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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 1 Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in November 2020. There is currently no registered manager at the home. An interim manager is overseeing the running of the home.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home, and all 3 children were spoken with 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2602558 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/04/2025 Full Good 03/06/2024 Full Good 27/11/2023 Full Good 12/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 3

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Summary of findings

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff and children make progress. Staff understand the children’s needs and support children to achieve in education and reach their developmental goals. Safeguarding practice is effective and staff understand how to respond to keep children and others safe.

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Summary of findings

There has not been a registered manager at the home for some time. Leaders have taken steps to maintain management capacity and oversight, and this has provided some mitigation to the absence of a permanent arrangement. However, there have been some gaps in decision-making that have resulted in timely decisions not being made and some inconsistencies in staff practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff who are attuned to their needs. Staff take time to understand children’s likes and dislikes and support children to have positive and well-planned moves to the home. This ensures that children experience positive beginnings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress. Staff encourage the children’s aspirations and work with professionals effectively to support children's attendance and engagement in education. When children do not attend school, staff work consistently with education professionals to understand barriers and make plans to help children overcome these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff seek children's views about the home and their care consistently. This includes children being involved in decorating and choosing furniture for areas of the home. Children have created beautiful artwork which is proudly displayed alongside lovely photos of children and staff. This helps children to feel they are valued and have a sense of belonging and knowing they have influence in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers work with professionals to identify children's needs and vulnerabilities before children move to the home. Managers seek the views of professionals, staff and current children's social workers to inform decision-making and assess suitability before agreeing to move children in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to identify and pursue employment opportunities and support them to maintain this. Children are encouraged to develop age-appropriate self-care skills. Furthermore, staff support children to improve these skills, which gives children a good foundation to help them in adult life. Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 4

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

Staff understand children's individual risks and vulnerabilities. They respond positively to unsafe behaviours to keep children safe from harm. Staff understand children’s triggers and are responsive to emerging risks. Following incidents, children are supported to discuss their concerns and are helped to repair relationships when needed.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff generally follow agreed protocols. Staff look for children and maintain contact with them while they are away from the home. On return, children are supported to reflect on the reasons they were missing. These important discussions then inform planning and decision-making to manage the children’s risks.

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

Staff restrain children to keep them and others safe. Staff actions to avoid the use of restraints are clearly described in records and management oversight identifies positive practice as well as lessons learned. However, on one occasion, the use of a restraint was not recorded according to the home’s policies. This did not enable the manager to fully evaluate the circumstances around the use of the hold.

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

Managers take complaints and allegations seriously. They follow safeguarding procedures, investigate concerns appropriately and involve the relevant professionals. Outcomes of complaints are then sensitively shared with children. This gives children confidence to share their worries and concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has been without a registered manager for 10 months. Leaders have been actively recruiting a new manager; however, attempts have been unsuccessful. This does not offer children or staff permanence and has had a limiting effect on the leadership and management judgement. The presence of a consistent deputy manager has provided some mitigation to the absence of a permanent manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There has been significant drift and delay in responding to some concerns about staff conduct. Furthermore, there is a divide between the skills and understanding of night staff and day staff in relation to children's needs. The interim manager has identified and implemented actions to rectify this. However, actions are yet to be fulfilled and identified changes are not yet embedded in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The provider has made changes to improve induction and training for staff so that new staff have time to develop their knowledge and skills before directly caring for children. Staff said the induction helped them to gain confidence to care for children safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Practice-related supervision sessions and team meetings take place regularly and offer staff opportunities to reflect on their practice and the children’s needs. The forums are used effectively to agree on consistent approaches to caring for children. Furthermore, leaders actively promote development and career progression opportunities for staff. This motivates staff to continually develop their knowledge and skills. Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 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

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—

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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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)) 7 October 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any use of a restraint is recorded as such. It should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraphs 9.59)

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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: 2602558 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Enhanced Young Person’s Care Limited

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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

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2602558 7 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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