Jamma Umoja

Jamma Umoja Inspection report for residential family centre

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SC048718 Unique reference number 11 June 2008 Inspection date Lucy Ansell / Sophie Wood Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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94 Plaistow Lane Address Bromley Kent BR1 3JE 020 8464 3882 Telephone number k.greene@jamma-umoja.org Email Jamma Umoja Registered person Karen Marie Green Registered manager Iain Forbes Responsible individual 14 May 2007 Date of last inspection .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008

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Brief description of the service

Jamma Umoja is a Residential Family Centre offering assessment and treatment services for a maximum of nine families. The family centre is situated near to the centre of Bromley in a large converted Victorian building. The accommodation is provided over three floors and there is an annex located on the side of the main building that has a separate access via the rear garden. Some of the rooms provide accommodation for one parent and one child while others can provide accommodation for two parents and up to three children. Referrals to the centre are largely received from the courts across the UK to enable a full assessment to be undertaken on parents and their parenting skills with their children under close observation and supervision.

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Summary

This was a key unannounced inspection, completed by two inspectors. All of the key standards were judged and Economic Wellbeing standards were also inspected. There are no key standards for the Enjoying and Achieving outcome group. This is an outstanding service, which demonstrates excellent outcomes for its service users. The centre works closely with a range of external agencies and professionals, in order to fully meet the needs of those using the service. Parents benefit by enjoying positive and respectful relationships with the staff. Children are protected through the implementation of robust policies that place their welfare at the forefront of service delivery, however, there is currently a lack of external child protection training provision. Staff benefit through being well supported by a motivated and effective senior management team and written records are generally comprehensive, albeit one formal

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Summary

complaints record lacked full outcome details. Whilst the senior management team implements sound and robust monitoring and quality assurance systems, the monthly monitoring visit records lack sufficient detail. The overall quality rating is outstanding. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection three actions were raised. These were concerned with updating child protection policies and procedures and to provide staff with refresher training, to review the content of personnel files held on the premises and to complete generic risk assessments with regards to the current major buildings works. The centre demonstrated its desire to fully comply with the inspectorate by swiftly addressing all of these points. All staff have now had in house child protection training, and policies and procedures have been reviewed and updated. Personnel files held on site now hold all of the details as prescribed under the National Minimum Standards and detailed risk assessments regarding the building works were immediately put in place. The recommendations concerned with medication, staff training and supervision and appraisal processes have all been satisfactorily addressed.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. The parents and babies in the home are exceptionally well supported with their health needs. The residents' physical and mental health needs are identified and assessed by appropriate professionals within the service. Families are supported to access regular and specialist health care services both from outside agencies and from within the staff team. The service employs 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008 a charted psychologist, counsellor, play therapist and drugs and alcohol practitioner. It provides therapeutic support for parents and children to address complex needs. This may include counselling or specialist input for specific problems such as alcohol and drugs misuse, mental ill-health or domestic violence, as well as a specific group just for men. Staff have key working sessions with the families to address any health or welfare needs. The staff are proactive in

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Helping children to be healthy

discussing with the parents how to keep themselves and their babies safe and healthy. They run weekly health promotion meetings and offer advice and information to parents who require this. Parents spoken to say this is helpful and informative. They value the way staff speak to them. All families are offered additional cookery lessons in house if they choose to take advantage of this. All current staff have attended Food Hygiene training. Placement plans and information around the home contain full information about parents' and babies' leisure or educational activities. Where possible parents are encouraged to pursue these or find new opportunities to access in their own local community. The families are all registered with the local doctors, and the local health visitor is immediately notified of any new admissions under five years. The health authority has an allocated group of health visitors who run weekly clinics

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Helping children to be healthy

at the centre. All parents are offered family planning and sexual health advice. Any health issues that relate to ethnicity or faith and belief are fully assessed and suitably addressed in placement plans. The service has updated and revised all of its medication policies and procedures. These now contain all of the required information. All staff have received updated training in the safe storage and administration of medication and demonstrate competence to administer correctly, when this is necessary. All staff working on shift have received emergency first aid training. Records of medication received into the home and administered to parents and children are well recorded. The staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, but also where the parental responsibility lies.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. The accommodation offers excellent levels of privacy with all families having their own room with a key. The centre has a large communal lounge and shared kitchen and bathroom facilities on each floor. The families' privacy is further respected by staff following procedural guidelines; confidentiality and privacy are well balanced with the need to protect children. All personal information is kept securely and parents spoken to feel assured that staff respect their confidences. The home does use some monitoring equipment, but this is in line with strict guidelines and the centre's procedures. Families confirm they have been fully consulted and informed when this applies. The families have access to a private phone when required. Families say they enjoy positive relationships within the centre and feel they are effectively listened to. A clear formal complaints procedure is available, if they are unable to resolve the matter

