure that there is a collaborative approach to improving outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of care review does not identify actions that are effective in improving the care for children. The review report contains repeated actions and historic information from previous reports. This does not provide the manager with an up-to-date evaluation of the impact that the care provided to children has on their progress and experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should use their professional judgement to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in their quality of care review. Particular attention should be paid to the quality of consultation with children, parents, the placing authorities and staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under

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Recommendations

regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The home should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should have procedures in place so that children and others are able to make complaints about the home or a person working there as soon as they arise. Children should have the procedure explained in a way they understand, and details of who to contact should also be available in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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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: SC390751 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Care (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Yarm Road Business Park, Darlington, County Durham DL1 4YA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Julie-Ann Foxton

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Inspectors

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Louise Hollick, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC390751 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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