Children's Home run by Outbound Care in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 1 Registered provider: Outbound Care Ltd

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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 a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection. Both children were seen and spoken to during the inspection.

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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: 2748037 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff have created a nurturing environment that helps children to progress and achieve their goals. Children feel safe and secure due to the quality of relationships they have with the adults who care for them. Family members said they no longer worry about their children and one child happily refers to the home as their ‘forever home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do well in education. Staff build positive relationships with the children’s education providers. They work together to ensure that children experience consistency between home and school. Staff encourage the children’s aspirations, such as attending university and training to be a nurse. The designated teacher for one child praised the links that the staff have formed with the school and that these relationships have enabled the child to improve their engagement with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff model a healthy lifestyle for the children, exercising with them in the gym and encouraging outdoor activities, including cycling and the ‘100 Miles in May’ walking challenge. Staff arranged a medication review for one child to help them participate in after-school activities. This helps children have enjoyable experiences and invest in their own health and well-being. When there are concerns for the children’s health, staff closely monitor, offer support and seek specialist support when needed. For example, staff acted on the advice of a physiotherapist to purchase a more supportive mattress for one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to build positive relationships with each other through shared experiences. When relationships are rocky, staff use a restorative approach to help the children work things through to maintain a happy and harmonious atmosphere. This is helping children to develop important skills around maintaining relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff provide children with a wide variety of experiences to broaden their horizons. These include adventurous activities, such as rock climbing, to build their confidence and activities and holidays that include their brothers and sisters. Children enjoy the activities and have increased confidence in achieving their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers monitor the impact family time has on children and consult with family members to ensure that time spent together with their child is a positive experience. Staff have supported one child to develop their skills to arrange and travel to visit their family independently. When children are not able to see their family in person, staff ensure that communication is maintained via phone and video calls.

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

Children feel safe, supported and listened to. They have confidence in the adults who care for them and share their worries or concerns, knowing staff will help. Staff are attuned to the children’s needs and respond effectively when children experience difficult Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 4 emotions. Professionals report that these relationships have helped the children to engage in work to reduce the children’s risks. As a result, staff have not needed to use physical intervention to keep children safe and children do not go missing from the home.

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

Managers and staff seek support from specialist services to increase this understanding of the children’s needs and risks. All children have comprehensive risk assessments that are reviewed regularly. Staff use a variety of ways to support children to reduce risks. For example, a series of sessions on stranger danger reflecting on real-life experiences, and games and quizzes, have helped children learn how to keep safe. Key workers revisit topics to ensure that children have retained their learning.

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

Staff support children to be safe online in a way that is understandable to the individual child. Managers and staff install parent apps on the children’s devices and seek expert advice when needed so that any restrictions are at an appropriate level for the child. Staff’s access to up-to-date training on internet safety ensures that their practice is responsive to current themes and risks.

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

Managers and staff support the children to take incrementally positive risks. Staff used a combination of fun challenges and support to increase one child’s confidence to travel independently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has created a positive learning culture in the team. Staff role model their commitment to learning with the children. The manager has monitoring systems that help them to learn from practice and track the impact of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers’ collaboration with other agencies and professionals widens the network of support available to the children. Their positive working relationships with the children’s social workers and education providers promote positive outcomes for children. The manager’s working relationships with the children’s independent reviewing officers helps to ensure that delays in decision-making for children are raised appropriately with social workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager responds promptly to suggestions from the children. One child co- produced their independence plan with the manager. This helps children feel valued, listened to and know that sharing their views can lead to change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Practice-related supervision is regular and staff report that they find it helpful. Each staff member has a detailed individual development plan linked to the home’s workforce development plan. Staff said they love working at the home and feel valued and well supported by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are detailed and factual. Some are rich in detail, and written to children to help children identify with their experiences. However, this practice is not Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 5 consistent. Not all recordings are written in a way that would be accessible to the child should they choose to read their records. Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third- party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2748037 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Metropolitan Business Park, Preston New Road, Blackpool FY3 9LT

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Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2748037 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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