Children's Home run by Enhanced Young Persons Care Limited in Gateshead

Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 1 Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited 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 run by a private company. It offers care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, five children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

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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: 2602558 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2024 Full Good 27/11/2023 Full Good 12/09/2022 Full Good 05/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector spoke with and observed all five children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate an understanding of children’s needs and offer a nurturing approach to their care. Before children move into the home, staff spend time getting to know their likes and dislikes. This helps children to experience positive beginnings to living at the home and form relationships. As a result, children make good progress living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is highly valued by staff. When children experience barriers to education, staff help them to overcome them by seeking alternative educational provisions and arrangements. When children do not attend a school setting, staff help them learn informally at the home. This mitigates the effects of children not attending school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to build links in their community. For one child, this has meant securing a voluntary position at a local charity shop. This helps children to develop important skills and feel part of their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of family time for the children. Staff maintain good relationships with family members and offer practical support to ensure that family time is positive. This helps children to spend quality time with people who are important to them and maintain positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parts of the home, including communal areas and children’s bedrooms, have been damaged and require maintenance. While the manager has plans to address this, some work is required to provide children with a more nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are taken seriously in the home. Children’s meetings take place regularly, and staff encourage all children to take part. Staff and children have constructive discussions about important issues, such as anti-bullying. Children express their views and learn about the views of others.

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

Staff are aware of children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. They understand what triggers poor behaviour and know how to support children. Some children have experienced a reduction in their risks due to their time spent living in the home. The manager evaluates risks and staff’s ability to meet all children’s needs before agreeing that children can move into the home. This helps the manager and staff to understand how best to support new children when they move to the home.

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

When children go missing, staff follow agreed protocols to locate and return them safely to the home. The manager has developed good relationships with the local police, who Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 4 have delivered specific training to the team around responses to missing-from-home incidents. This means that staff have the right guidance and information to help them keep children safe.

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

Staff are trained to hold children when it is necessary to keep them safe. When restraints occur, children and the whole team of staff discuss the incidents and learn from them. This gives children the opportunity to express their feelings about being held. It also helps the team to develop its skills and understanding of safe ways to support children in crisis.

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

When staff impose consequences for poor behaviour, they are sometimes restorative and discussed with the child. However, most consequences are financial reparation. One record described a punitive consequence that was later withdrawn when it was found the child had not been involved. Staff apologised to the child and used this as a learning opportunity.

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

Since the last inspection, one complaint has been made. The manager carried out a thorough analysis and gave clear feedback to the child about outcomes and actions for staff to consider. This helps children understand that their views are heard and responded to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about developing practice to help drive improvements forward. An effective deputy supports her, and both maintain a strong presence in the home. The manager is held in high regard by the team. Staff acknowledge the improvements that managers have made to the home and say they feel supported in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is keen to enhance staff’s skills and knowledge. The manager actively seeks opportunities to share learning from other professionals and delivers training to the team. She has collated resources to help staff have structured conversations with children. Staff recognise how their practice has benefited from these learning opportunities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Established working relationships with external agencies are having a positive impact on children’s care. Professionals speak highly of the manager and staff. One professional said, ‘Staff are brilliant; they’ve really helped [name of child] to share their views in meetings.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Learning from any shortfalls is established in practice. The manager seeks to involve the staff in making changes and improvements to their practice. This helps staff to feel part of the development of the home and have opportunities to invest their ideas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems help the manager to evaluate the performance of the team, and management oversight is evident throughout. However, some care plans and risk assessments contain inconsistent information, demonstrating some gaps in oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 5 This has resulted in some professionals and parents being unclear about the approach staff take to safeguard children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 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

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)) 1 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative, helping children recognise how their actions affect themselves and others. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that the home maintains a domestic, homely environment. This relates to the necessary maintenance and repair of damage throughout the home and in children’s bedrooms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2602558 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Fox Street, Sunderland Road, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE10 0BD

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Inspector

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 8 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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