Children's Home run by KerryLynnCare Ltd in Gateshead

Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 1 Registered provider: KerryLynnCare Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 15 and 16 April 2024

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/04/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children’s experiences of living in the home are mixed. Staff are nurturing in their approach and work hard to engage children to develop trusting relationships, but with mixed results. When children are in the home, the relationships with staff are positive. However, both children spend a lot of time out of the home in the local community with friends.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s education attendance and attainment are also affected. One child has finished a course and has prospects for work or college in the near future. Staff have been unable to help the other child attend school or engage in schoolwork in the home. There are no plans in place to maintain a routine or offer educational support when children are not in school.

p.3

improvement to be good

Transitions to and from the home are managed well. Children visit before coming to live here and are helped to settle into the home quickly. The preparation for independence plans offers children the opportunity to learn and develop skills to help them grown into adulthood.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s views and opinions matter in the home. They contribute to the menu choices, activities and décor, and are able to say if they are unhappy about an aspect of their care. However, children report that the responses from staff are, at times, inconsistent, leaving them confused as to what they are able to do or ask for and when. Children’s plans are reviewed regularly but do not contain detailed strategies to help staff respond to behaviour in a consistent way.

p.3

improvement to be good

Key-work sessions are identified in care plans as a way of working through issues and behaviours that emerge and help children to learn about their own safety. However, the plans are not always linked to the overall care plan or help to address previous experiences and explore how these affect the child.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff help children to maintain family and other relationships that are important to them. Family members spoken to were happy with the approach of staff and how they are kept up to date.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children say that they feel safe in the home and can identify staff who they would go to if they needed help. Risk assessments are updated regularly, but not all known information is added in order to make an accurate evaluation of the risks posed to the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 4 A review of the daily notes of each child showed that there have been instances where children have made statements about events that have happened that could have posed a risk to them. These were not followed through by staff, other than informing the social worker for the child.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children go missing from the home and protocols are followed to ensure that children return safely. However, the actions taken to look for the child before reporting them missing are not always detailed in records.

p.4

improvement to be good

Behaviour is managed by staff using incentives, praise and consequences. However, the incentives used are not always individualised to each child or effective in managing behaviour.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has recently left his post. A new manager is in place, who has applied to register with Ofsted. The deputy manager has also left and has not yet been replaced.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The supervision of staff is regular and well recorded. The previous manager’s supervision record showed that the registered individual needs further training to ensure that management supervision is effective.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Training is regular and all the provider’s mandatory training for staff is up to date. However, additional, specific training relating to the needs of the current children has not taken place. Some trauma-informed training has taken place, but the responses of staff when helping children show that this is not yet embedded in practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a comprehensive monitoring system, but this did not help the previous manager to identify the shortfalls highlighted. Some required documentation from the local authority is missing, preventing managers from being assured that children’s plans are aligned to the local authority expectations.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The previous manager completed his quality of care review. The action plan for the next six months identified that some actions had been completed already, making this report ineffective at informing Ofsted of the plans for continuous development of the service. Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.5

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff;

p.5

Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(v)) 30 June 2025

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)) 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 6 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 30 June 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c)) 30 June 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

If the registered provider is an individual, the individual must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the individual has the skills needed for carrying on the children’s home. (Regulation 29 (1))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, undertake training in relation to supervision. 30 July 2025

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there is advice and guidance available to the manager, to challenge partner agencies to acquire relevant documents to support and understand the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.5)  The registered person should ensure that they support children to attend education. Where children are not in school, staff should have plans in place to help the child learn and gain confidence to return to school. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that incentives to help children learn to manage their behaviour are appropriate to their age and understanding. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 7 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph

p.6

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: 2729959 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tyne and Wear, Gateshead

p.8

Inspector

Sue Atkinson-Millmoor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2729959 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9