Children's home run by St Christopher’s Fellowship in Wandsworth

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

This home was registered in October 2015 and since then has made good progress in a number of areas in particularly developing sensitive child centre practice with young women. Young women make good progress in many areas of their lives, and they are increasingly safer because of the positive work undertaken by the staff team. Staff strongly support education and after a period of absence, both young women attend school regularly, and are making progress against their starting points. Staff and the young women enjoy positive relationships, which encourage trust and engagement with effective direct work to start to address long-standing concerns. Care planning is good and staff are fully aware of the individual needs of the young women and provide warm and nurturing care, to meet these. The incidence of young women going from missing from the home is reducing, although this will always remain a challenge.

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The children's home provision is good because:

The young women enjoy living at the home, which is decorated and maintained to a high standard and is situated close to a range of facilities and shops. Staff and young women have access to a range of organisations and agencies who provide on- going guidance and support, in the form of clinical supervision, mentoring, advocacy and counselling. An experienced and suitably qualified management team, lead the staff team who were provided with an extensive training package prior to the home opening and now receive ongoing support and supervision to meet the challenging needs of the young women. Effective external monitoring contributes to the development of practice in the home.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The Registered Person must complete a review of the quality of care in relation to events on 26/12/15, to identify any learning and forward a copy when complete to HMCI.(Regulation 45) 29/02/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The Registered Person should ensure that staff know the details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day to day basis. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The Registered Person should request that the responsible authority carry out the Return Home Interviews when a child returns to the home after being missing or away from the home without permission. (The Guide to The Quality Standards Page 45, paragraph 9.3)  The Registered Person should carry out internal monitoring of the home based on specific circumstances of the home based on professional judgement. (The Guide to the Quality Standards Page 65, paragraph 15.4)  The Registered Person should ensure that all staff have opportunity for reflective supervision. (The Guide to the Quality Standards Page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

 The Registered Person should ensure that a sufficient number of staff are trained in the use of social pedagogy so that this under pins the care provided as set out in the Statement of Purpose. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 15, paragraph 3.6)

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Information about this children's home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for 4 young women and is owned and managed by a charitable organisation, as part of an initiative, part funded by the Department for Education. The home provides care for young women who are at risk of or subject to child sexual exploitation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

This home was registered in October 2015. This was the first inspection.

p.5

good

The quality of care plans is good. They set out the needs of the young women and how they will be met. Staff have insightful understanding and work in a supportive and flexible way. They provide warm and nurturing care, for example, staff encouraged better sleeping habits by providing bedtime routines, which included, warm baths and reading stories.

p.6

good

With limited notice one young woman was discharged from the home during the inspection. This was well managed and sensitively handled, enabling her to leave in a dignified manner with an understanding of the plans and the reasons for her leaving.

p.6

good

The young women enjoy living at the home and have formed positive relationships. One said, ‘it’s so homely here, and it doesn’t feel like a care home’. They enjoy individual time with staff and can discuss a range of subjects. Some excellent work has been achieved to address some long-standing matters relating to sexual health and sexual relationships.

p.6

good

The young women describe their relationships with staff as open, caring, good fun and that they keep up with their ever-changing situations, moods and concerns. These relationships have contributed to the progress made by the young women and hopefully will form a basis for further individual work.

p.6

good

The quality and frequency of contact has increased and staff have worked well to encourage this and form positive relationships. One family visits the home on a regular basis and cooks meals for all to enjoy.

p.6

good

Attendance at school is good and much improved from when the young women came to live at the home. Although academic progress is varied, they are encouraged by staff to do well and have a range of facilities within the home, including computers and an equipped education room to support them.

p.6

good

Young women have access to a range of services to support their emotional and mental health well- being. Staff are working in conjunction with Community Adolescent Mental Health Services, psychologists employed by the placing authority and mentors. This work is in the early stages of development and too early to assess impact, but they are able to provide advice and guidance to staff.

p.6

good

An external advocacy representative visits the home weekly to talk to the young women about matters of concern and in particular the use of restraint or restriction of liberty of movement. Ongoing and regular conversations take place between staff and young people to ensure that their views, wishes and feelings, are taken into account in all areas of daily living. During the inspection, one young woman chose her evening activity with staff. Young people’s bedrooms have been decorated and furnished according to their tastes, and monies have been provided for the purchase of additional furniture and pictures etc.

p.6

good

The home provides spacious and homely accommodation, which is decorated and maintained to a very high standard. The young women like the home, their bedrooms and additional facilities.

