Children's Home run by ROC Family Support Limited in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 1 Registered provider: ROC Family Time Limited

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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 run by a private provider. 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

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke with all three children 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

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/01/2024 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good 07/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make positive moves to the home, even when these are at short notice. Staff take time to understand the children’s likes and dislikes and welcome them warmly to the home. This helps children to form positive relationships with staff. Children say they feel cared for, happy and safe. One child said: ‘This is the home I wished for before moving in.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is an important feature of life in the home and children are encouraged to attend and achieve well in school. Staff communicate effectively with the children’s schools to maintain a consistent approach to supporting the children’s educational needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met effectively by a team that listens to what the children say and need. One child recognises and appreciates the efforts of staff to get them the right medical attention. This resulted in a previously undiagnosed condition for the child being identified and treated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment for children to live in. Children have been helped to decorate their bedrooms to their personal preferences and the children’s artwork and photos adorn the walls around the home, enriching the environment. This helps children to have a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the children’s time spent with family members. When children ask for changes to their arrangements, staff advocate for their wishes. This helps to shape plans and for children to have quality family time that meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Alarms are used on the children’s bedroom doors during the day. This is not detailed in the children’s risk assessment or relevant to keeping children safe. Furthermore, the children’s understanding of why alarms are used is not aligned to their intended use. The alarm system can be heard by all children, alerting them to when it is needed for others. This practice impacts on children’s privacy and detracts from the homely atmosphere.

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

Staff understand children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Children’s risk assessments are clearly written and regularly reviewed. This means staff have the right information to help them keep children safe.

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

Staff have supportive conversations with children to help them understand risk. They also engage the support and knowledge of external professionals. This gives children access to valuable information to help them identify risks and keep themselves safe.

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

When allegations occur, the manager follows the home’s procedures to investigate incidents and engage with the relevant professionals. Information about any resulting Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 4 outcome is clearly recorded and given to children in a way they can understand. This means children can be assured their worries are listened to and acted on.

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

Bedroom searches are rare. One search has taken place since the last inspection. This was done with the child’s knowledge and followed up with a key-work session and a debrief. This helps children understand that the reasons behind bedroom searches are to keep children safe.

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

Records of consequences given to children to address unwanted behaviour contain language which is not helpful to the child. Some consequences given have been assessed by the manager as being harsh. This is captured in the manager’s evaluation, but there are gaps in how this is communicated to some staff. Shortfalls in the timeliness and efficacy of feedback mean staff do not always have the right guidance to improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are new management arrangements in the home. The new manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is supported in her role by a deputy manager who shares her vision for the service. They have identified areas for development and have plans to make further improvements to practice. Staff appreciate the strong management presence and support and say that this was lacking before. As a result, staff are better equipped to fulfil their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers identified shortfalls in the management monitoring of the home. Oversight is now well evidenced throughout records. Improvements have been made to monitoring systems and these help managers to identify and address shortfalls. Improvements have yet to be fully embedded, but the more effective systems have helped the manager to gain a clearer view of the team’s performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to providing a stable home for all the children and escalates any concerns effectively through the right channels. An example of this is where two children did not know whether they would remain at the home. The manager recognised the impact on the children and advocated for them with the social worker and team manager, resulting in timescales being set to agree the children’s plans. This helps children to know that their views are important and are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals and family members is consistently positive about the staff and the care that children receive. Communication between staff and professionals is structured, meaningful and effective, so all professionals have the right information to fulfil their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are no male staff currently working at the home. The rationale for this is not documented and it is not clear how the provider will ensure that managers will promote appropriate role models of adults with different genders. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when staff give consequences, they are not unreasonable and should be restorative in nature, helping children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. 14 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any measures in place in the home to safeguard children do not have a negative impact on children’s privacy. 14 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. 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)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose makes it explicit that where they use staff of one sex only, clear guidance is in place and followed as to how they will promote appropriate role models of adults with different genders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.22)

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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: 2571902 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: ROC Family Time Limited

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Inspector

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2571902 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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