Children's Home run by Darlington Borough Council in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 1 SC037984 Registered provider: Darlington Borough 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

A local authority operates this home. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at 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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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

Date of last inspection: 3 September 2024

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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: SC037984 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2024 Full Good 25/03/2024 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/08/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress because of the consistent routines that staff put in place for them. Mealtimes are important and are a time when children and staff come together. Children enjoy eating meals together with staff and engage in conversations with one another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed positive relationships with most staff. This is because staff are committed to spending time with children and keep them at the centre of their practice. Children present as comfortable and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education. Staff work with professionals to encourage children back into education when they face barriers to attending. Furthermore, when an education setting is not meeting a child’s needs, the manager raises this, and alternative solutions are found.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children take part and enjoy activities and days out. Children go to the cinema, bowling and on visits to the beach. Furthermore, children are also able to spend time with their friends in the local community. This supports children’s social skills and enhances progress and positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with their loved ones and staff build positive relationships with those who are important to the children. This shows children that both they and their families are valued by staff. One family member commented that staff keep them well informed and up to date about what is happening for their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to move out of the home in a positive way. One child has been able to move back home with family, while another has successfully moved into their own home. Staff work with professionals who are skilled in helping children to move on. This has helped children to move on with minimal disruption.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all information in children’s plans is consistent with their identified needs or individual to what is effective for that child. For example, strategies to support children are duplicated across different children’s plans. Nevertheless, the staff know children well and have a good knowledge of their needs and how to meet those needs. This reduces the impact of the inconsistencies in written information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered and supported to access local health services. However, they are not always offered specialist care or advice related to their emotional health. This hinders children’s progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 4

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

Children feel protected and safe living in the home. Incidents of concern are infrequent because of the good relationships staff have with children. Staff know the children’s risks well and are proactive at responding to concerns.

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

When staff suspect there may be a concern arising, they act to ensure the child’s well- being and safety needs. On one occasion, staff suspected a child had drunk alcohol. Staff monitored the child throughout the night to ensure that they remained safe. Staff also speak to the children about the impact that such matters can have on their health and well-being. Children have a better understanding of risk and this contributes to the reduction in concerns for children’s safety.

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

Staff understand the risks that the internet may pose to children. There are effective strategies, routines and parental controls in place to manage the risk. Staff also complete work with children about how to keep themselves safe online. This reduces the risk, and children start to learn how to be safer when using the internet.

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

Allegations or suspicions of harm are investigated thoroughly by the provider. This allows the manager to take effective action to safeguard the children. The information is shared with the relevant professionals and the local authority designated officer. This demonstrates that the manager has children’s safety and well-being at the centre of practice.

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

Staff know how to respond to children when they are upset. Staff regularly praise children and use positive reinforcement, which helps boost their self-esteem. As a result, the use of physical intervention is infrequent. When a hold is required, this is only used to ensure the safety of children. Following a hold, the staff work to repair the relationships with children. The use of consequences for unacceptable behaviour is also minimal. However, there is no review of the effectiveness of any measure used. Staff continue to use ineffective consequences even when this means that children are not learning from them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is actively involved with the day-to-day care of the children and she has a hands-on approach. She attends the children’s meetings, goes on activities and comes in on her weekends off to spend time with the children. This shows children that she is invested in them and mirrors to staff how valuable it is to spend time with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the home’s strengths and areas for development. Where shortfalls have been identified, the manager acts to make improvements and prioritise the progress and experiences of children. This includes challenging professionals when needed and providing staff with additional training to better meet the needs of children. The manager shows commitment to the development of the home and the staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 5 Staff feel well supported by their manager, morale is high and staff work well together. One staff member said: ‘The manager has the right balance and respect for her team.’ Staff have access to regular formal support, such as supervision sessions, incident debriefs and team meetings. These forums allow staff to reflect on their practice and key events, both together and individually.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completes a review of the quality of care provided to children. She has a good understanding of the home and plans to drive the quality of practice forward. However, the report lacks the required action plan to show how these improvements will be achieved and enable an evaluation of progress against those plans. This has previously been identified as a recommendation and is repeated at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 65, paragraph 15.4)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature. This is to help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 40, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using 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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 7 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: SC037984 8

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Children’s home details

Registered Provider: Darlington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

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Inspector

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037984 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.

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Inspector

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