p.7

requires improvement

The statement of purpose sets out that staff can restrict the liberty of movement of the young women. This occurs through the use of restraint and operating a system which locks the external doors for short periods of time when the young women are at immediate risk of child sexual exploitation.

p.7

requires improvement

The manager and staff are dealing with and effectively managing, complex and high-risk incidents on a regular basis. Where appropriate this has involved the assistance of other agencies, including the police, local hospitals and transport police. Referrals and notifications have been made appropriately including the need to escalate child protection concerns.

p.7

requires improvement

Some incidents which took place over the Christmas holidays involving the use of restraint, led to a negative unintended consequence and also highlighted that the system of locking of external doors can be ‘overridden’ making it ineffective. The manager has undertaken a partial review of this very serious incident and made some changes to practice, but as some records are missing, a full overview has not been possible, to understand the learning for practice. No individual work has been undertaken with the young women involved to fully understand the impact on her emotional wellbeing.

p.7

requires improvement

Extensive work has been undertaken to assess the range of risks posed by the young women and their activities, which has resulted in vast amounts of paper work. This makes it difficult to assess quickly the risk management strategies which the staff need to employ on a daily basis.

p.7

requires improvement

The number of times the young women have gone missing from the home is reducing. Staff are extremely pro-active and will go out to follow the girls who leave the home when their destination is unknown or of concern. This has at times included travelling on buses and passing useful information onto the police, which has resulted in legal action. However, return home interviews are undertaken by staff at the home, instead of being arranged by the placing authority. This means that although crucial information is passed onto other agencies, the young women do not have the opportunity to talk to an independent person, as the guidance advises.

p.7

requires improvement

Instances of the use of restraint are low. The manager has reviewed the use of restraint and made changes to practice, as this use is not effective in all situations.

p.8

good

The manager has an appropriate relevant qualification and was registered in 2015, when the home opened. She was previously a registered manager, has a range of relevant experience of residential care and working with young women at risk or subject to child sexual exploitation. Since the registration of the home she has worked with a range of agencies to develop effective partnerships with statutory and voluntary agencies to support the work of the staff. This includes the Women’s and Girl’s network who provide training and fortnightly supervision to the staff and being a member of the Multi Agency Sexual Exploitation panel (MASE). This ensures that their work is supported by other agencies who provide advice and support and ensures that their work is part of a community response.

p.8

good

In the short time, the home has been open, the manager has developed appropriate and effective systems to monitor and evaluate practice. She understands the strengths and weakness of the home’s operation and in particular, which children are most appropriate for the service. Scrutiny of admissions, including discussions with other agencies has ensured to date, that the manager makes informed decisions and only admits young women who would benefit from the service.

p.8

good

The manager, leadership and staff team are experienced, with a range of appropriate qualifications, including Level 3 Diploma, teaching and social work qualifications and relevant degrees. There is a plan in hand to increase the number of staff with level 3 and 4 diploma. Prior to opening the staff received extensive training from the organisation and other agencies including 4 days training on child sexual exploitation from the Women’s and Girl’s Network who are under contract to the home. The Network also provides fortnightly clinical supervision to the staff, providing them with an opportunity to reflect, discuss and amend if required their practice.

p.8

good

The manager has identified areas for staff development, which will inform the on- going training and development plan. Staff receive regular supervision, but some do not have the opportunity to fully reflect on their practice with their supervisor as part of their sessions.

p.9

good

The manager and staff have built relationships with a range of agencies and local community groups. Most of these agencies spoke positively about the work achieved including one who said this is a ‘highly motivated team, who are supportive but challenging to each other in order to improve practice, they accept feedback and take responsibility’. Social workers were complimentary about the work they have undertaken and reported that staff are open to their views and working effectively together.

p.9

good

The staff review the progress of the young women on a weekly basis, which is monitored by the manager. This clearly sets out the progress made and includes useful information to monitor mood and changing circumstance. The staff and young women can easily see where they are making progress and areas to develop.

p.9

good

The quality of the external monitoring report is good. These reports provide a detailed evaluation of the care provided and have contributed to the steady improvement at the home. The visitor reported that the manager is open to all her recommendations and takes appropriate action to improve the quality of care.

p.9

good

The manager has undertaken internal monitoring on a monthly basis and this covers a range of matters. However, this is against a set template, which records more quantitate data rather than concentrating on monitoring areas which are specific to this home.

p.9

good

The Statement of Purpose states that the home’s approach to working with young people is based on social pedagogy. However, an insufficient number of staff have been trained in this model of working to ensure that it is followed at all times or fully embedded in practice.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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