Children's Home run by Durham County Council in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 1 Registered provider: Durham County 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

This home is owned and managed by the 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

There are three children living in the home. All children were spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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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 February 2024

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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: 2623962 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2024 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good 12/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create an environment where children can build safe and trusting relationships with the adults who care for them. The children all identify members of the staff team who they would seek out should they need their help. Staff support the children’s relationships with each other. The children enjoy living together and can work out their differences when they arise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff know the children well and work hard to maintain a safe and supportive environment for children to live in. They have shown resilience when faced with supporting children with challenging situations. One child said, ‘The best thing about living at this home is being able to return to a place of stability.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has revised the home’s children’s guide in consultation with children. Children have helped to improve the quality of the guide so it’s more relatable for others. Children feel proud for doing so and valued for their contributions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff give the children confidence to engage in education or employment. However, children’s progress in education varies. When children are not attending school, the managers and staff at the home advocate for them to have access to education, training or employment that is supportive of their needs. This has helped one child return to school after a lengthy absence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to identify activities that they would like to do, and they plan and budget for them. The wide variety of opportunities ensures that children have enjoyable experiences and gain useful life skills in unfamiliar surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff advocate for the right supportive plan for children who are transitioning to independence and ensure that the children’s voice is heard. All children are supported to learn new skills. Older children do structured work with their key workers to develop their independence skills in preparation for life beyond the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage with the health services that they need. Children have access to specialist support from agencies such as the substance misuse services and the therapeutic team. The looked-after children’s nurse visits the home and delivers educational sessions with the children on topics that include sexual health and contraception. Additionally, staff sensitively help children overcome fears and attend their health appointments. This helps affirm with children that the staff care about their well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and managers support the children using therapeutic parenting techniques. They help children manage their emotions by being available to them when things become challenging. As a result, children have greater confidence in adults to help them through challenging times. Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 4 The manager monitors the effect of family time on the children and takes steps to reduce the impact these relationships can have. Staff offer emotional support with family relationships, to help maintain the children’s important relationships.

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

Staff help the children to feel safe and protected by working proactively to identify and address areas of risk. Where children are at risk of harm, action is taken to reduce that risk. The staff understand the children’s risks and explore them in key-work sessions. This is helping children develop their own keeping safe strategies. This includes staff helping children to engage with other agencies to reduce risks, for example work with children who are at risk of being criminalised by incidents in the community.

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

Unsafe incidents continue to occur for some children. However, overall, risks are reducing for the children. When there are serious incidents, staff are there to give assurances to children that they will continue to be there for them.

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

Missing-from-home incidents have reduced for all children. Individualised safety plans are kept up to date to guide staff on the actions they should take. This helps staff respond effectively when children go missing and return them home safely.

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

The staff understand the risks and opportunities that the internet holds for the children. Installed software helps to manage these risks. The children understand these restrictions and the reasons for them. Staff support children to keep safe online through educational conversations, to help children identify unsafe situations.

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

Staff and managers understand the children’s behaviours and help the children to better understand them themselves. The staff take a balanced approach to addressing children’s negative behaviours, which reduces the likelihood of these behaviours escalating. Staff work with children to develop their own plan about the strategies that help them the most. Plans are shared with the child’s wider network of professionals to promote consistency for children.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used, when they are it is as a last resort. Staff use their relationships and their understanding of the children to deescalate situations in order to avoid using holds.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is established in her role. She has good oversight of the quality of care for children. Effective monthly audits of the children’s documentation support this oversight. The Manager’s oversight comments on the children’s records are personalised to the children. The manager values external scrutiny of the home by the independent person and makes use of the challenge this provides to support the development of care provided. Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 5 Leaders and managers learn from practice. When there has been an incident, a ‘lessons learned’ review is undertaken, involving input from outside agencies if required. The manager has developed positive working relationships with colleagues from a variety of services. Feedback from professionals shows that the manager works effectively, to maintain these relationships in the best interest of meeting the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager attends meetings and strongly advocates on behalf of children if she feels that a child is not being listened to, or the plan is not in that child’s best interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has reduced the impact of staff turnover by using regular agency workers and staff from the provider’s other homes effectively. One regular agency worker has recently converted to become a permanent staff member, helping to strengthen the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Practice-related supervision is regular and contains opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice. Staff report that they are well supported by the manager and enjoy working at the home. The team also benefits from clinical supervision from colleagues in the therapeutic team, as and when needed. The staff team and the manager have group supervision as part of the monthly team meeting to undertake appreciative enquiry exercises for all the children. This enables the staff to reflect and gain ideas and feedback from their colleagues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have access to a comprehensive training offer from their induction, and onwards through their career. There are opportunities to progress within the organisation using the provider’s ‘grow your own’ strategy. This helps develop an aspirational culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The physical environment is homely, well maintained and safe. There is continued investment to improve the quality of the environment and enhance the children’s living experience. Leaders and the manager have a clear vision for the home and are driving forward developments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Key-work sessions and other recordings clearly reflect the day-to-day experiences of children. The children’s achievements are celebrated using weekly books, memory boxes and memory books.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations of the staff, encouraging them to start a staff book club to share therapeutic parenting books and resources and supporting them to expand their knowledge and skills. The staff feel empowered to make suggestions and are invested in the improvement of the service. Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 6

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2623962 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Durham County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fostering & Adoption Team, Spectrum 8, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham SR7 7TT

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Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2623962 8 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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Inspector

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