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

informally. The policy is clear and comprehensive and complaint forms are displayed in a prominent place. The process is explained in initial key working sessions and signed by all parties when it is felt the contents are fully understood. The complaints file held records of one concern, but did not hold a copy of the complaint's outcomes. The families all have access to independent advocates. The service is able to effectively safeguard the children in its care. All staff receive updated in-house safeguarding training yearly. Whilst the staff team has not received training from local authority trainers since the changes to safeguarding processes, they do demonstrate a sound awareness and understanding of the local authority's and the service's safeguarding procedures. The centre's written procedural guidance is clear and accurate. The service has clear regularly updated risk assessments which safeguard all parties and agreed placement plans

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

with placing authorities. Daily handovers recognise and tackle any potential risks. Clear basic 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008 house rules ensure children are kept safe and foster respect between the families currently in residence. Robust systems are in place to ensure staff are carefully selected and vetted. All visitors are required to sign in and out and their movements whilst on site are appropriately monitored. Risk assessments, servicing records and weekly auditing checks are up to date and the centre holds sufficient insurance cover. Staff and residents understand the fire evacuation procedure. These processes ensure the ongoing physical protection of those in residence.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. Most of the parents and children enter the centre in a planned manner. Records show that necessary detailed historical information has been obtained to inform placement arrangements. All of the parents spoken to say they fully understand why they are here. Most families did visit the centre prior to their admission and say that they were supplied with verbal and written information around expectations of them during their stay. Family placement files, including the placement plan, are comprehensive. Such plans set out detailed elements of the family assessment and hold comprehensive records of supervision and monitoring used. The files clearly evidence how the 12 week comprehensive parenting assessment has used multi-disciplinary groups of staff with a good range of skills and knowledge to inform and enhance the final report. Placement plans hold full details of areas of potential risk and how

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Helping children make a positive contribution

these are to be managed during the placement. The families are encouraged to participate in any decision-making processes and their views are then clearly contributing to the process. Parents confirm that the need for any restrictions, monitoring or supervision of children has been fully explained to them. They say the staff are really positive and always explain things clearly; “We can always read our notes and can write our own comments on them.” Families have access to an identified key worker who works as part of a small team, all of whom have specific roles within the assessment process. Parents and children are actively encouraged to participate in review meetings, are assisted to put forward their views and feel they are kept informed of all outcomes. Family contribution forms part of the record of the review as they are fully consulted by staff at all times. This model encourages participation and parents benefit

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The provision is good. Families benefit by living in a safe, clean, well-maintained environment that provides comfortable accommodation and appropriate furnishings and equipment. The house is a large Victorian family home on a busy road near to the centre of Bromley with good access to public transport and off road parking. The accommodation is provided over three floors and there is an annex located on the side of the main building that has a separate access via the rear garden. Bedrooms vary in size to ensure suitable sized rooms can comfortably accommodate different sized families. All rooms are clean, well maintained and suitably furnished. The house provides two communal lounges, and shared kitchens and bathrooms on all floors. A separate laundry room is shared by those in residence. The house has recently been redecorated and furnished to a very high standard, with explicit and clear references that are appropriate to the age, development,

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Achieving economic wellbeing

cultural and ethnic background of the parents and children accommodated. The interior and 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008 exterior of the premises are consistently maintained in a very good state of structural and decorative repair. Damage to the premises is repaired promptly and the gardens and play equipment are monitored to ensure they are well maintained. The home operates a secure entry system.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The Statement of Purpose clearly sets out the centre's vision and describes the services it will provide. Stakeholders are clear about what the service can and cannot offer. The information is available in a format which is easily understood. Changes over the last year have ensured an effective and excellent service has been developed with successful outcomes for many families. The management team is dynamic and the implementation of another layer of management support has ensured that processes and systems are comprehensive and well monitored. The management culture is open and inclusive, as demonstrated by the ways in which it addresses, for example, equality and diversity and the individual needs of parents and their children. Managers demonstrate a proactive approach to working in partnership to ensure continuous improvement of the service. Staff and service users feel that they are given quality leadership

