Children's Home run by Satash Community Care Project Limited in Thurrock

Unique reference number SC462450 Inspector Gwen Buckley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Satash Community Care Project Limited Registered person address 25 Balaham High Road London SW12 9AL

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Responsible individual Thanaletchmi Loganathan Registered manager Vyramuthu Rattinam Loganathan Date of last inspection 08/01/2014 2 of 9 Inspection date 18/09/2014

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Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness good

Outcomes for children and young people good Quality of care good Keeping children and young people safe good Leadership and management adequate

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Overall effectiveness

Young people receive good personalised care helping them in all aspects of their lives. They are fully supported when moving into the home and when they move on to the next stage in their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

Good relationships with staff are integral to the positive experiences young people have at the home. Young people receive excellent support to develop social skills and self-confidence at a pace they can manage. Overtime they are more able to develop their skills, form positive relationships and interact well with others in the home and in the community. Young people progress well in education in relation to their individual starting points.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people’s safety and risk-taking activities are closely monitored and there is good multi-agency liaison to protect them. External professionals are complimentary about the professionalism and skills of the staff team. Challenging behaviour displayed by young people is managed in consultation with education staff and family members. This ensures clear boundaries and consistency of care.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are well supported and receive training that helps them perform their individual roles and responsibilities. There is a need to develop recording, the Statement of Purpose and the reporting process for the quality monitoring undertaken. 3 of 9

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home is run by a private company. The home is registered to provide a service for up to eight children or young people, male or female with learning difficulties.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes of paragraph (1), and make a copy of the report available on request to placing authorities where the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. This specifically relates to sending the report to HMCI every three months (Regulation 34 (2)) 31/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

4 (2001) compile in relation to the children’s home a written statement (in these Regulations referred to as “the statement of purpose”) which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 4 (1)) 30/11/2014

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Recommendations

4 of 9 To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure management of the home checks all staff’s work is consistent with these Regulations and NMS, the home’s policies and procedures. This specifically relates to the information maintained in the restraint log. (NMS 21.3) 5 of 9

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are nurtured, treated with respect and enjoy meaningful relationships with staff. Positive reinforcement and support from staff ensures young people develop new skills which raise their confidence and self-esteem. This helps them grow in confidence and take part in activities and tasks they had previously not been able to manage, such as being in large groups and eating without assistance.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are encouraged to increasingly make choices and understand the consequences of their actions. Their positive progress includes doing well in school: improved behaviour and relationships; making new friends and having more confidence to try new activities and experiences.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people enjoy good and improved health and have healthy lifestyles in terms of healthy eating and exercise. Family members and external professionals consider young people are really valued and listened to because the staff value all of their participation. Young people grow in confidence, they make positive contributions to the community by raising money for local charities and they develop as individuals where difference is celebrated.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people have positive relationships with staff. Staff are strong at building partnerships with families and supporting young people to maintain contacts which are important to them. Families are particularly complimentary on how well the staff help support the whole family. Social media is used effectively to keep young people in touch with family and friends. Family members in particular feel this is well managed, as is the transition into the home. As a result young people settle and feel comfortable in the home.

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Quality of care good

Family members and teaching staff consider the staff work very well with them to meet the changing needs of the young people. Education is positively promoted and geared at levels appropriate to the needs of the young people and helps them prepare for adulthood. Staff acknowledge that learning is something that is constantly occurring and help the young people gain an understanding of the world around them through daily activities in the home. Young people enjoy school and progress is good. Staff attend all school events and meetings in partnership with parents as appropriate.

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Quality of care good

Equality and diversity is threaded through the service with young people enjoying highly individualised care in accordance with their particular needs. For example, 6 of 9 young people attend activities that interest and challenge them and help them to develop as individuals. Each young person has a detailed plan of care which includes all key areas of need and details of their routines. Staff have an in-depth awareness of each of the young people and how they communicate.

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Quality of care good

Good communication between staff and external adults ensures everyone is aware of essential information and changes. Staff give choices to young people whenever possible and are attentive to the differing communication methods used by the young people in their care. This and partnership working with parents helps staff fully understand young people thoughts wishes and feelings.

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Quality of care good

External professionals describe a committed and resourceful staff team who ensure the young people are very well supported and who provide extremely child focused care. Placing authorities refer to the commitment of staff that underpins the positive relationships between young people and staff. Young people who find it difficult to live away from home and their families are supported in various ways. Together these form the base for young people to trust staff, begin to understand and come to terms with living away from their family and enjoying life at the home.

