Support 2 Independence

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 1 Support 2 Independence Registered provider: Together For Children Sunderland

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A local authority operates the service. It provides support for up to 22 children in 4 shared or group-living premises that are not limited to looked after children and care leavers. At the time of the inspection, the provider was accommodating 10 children aged 16 or 17.

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provider

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023 when the service was registered.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 11 May 2026 and started that day. Inspectors were on site from 13 to 14 May 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

When children move into the service with the basic skills to keep themselves safe and to maintain their own health and wellbeing, they make good progress towards adulthood and independence. However, some children move into the service without these skills, and this limits their experience, development and progress.

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Summary of findings

When children raise concerns, leaders and managers do not always adequately investigate the issues. As a result, some children do not feel listened to or that their opinions are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children who move into the premises settle quickly into their new home and make good progress in preparation for adulthood. This is because they have the skills to live in supported accommodation. However, this is not consistent. For example, one child has struggled to settle because they find it difficult to maintain Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 2 nutritional health and self-care. Although leaders and managers monitor these situations closely, this does not give children a positive experience of supported accommodation or moving towards independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s education, training and employment are priorities for staff. They support children to develop a better understanding of what interests and motivates them, and how these interests could be used to gain further education or employment. When children face barriers to education and work, staff work closely with the children and the virtual school to understand and overcome these barriers. Opportunities such as those offered by The Kings Trust help some children to develop the confidence and social skills that they need to enrol at college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children live in premises that are well maintained, suitably equipped and welcoming. They are located in accessible areas. Children are supported to choose the type of accommodation and location that they feel best meets their needs and personal circumstances. For example, some premises have self-contained bedsits while others provide only a bedroom with communal spaces. Children said they feel safe where they live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

One premises has a short-term bed that is used for children who experience a short delay between one placement ending and another one starting. Recently, the bed has been used to accommodate a child who lives outside of the local area, for one night, to attend an appointment. This type of use replicates that of a hotel and fails to consider what impact this may have on the children living in that premises.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

CCTV is used in the communal areas of each premises. Children and their social workers are asked to consent to its use when they first move in. In most premises, there are no active risks or concerns to justify the use of CCTV. As a result, this blanket approach fails to protect children’s rights to privacy.

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How well children are helped and protected

Allegations made by children of abuse and poor conduct by staff are rare, but when they do occur, leaders and managers do not always carry out thorough investigations. Managers do not formally record the actions they take or give children feedback on the outcome of their allegation or concern. This means children do not always feel listened to or that their concerns are taken seriously. For one child, the lack of response has become a barrier to them sharing further concerns with the manager.

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How well children are helped and protected

Case records for some children include stigmatising language. There are examples where staff use language that blames children for their actions. This does not provide children with a helpful understanding of their experiences or their journey through care. Equally, it does not align with the actions of staff or their therapeutically-informed model of support.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s records do not consistently reflect their known needs and vulnerabilities. For example, identified concerns about exploitation are recorded in a child’s support Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 3 plan but do not feature in the same child’s risk assessments. This leaves staff confused about how they should support the child and what their needs are.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children are encouraged to take a lead role in designing their support. They receive direct support to learn skills in areas where they feel they need help. Equally, when staff identify an area of need, they discuss this with the children in a meaningful way and help them to learn new skills through setting and monitoring clear targets.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff work in a therapeutic trauma-informed way, and they have good skills to support children with their individual needs. On occasions, children require specialist support, for example, with their mental health or substance misuse. In these circumstances, staff ensure that timely referrals are made to other agencies who have the skills to support the children’s needs. This helps children to develop better resilience in preparation for adulthood.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff can confidently talk about children’s needs and how they meet these needs through the support they provide. They are attuned to the dynamics and interactions between the children living in each premises. Safety plans are developed when required to ensure new or emerging vulnerabilities are understood and addressed. This helps children to become increasingly safe while living in the premises.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

A stable and consistent staff team work at this service and there is minimal turnover of staff. The manager trusts his staff to carry out their roles and responsibilities. However, on one occasion, following concerns raised about professional boundaries, the manager did not follow operational policies and address this with the member of staff. This was a missed opportunity to ensure a consistently transparent and open culture across the service, in line with the safeguarding procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Recruitment practice does not sufficiently explore gaps in employment. For example, one staff member did not provide details of their past employment over a six-year period. Leaders and managers had not explored this gap. As a result, they cannot be assured that the staff member is safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have a formal monitoring system that helps them to identify areas for service development. They use this information to tell Ofsted about the service in their quality of support review. However, leaders and managers do not seek feedback from stakeholders to inform their development planning, and their review is not led by research-based practice. This hinders the manager’s ability to better develop the service and the outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The training offer to staff and managers is extensive, and mandatory training is designed to reflect the needs of children who live at the service. The manager is responsive to sourcing additional training as and when new needs emerge. This ensures the staff have a broad range of skills and knowledge to meet the individual needs of the children and to carry out their roles and responsibilities. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 4 The manager works collaboratively with other agencies who are involved in the children’s support. These professionals spoke positively about the effective communication and children’s progress. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 5

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

implement recruitment practices that ensure staff are suitable to work with children and to keep them safe from harm;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(e)(f)) 30 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

only use devices for monitoring or surveillance in communal areas and then only if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children,

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Requirement Due date

each child’s accommodating authority consents to the monitoring or surveillance, 30 June 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 6 children are informed in advance of the intention to carry out monitoring or surveillance, and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to each child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(c)) 30 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep records of other information relating to the supported accommodation undertaking set out in Schedule 3.

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Requirement Due date

maintain the records in Schedule 3, which may be kept in electronic form;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are accessible to children, the CIECSS and each accommodating authority;

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 25 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 30 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well 30 June 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 7 prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the supported accommodation provider’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on children in a way that does not stigmatise and distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 58)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Sunderland City Council

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: City Hall, Plater Way, Sunderland SR1 3AA

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: mark.head@togetherforchildren.org.uk

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Inspectors

Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Support 2 Independence 9 to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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