Children's home run by North East Autism Society

Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 1 Registered provider: North East Autism Society

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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 operated by a private organisation and is governed by a board of trustees. The home can care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties. The home may also provide care for children with either a learning disability or a mental condition. The home may also provide care for one child with a physical disability and one child with sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three 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 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: 2682299 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2023 Full Good 20/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspectors spoke to all three children during this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a warm welcome when they arrive at this home. Staff understand how challenging moving into the home can be. They endeavour to enable children to feel supported and build relationships with staff and other children at a comfortable pace. As a result, children quickly settle and feel a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s attendance and progress at school are good. Staff understand the support children need to engage in education. Carefully planned transitions into school ensure that children's education experiences are positive. One child, who previously did not attend school, is now attending full-time and is enjoying the experience. This helps children increase their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a variety of activities that enhance their social skills and cater to their interests. Staff are attuned to the wishes and feelings of the children. Children can participate in one-to-one activities as well as group activities. This also helps promote positive relationships between the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have complex health needs that are effectively met by the staff. Children are registered with the services that they need to be healthy. Staff support their attendance at health appointments and encourage them to lead and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of helping children see their close family and friends. They support the children to keep in touch with those who are important to them. Staff proactively address any difficulties that arise so that the children can continue to have stable networks around them. This helps the children maintain a sense of identity and connection to their loved ones.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The atmosphere in the home is warm and friendly. Children are proud of their home. They have personalised bedrooms that reflect the children’s preferences. Photos of the children taking part in activities and outings are displayed in communal areas, which reminds the children of the fun times that they have shared with staff.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They know about the children’s vulnerabilities and the risks that they face. Risks are assessed, and guidance is in place for staff to follow to keep children safe. Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 4 Staff complete direct work and have important discussions with children to help increase their awareness of personal safety, such as road safety and stranger danger. This helps children make safer life choices.

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

Children’s plans are detailed documents that provide guidance and strategies for staff. However, they are not always updated to include current information, and some information in the plans is outdated. This can create confusion for staff.

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

Medication is stored securely in the medication room. Upon identifying medication recording errors, the manager modifies the records to ensure their accuracy. However, the manager has not conducted a lessons-learned exercise to understand the causes of those errors. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to review the process of medication management and recording to prevent future incidents from occurring.

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

Safeguarding concerns are responded to quickly, and subsequent investigations are thorough and involve all the relevant safeguarding agencies. However, the manager has not notified Ofsted of an allegation that a child made against a member of staff. This oversight has prevented Ofsted from scrutinising how allegations are investigated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are united, clear and realistic about the home’s strengths and areas of development. The manager has reflected openly on the challenges and achievements experienced in the last year. She demonstrates a commitment to improving the home and ensuring that children receive the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a significant turnover in staff. In addition, there has been a change of registered manager since the last inspection. Leaders and managers have taken measures to ensure the careful management of any changes. As a result, children have continued to receive consistent care, and staff feel supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and advocates for what is in their best interest. The manager and staff have effective links with external agencies, such as schools, social workers and health professionals, to provide support to the home and the children. This ensures a child-centred, wrap-around approach to providing the best outcomes for children. Feedback received from professionals has been positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they enjoy working at home and that morale is good. Staff value the support they receive from the manager. Staff receive formal supervision and have team meetings regularly, which provides them with time to reflect on their practice and supports their ongoing development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager encourages a culture of reflection, learning, and development. Staff receive a high standard of training. There is a satisfactory induction package for new staff. All mandatory training as determined by the provider is complete and up to date. The manager has sourced specialised courses to improve staff’s knowledge in line with the needs of the children in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 5 The manager makes use of internal and external monitoring systems. However, the quality-of-care review does not include the feedback and opinions of children. Furthermore, the quality-of-care report was not provided to Ofsted within the required timescale on two occasions. This shortfall has prevented Ofsted from understanding the quality of care that the children received in a timely manner. Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk assessments contain the most up-to-date information.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there is an effective process for monitoring medication recording errors. 16 January 2025

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

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b) (4)(a)) 16 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: 2682299 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Autism Society

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Lumley Court, Drum Industrial Estate, Chester Le Street , County Durham DH2 1AN

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Inspectors

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2682299 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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