Children's Home run by Stockton on Tees Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 1 SC035222 Registered provider: Stockton on Tees Borough Council 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 three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has been appointed and is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. The registered manager no longer works in the home and is to submit their application to cancel their registration.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 6 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: SC035222 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/10/2021 Full Good 30/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. For some children, starting to engage with professionals and attend health appointments is significant progress for them. This is because staff work with children to help develop positive and trusting relationships at the child’s pace.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive well-planned introductions to the staff and their new home. One child’s experience of moving into the home was helped by planned visits and stays at the home before they moved in. This approach supports children to be familiar with staff, children and their new surroundings at the point of them moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in activities at home and in the community. This contributes to children’s positive experiences. When children choose not to participate, staff consider other activities a child may wish to engage in. This shows children that staff listen to them and look for alternative options to increase their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being are important to staff. The children are registered with local dentists, doctors and opticians. Some children who have not attended health appointments for a long time are supported by staff to attend these appointments. When children need specialist support, staff make referrals to ensure that they have the right services to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children are engaged in learning. When children struggle with school, staff work with the child and professionals to identify other options. Although this support is not successful for all children, staff do what they can to encourage children with informal learning and skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop positive working relationships with children’s families. They understand that children may view their friends as an extension of their family. Due to this, staff work well with families to ensure that they are kept up to date and understand what is happening in the child’s life.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments do not provide information to staff about how they should respond to keep children safe. For example, if a child brings cannabis into the home, there are no clear directions for staff to follow to manage the risks. Furthermore, key- work sessions with children do not demonstrate that children understand their risks or how to keep themselves safer. This can lead to inconsistent responses from staff, which does not provide the children with consistency. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 4 Staff do not always follow children’s safety plans when they go missing from home. This relates to when a child will be reported missing to the police. However, staff make efforts to locate children and contact those known to the child. Children are supported to return home and are welcomed warmly. This helps children understand that staff care about their safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff contact the police to support them to manage children’s behaviours. Staff are encouraged to do this as part of children’s safety plans. However, this increases children’s interactions with the police in their home and exposes them to a higher risk of being criminalised for their behaviour. This response also indicates that managers are not confident that staff have the skills to support children in crisis.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are used in the home, but their effectiveness is not reviewed. The manager described these as ‘punitive’ and has plans to change how staff respond to children to help them learn. Due to this practice continuing, children are not learning about the impact of their behaviour and the choices they make.

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improvement to be good

In line with children’s safety plans, staff carry out welfare checks when children are in the community. Staff use imaginative ways to engage children in these welfare checks to ensure that they take place. This shows that staff value the relationships they have with children and want to keep in touch to ensure that children are safer in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The management of the home has changed since the last inspection. The registered manager is no longer in this role and interim arrangements for the management of the home were not well supported by senior managers. A permanent manager has now been appointed to the home but is yet to submit their application to register. These changes have impacted on how children’s care has been overseen.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are not enough permanent staff employed to work in the home. Consequently, causal and agency staff are commissioned to care for the children. This means that children can experience a high number of unfamiliar staff working in the home. This impacts on the continuity of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers do not always have oversight of incidents involving children. When a child is restrained by staff, managers do not always have oversight of these records in a timely way. This prevents leaders and managers from being assured that staff practice is proportionate and safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff supervision is not taking place in line with the organisation’s policy. When supervision does take place, there is limited focus on children, safeguarding or reflective practice. This hinders the oversight of leaders and managers in monitoring the development needs of staff and the manager’s ability to formally address any practice concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 5 The leaders and managers are aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. They are carrying out a review of the home’s staffing arrangements and plan to upskill staff working in the home. Leaders accept that it will take time to embed change and demonstrate improvements. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 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 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 that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; and

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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)(e)(h)) 28 November 2024

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 28 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 28 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 7 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 28 November 2024

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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: SC035222 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stockton on Tees Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Buildings, Church Road, Stockton on Tees TS18 1TW

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Inspectors

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035222 9 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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