Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 1 SC037861 Registered provider: Darlington 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 operated by a local authority. It is registered to provide short-break care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the visit.

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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 and young people are not protected or their welfare is not 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: 5 December 2023

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Good 20/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Senior managers in the local authority make decisions in relation to who comes to live in the home. The registered manager has challenged some of these decisions, but leaders have overruled her objections. Consequently, children are admitted to the home when staff are unable to meet their needs. For two children, their risks significantly increased when a decision was made for them to live alongside each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The care planning for one child has been poor. There were changes to the child’s plan in quick succession without careful consideration of the impact on their sense of security and stability. The plan changed again during the inspection, where a decision was made to discharge the child into an unregistered placement in part to make room for another child to move in. This suggests that leaders and managers make decisions that are not in the best interests of the child. This may have a significant impact on how valued children feel and how they experience living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home has been operating outside of its short-break registration conditions. Children live in the home for unspecified periods of time and are being admitted in emergency situations without adequate preparation or planning. This means that children are not prepared for their move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Key-working sessions are not effective in helping children to learn about their needs and risks. Records are difficult to understand and do not demonstrate that children are learning or have opportunities to reflect on their actions and emotions. This means that children are not helped to develop strategies to manage their behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The downstairs windows have alarms in place to alert staff if children open those windows. This is not individually assessed and has not been reviewed or contained in any risk assessment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A new complaints process has been introduced to the home. Each child is provided with a child-friendly complaints form and letter so they can make any complaint confidentially. Children are given the opportunity to speak to an independent person and provided with feedback. This helps children to feel listened to and able to influence how the home operates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to get involved in a variety of activities in the community. One parent said that staff would always offer activities to their child. Children complete memory books with staff, filling these with photos of the days out. This helps children build a record of fun times they have had.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff build positive relationships with families. One parent said: ‘Staff supported me to appointments so I could have my child stay overnight.’ Another parent said that they Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 4 were able to spend more time with their child since he moved into the home. This has helped children to improve their relationships with people who are important to them.

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

A child was placed at significant risk of harm because staff did not act to keep them safe. The child was missing from home and contacted staff in the early hours to seek help in returning home. The staff did not make appropriate arrangements to collect the child. Consequently, the child did not return home for several hours. This does not show children that they are valued or that staff will act to keep them safe.

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

The manager does not have a consistent view of when a child is missing from home or not. The decision to classify a child as missing from the home is deferred to the police and local authority. This creates confusion for staff and the manager in respect of how to manage a missing-from-home episode. It also means that children are not consistently offered a return home interview by an independent person. This does not provide assurances that children receive appropriate support from staff and are able to share their experiences.

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

Staff do not always take effective action when children are angry or upset. Staff did not intervene to de-escalate a situation for a child. As a result, the child’s behaviour increased in severity, leading to them being arrested by police.

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

Information held in children’s risk assessments is not clear. Risk assessments are generic and are not kept up to date. They do not provide clear actions for staff to follow and lack guidance on how to de-escalate behaviours that challenge staff. This means that children do not receive a consistent or effective response from staff when they are at risk of harm.

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

Records of incidents that happen in the home are not accurate. There is different information recorded across different documents. This leads to confusion about how children should be cared for by staff. It also makes it difficult to identify what actions staff took, and when, in reducing risks for children.

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

Safer recruitment practices are followed in the home. Staff are suitably vetted prior to starting work. When agency staff are used, recruitment information is requested from the provider. This helps to ensure that the children are cared for by suitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not have a strong grip on how the home cares for, and safeguards children, leaving them at risk of harm. The registered manager’s lack of oversight has resulted in shortfalls not being identified or addressed. Furthermore, the systems in place to monitor the home have failed to identify poor practice and outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 5 The manager does not complete an effective review of incidents involving children. Lessons have not been learned from events where staff actions have left children at risk of harm. This prevents staff from having opportunities to reflect on their responses and improve safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings are not used effectively to share important information with staff. Furthermore, staff do not receive regular supervision or an annual appraisal. Records do not show that there have been opportunities for staff to share their worries or concerns or reflect on events in the home. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that there is a shared approach to caring for children and has contributed to inconsistency in how staff meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Permanent staff have completed the local authority mandatory training and additional training to meet the needs of children who have used the service. However, the manager does not ensure that casual staff who work in the home have completed appropriate training. For example, an agency staff member was involved in a physical intervention, but the manager had not checked whether they had completed the training. This does not assure leaders and managers that all staff are equipped to care safely for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from professionals is positive in respect of some children who have been supported through the short-breaks service. Professional commented on the good communication that they receive and the positive progress made by children. The social worker for the child currently living in the home told inspectors that staff do what they can to support the child. Staff also work well with the child’s parent and support the relationship between parent and child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 30 January 2025

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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— 30 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 7 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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;

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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 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)(a)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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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; 30 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 8 that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(e)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 30 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30 January 2025

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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

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(c)) 30 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 30 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 9

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice, which allows them to reflect on their practice and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC037861 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

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Inspectors

Natalie Clark, Social Care Inspector Deb Duffy, Regional Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC037861 11 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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Inspectors

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