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Quality of care good

Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles and are supported to access medical professionals, such as, doctors, dentists and opticians. Staff work well in partnership with specialists, such as medical consultants and teachers in order to support young people’s healthcare and development.

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Quality of care good

Staff ensure young people enjoy active and varied lives. Regular celebrations of special occasions include the young people and extended family and friends. Staff support young people to pursue their interests though participating in community based clubs. Young people continue to enjoy appropriate teenage activities, such as, using their tablet computers and shopping for clothes. They also enjoy getting involved in community events, for example, raising money for charity.

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Quality of care good

The home provides young people with clean, well decorated and maintained, homely accommodation which they are proud to welcome their family and friends into.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people demonstrate they feel safe and secure by being settled at the home. External professionals and family members consider that the young people are safe, secure and well cared for all of the time. Staff demonstrate good empathy for young people and their understanding of the world. They appreciate how historical experiences impact on young people's understanding. Where young people do express anxiety, staff are very good at sharing the information and working, with others, to resolve any issues. Care plans are updated regularly. Recent amendments, agreed with family members, have included changing how visits are managed which resulted in the young person being much happier. 7 of 9 Young people are helped to comprehend dangers in many forms according to their individual understanding. Staff have undertaken in depth individual pieces of work with young people exploring issues, such as, their likes and dislikes as well as

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Keeping children and young people safe good

personal space. This enables staff to have a better understanding of young people and their individual needs.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Safeguarding vulnerable young people remains at the forefront of all practice. Staff are aware of what to do should an allegation of a child protection nature be made. Young people demonstrate they feel safe through reductions in self-harming and obsessive compulsive behaviours. Clear detailed risk assessments and care management plans are in place to guide staff. These plans are reviewed continually as situations arise ensuring staff have clear and current guidance on how to manage complex behaviours.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Sanctions are not used and restraint is very seldom used. Four instances of restraint have taken place in nine months, three of which were to guide a young person away from a situation. The restraint records do not always contain the full information required though such as the length of the restraint or action taken by staff to de- escalate the situation. However, incident records do contain more information providing a clearer picture of events.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Robust systems are in place to ensure the on-going safety of the building. For example, regular checks are undertaken and effective systems are in place to regularly service fire prevention equipment and maintain water safety. Risk assessments for specific activities contain information regarding young people’s needs or staffing levels required.

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Leadership and management adequate

The Registered Manager has maintained his registration as Registered Nurse, Learning disabilities. He has experience of working with young adults with learning difficulties and has the diploma in management studies. He has managed this home since it opened in March 2013. Staff work well together as a team to ensure young people are nurtured and flourish. They report that supervision and team meetings are supportive and informative and that the manager and responsible individual are always available for advice.

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Leadership and management adequate

Young people receive good levels of support in line with the home’s Statement of Purpose. The Statement of Purpose has not been updated in line with new regulations. However, family members are clear about the service provided and say that the home performs to a high standard. Parents and external professionals have confidence in the manager and staff to respond to any issues of concern.

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Leadership and management adequate

The home is well staffed ensuring that young people's individual needs are well met. 8 of 9 For example, some young people have a minimum of one to one staff to support them throughout the day. Waking staff are on duty each night, this ensures that young people have staff support available at all times. Staff are competent in the roles they perform and establish positive relationships with young people, parents and other agencies.

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Leadership and management adequate

Staff receive formal individual supervision regularly in line with the home’s own policy guidance. When issues arise, staff are resourceful in finding solutions. For example, in partnership with others they developed a plan to help a young person manage specific compulsive behaviours in a safe way.

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Leadership and management adequate

Staff are competent and well trained. Investment in staff training means that staff feel valued and are able to confidently and competently perform their role. Staff have benefitted from training in core areas, such as, first aid, safeguarding, diversity, restraint and medication. All relevant staff are undertaking or have completed the diploma in caring for children and young people at level three. Two staff are undertaking the level five award. The majority of staff have undertaken further relevant specialist training in areas, such as communication and autism awareness. Staff maintain good quality recording and case file management. Photographs and other memorabilia is stored so that young people are able in future to remind themselves of time spent at the home.

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Leadership and management adequate

Internal and external monitoring of practice takes place each month, with the external monitoring reports sent to Ofsted as required. However, the internal monitoring reports are not sent every three months as expected. The Registered Manager has not implemented the new regulatory expectations and demonstrates a lack of understanding in this area. This was a previous requirement. Other actions raised have been progressed. Personal emergency plans are in place. Restraint logs are completed within 24 hours, but do not contain all the information required in regulation and has been repeated. The recommendations raised have been addressed which means that care provided is more focused on individual needs. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management adequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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