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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 1 SC455864 Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s 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

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2024. There were five children living in the home at the time of the 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 3

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improvement to be good

The experience and progress of children and how well they are helped and protected have been affected by poor leadership and management of the home. The manager does not have adequate oversight of the children, their safety or the performance of staff. This has had a negative impact on children.

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improvement to be good

Children are not able to freely access all areas of their home. For example, the door to the laundry room is locked and can only be accessed by children who are under staff supervision. The children’s risk assessments and plans do not identify any risks to children accessing this room. This approach is restricting children from using all areas of their home and does not encourage children to develop independence skills.

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improvement to be good

Children do not engage in regular activities, and staff do not encourage them to try new experiences. Children spend most of their free time in the community, and staff have limited understanding of who children are with or what they are doing. As a result of this lack of meaningful engagement, children are becoming involved in behaviours that increase their vulnerability.

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improvement to be good

The staff work with the virtual school to encourage and motivate children back into education. The staff understand the past experiences of children and the need to work with them to re-engage in learning. The two recently admitted children are attending their educational placement and making progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff try to develop positive relationships with the children. Children respond well to the consistency of staff, who remain committed to them during periods of instability. This helps children to understand that staff want them to be safe and happy living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to services that support their physical and emotional health. Children attend their routine health appointments and annual health assessments, and staff support them to engage with mental health and substance misuse services. The staff have received enhanced training to meet the needs of children who are using substances. This promotes the well-being and safety of children.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not maintain oversight of the children’s risks or the risk assessments to ensure that accurate and up-to-date information is available to staff. Staff are aware of the risks children face but do not always act in accordance with the agreed plans. For example, one child returned home under the influence of substances. Staff monitored the child’s welfare but did not contact health services for guidance or advice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 4 Managers and staff are slow to respond to children who are at risk of exploitation. Managers liaise with multi-agency partners in relation to risks to children and share information and concerns. However, the manager did not take sufficient action to protect a child from harm in a timely way. This left the child vulnerable to criminal exploitation. The manager acknowledged this shortfall during the inspection, and leaders and

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improvement to be good

managers put in place an immediate response to better safeguard the child.

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improvement to be good

An investigation into an allegation of harm was not managed in line with statutory guidance. The fact-finding discussion with the child was conducted in the presence of a staff member who was a witness to the incident. The staff member’s presence may have impacted the child’s ability to talk openly about the concern.

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improvement to be good

When children are missing-from-home, the staff know the actions to take to find them. They look for the child, inform services and work towards them returning safely. Staff contact family and friends to gather information and keep them informed. The staff use the Philomena Protocol to ensure the right information is shared with police. When children return home, an independent return-home interview does not always take place. This is a missed opportunity for children to discuss the episode and for professionals to understand the child’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

The staff work with children to help them understand the impact of their behaviour. Positive behaviour is encouraged with rewards and structured activities. As a result, some children’s involvement in behaviour that poses a risk to them has been reduced significantly over time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager’s monitoring and oversight of the home are not effective. Consequently, he is not able to identify important issues, such as the children’s risks and concerns about staff practice. When shortfalls are identified through audits, the manager has not addressed the required actions in some cases for over six months. This has impacted on the quality of care provided to children and shortfalls in keeping them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not always respond to safeguarding concerns about the children that are raised by staff. For example, when staff have raised concerns about children suspected of being involved in criminal behaviour, staff have been told that it is ‘speculation’. The manager has not taken timely action to safeguard children. Furthermore, staff have not escalated their concerns in line with the organisation’s safeguarding or whistle-blowing procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers did not take the appropriate action following a concern raised by a child about a former staff member’s practice. The local authority and safeguarding professionals were not informed. The manager did not take action to explore the concerns and establish the facts. As a result, there has been no investigation to ascertain any risks that the former staff member may continue to present. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 5 The manager does not always consider the ability of staff to meet the needs of children who are moving into the home. For one child, this has meant that staff are not trained and do not understand how to meet the child’s specific needs. The manager recognises that staff required additional training but has not acted to put this in place. As a result, staff have not always been able to meet the child’s needs effectively, which has led to a number of behavioural incidents and the child being held. Some of these could have

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

been avoided with the right understanding and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are not responsive to significant changes in children’s presentation and engagement in the home. The manager does not demonstrate professional curiosity to explore signs that children may be at risk of harm or discuss these changes in behaviour with other professionals. This causes delays in putting in place effective strategies and support to safeguard children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(viii)) 25 June 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 25 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 7 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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 18 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies; 25 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 8 participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any decision to limit a child’s access to any area of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The home should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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 standard’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Ltd

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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

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC455864 10 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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