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Organisation

and excellent support and that their views are welcomed, valued and included. There is a clear system to cover the manager's absences and staff are confident that they know how and who to contact in specific situations. Staff members placed in charge of the centre and other staff are suitably qualified and experienced for their roles and responsibilities. The staff team is experienced, well-qualified and highly competent. There is a good mix of race, age and gender, which means that families will usually find someone they readily identify and can make a positive relationship with. There is a structured induction and training plan for all staff. The number of staff on duty at any given time meets the needs of the parents and children to effectively support them in their assessments, activities, visits and appointments. Monthly monitoring visits, conducted by the Registered Provider are occurring, however, some of the findings are

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Organisation

not being fully recorded in writing. These visits are centred on the experiences of parents, children and staff, all of whom are fully involved in this process. Findings are being fully integrated into the quality assurance systems of the organisation and are used to inform the continuing service development plans.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure training for staff on safe guarding is undertaken by a local authority trainer (NMS 11) • ensure the complaints procedure logbook contains all the relevant information (NMS 10) 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008 • ensure formal systems are in place to pull together all forms of monitoring and auditing (NMS 24) 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• families have access to health care, education, employment and leisure activities which promote their good health and well being, including their mental health, in a safe environment (NMS 4) Ofsted considers 4 the key standard to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• parents and children enjoy a level of comfort and security within the centre based on mutual respect and an understanding of what may have an adverse effect on other residents (NMS 8) • the privacy of parents and children is respected and information about them is handled with appropriate confidentiality (NMS 9) • parents and children are able to complain if they are unhappy with any aspect of the centre; they are confident that any complaint will be taken seriously, investigated and addressed without delay and they will be kept informed of the progress (NMS 10) • the welfare of children is promoted, children are protected from abuse, and an appropriate response is made to any allegation or suspicion of abuse (NMS 11) • families are protected from abuse, neglect and self-harm (NMS 12) • all significant events relating to the protection of children or vulnerable adults within the centre are notified by the registered person to the appropriate authorities (NMS 13)

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• there is careful selection and vetting of all staff and anyone else resident on the premises (NMS 15) • parents and children stay in accommodation that provides physical safety and security (NMS 22) Ofsted considers 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 22 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

Ofsted considers none of the above to be key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• parents and children are admitted to and leave the centre in a planned and sensitive manner (NMS 2) • children and their parents have their needs assessed and written plans outline how the assessment will be undertaken (NMS 3) • parents and children using the centre feel well-informed and party to decisions made (NMS 6) • parents and children enjoy sound relationships with staff based on honesty and mutual respect (NMS 7) 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008

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Annex A

Ofsted considers 3 and 6 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• parents and children live in pleasant, well designed and maintained surroundings providing sufficient space and adequate facilities to meet their needs (NMS 19) • parents and children enjoy homely accommodation, which is decorated, furnished and maintained to a high standard, and provides adequate facilities for their use (NMS 20) • shared spaces complement and supplement residents’ private rooms (NMS 21) Ofsted considers none of the above to be key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• parents and children who use the centre know what they can expect, how they will be treated, how the centre operates, and have received this information in written form prior to admission (NMS 1) • parents’ progress is recorded to reflect their ability to care for the children in a safe manner, and promote their welfare (NMS 5) • parents and children receive the care and services they need from competent staff (NMS 14) • staff are: sufficient in number and experience; qualified to understand the needs of parents and children; able to respond appropriately when required (NMS 16) • parents and children receive a service from staff who are themselves supported and guided in safeguarding and promoting the children’s welfare (NMS 17) • staff are trained and enabled to carry out the role to which they are appointed (NMS 18) • parents and children enjoy the stability of an efficiently run service and purchasers have

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

confidence that they are getting value for money (NMS 23) • the service’s work with parents and children is continually adapted in the light of information about how it is operating (NMS 24) • there are adequate records of the staff and families using the service (NMS 25) Ofsted considers 1, 14 and 24 the key standards to be inspected. 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Jamma Umoja, 11 June 2008

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