Children's home run by Durham County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 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

The home is operated and managed by a local authority. It provides short-term care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties who are transitioning from a secure setting back into the community.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager in post has been registered since October 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 27 February 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 3

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of the home. This has affected the care provided to some children and management of their risks, because staff have not always taken quick or effective action to safeguard them.

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improvement to be good

Children are admitted to the home from the provider’s secure setting. Six children have moved on from the home since the last inspection. Where some children had made good progress, others’ progress had been limited. The manager has ended some children’s placements because the children’s needs could not be met. However, children maintain links with staff when they move out of the home to help maintain the important relationships they have developed.

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improvement to be good

Children are registered and supported to access local health services. Health professionals visit the home to ensure that children’s basic health needs are met. However, while children are supported by staff, they are not always offered more specialist care or advice related to things like sexual health or harmful relationships. One child was not offered this advice following a serious incident.

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improvement to be good

The home has access to a clinical psychologist, who carries out regular sessions with staff on how the provider’s model of care should be delivered. However, the children’s case records completed by staff, show that staff’s practice lacks consistency and they respond differently to the advice given by the clinical psychologist. This is not always identified by the manager and hinders the progress that children make.

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improvement to be good

Staff build positive and trusting relationships with children. Staff have often worked with children in the secure setting before they move in. This means that children have established relationships with some staff before they move into the home. This helps them to feel more settled when they first move in.

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improvement to be good

The home is well presented and has a welcoming feel. Staff encourage children to personalise their bedrooms. Children are allowed to choose colours and help decorate rooms in the home. This helps children to build life skills and have a say in how their home looks.

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improvement to be good

Staff have positive working relationships with professionals. Communication is regular. Children are encouraged to engage with professionals and their views are shared. A children’s advocate visits the home regularly to enable children to have a voice and share their views.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to engage in learning. Staff transport children to and from school. The home provides access to tutors and online learning if a child does not have an Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 4 education plan in place when they move in. Some children have made good progress with education.

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improvement to be good

Staff care for children with complex needs that often involve children having increased risks. However, staff have been inconsistent in their approach to safeguarding. Risk management strategies are not consistently followed leading to staff using different approaches, which are not always effective. Furthermore, staff at times lack professional curiosity about the known risks that children face. Consequently, on occasions staff have not acted quickly enough to prevent children being exposed to unsafe situations.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with the police when missing from home incidents occur. However, staff do not always follow the necessary process when children go missing from home. This resulted in one child requiring medical attention after having gone missing. Although staff do look for children when missing, there are occasions where staff responses have been delayed.

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improvement to be good

Staff speak with children about the worries they have for them. However, this is not always consistent. Children’s risk assessments say this should happen, but there was no evidence of this taking place for some children during one-to-one or group discussions. This means some children are not always supported to understand the risks that surround them or how to keep safe.

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improvement to be good

During very challenging times where children have been at significant risk due to self- injurious behaviours, the provider has identified and accessed additional support to children and staff. One child was provided with a specialist worker on site for her mental health. Additional support was brought in to support and reduce staff fatigue. The manager ensures that all new staff are checked and vetted prior to working in the home. The system is thorough, and ensures that appropriate adults work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of the quality of care provided to children. Monitoring systems are not used by the manager. The manager does not have a clear understanding of the safety plans for the children. Children’s care plans and risk assessments do not reflect practice in the home. The manager has not scrutinised staff practice, to ensure that staff respond appropriately when children are at risk of harm. Consequently, the manager is not able to identify or challenge poor practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager notifies Ofsted when serious incidents occur. However, they have not informed the regulator when child protection investigations have been instigated or concluded. This means that Ofsted are not able to maintain oversight of the home or how risks to children are managed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 5 The manager does not complete or send the quality of care review to the regulator. Consequently, this has hindered the manager’s ability to scrutinise and evaluate practice in the home over reporting periods. This means strengths, weaknesses and plans to improve the care children receive have not been identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a consistent staff team working in the home. However, the manager has not ensured that there have been reasonable adjustments to staff rotas. On one occasion this prevented staff from following a child’s safety plan during a child’s time of need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Regular supervision sessions are not provided for staff in line with the provider’s policy. There have been several challenges over recent months and staff have not had the opportunity to discuss the children, reflect or share their feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff in the home have worked there for long periods of time or have transferred from other settings in the organisation. When cover is needed due to staff sickness or annual leave, the manager utilises staff who are familiar with the home from within the organisation. Staff have commented that they feel well supported by their manager and there is an open door policy that allows them to raise issues without any delay. Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that staff ensure that children are supported to understand their own risks and risks posed to them by others and how they can keep themselves safer. 30 April 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

promotes their welfare. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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 work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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; 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)(a)(b)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii) 30 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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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 each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 8 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 quality of care provided for children;

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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; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 30 April 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there are effective systems so that all staff receive supervision sessions which allow them to reflect on their practice and discuss the needs of the children who live in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 9

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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: 2728373 10

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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

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2728373 11 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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