Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Kent Limited in Kent

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:

 Young people who have moved on from the home have successfully transitioned to their planned placements and continue to flourish. All the other children in the home remain since the last inspection and, in the main, wish to continue living at the home.  Children are kept safe by staff who are vigilant and challenging when necessary. Most staff are appropriately skilled to meet the needs of the children. All children have individual risk assessments. Staff have completed workbooks with children regarding keeping themselves safe using appropriate communication methods.  Allegations are shared with relevant partner agencies, including Ofsted, promptly. Strategy discussions take place to consider multi-agency concerns following any allegations against staff members, and in-house strategies are reviewed following each event. However, there have been a number of incidents that have raised competency issues regarding some staff.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The staff team is secure in its awareness and understanding of each child’s needs as well as potential anxiety triggers. Staff work hard to consider and address the children’s presenting and underlying needs. This has led to a reduction in concerning behaviours, such as incidents leading to the use of restraints for some children and episodes of going missing from care.  The home has strong links with other professionals including the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), the youth service, the police and voluntary organisations. These are used to good effect to increase the opportunities for young people to overcome previous experiences, to widen the range of activities available to them and to manage, and sometimes reduce, risks.  A particularly clear strength of the home is its promotion of education. Each child has full attendance and engages well when at school. All are learning when at school. School reports demonstrate that all children have improved

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The children's home provision is good because:

their educational levels. For all the children, this is excellent progress.  Staff show a real passion for their role and are committed to promoting positive outcomes for each child. Staff work hard at maintaining positive relationships, showing patience and resilience even when behaviour is problematic.  Leaders and managers maintain good oversight of the service and monitor the progress made by each of the children. Actions are taken promptly to improve or adjust care, as and when the need arises.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to competency of staffing, the registered person must ensure that the manager (2)(c) ensures that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. 25 August

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to staff understanding the children's home overall aims and outcomes, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(b)(iii) treat each child with dignity and respect. 25 August

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that children are effectively safeguarded. In particular, review the location risk assessment in order to expand child sexual exploitation local knowledge, and strategies for managing this for each individual child ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 27, paragraph 15.1).  Ensure that the local authority regularly consults the child and the home about the child’s relevant plans. In particular, ensure that the home has the necessary up-to-date plans ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 57, paragraph 11.1).  Ensure that staff respect children’s privacy and support the other children living in the home to do so. In particular, review the practice of door alarms for young people who no longer require them ('Guide to the children's

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards', page 16, paragraph 3.17).  Keep restraint records that enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint in order to identify effective practice and to respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, children’s comments regarding potential injuries need to be recorded fully ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 49, paragraph 9.59).

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Information about this children's home

This privately run children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education is available on site. Therapy is available to young people if required.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

6 January 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

21 January 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

Children have very positive relationships with the staff. They feel respected and valued. Young people who have moved on from the home have successfully transitioned to their planned placements and continue to flourish. A co-key working system means that there is someone familiar with a child’s circumstances for them to speak to on most shifts. Staff work hard at maintaining positive relationships, showing patience and resilience even when behaviour is problematic. One of the team commented, ‘We hold clear boundaries and maintain structure. This, with our therapeutic training, underpins everything we do including the way we approach, talk to and interact with each individual child.’ A professional noted, ‘My child generally receives a good standard of care from the day-to-day staff on shift. He is given opportunities to engage with other children in the home and access the community regularly.’ The stability of the placements supports children’s emotional well-being, which in

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Good

turn places them in readiness to take on increasing responsibility for their own health and welfare. Children are in good health, and their health is improving. They eat healthy meals and lead a healthy lifestyle. When there are concerns about weight, children improve their fitness and have subsequently lost weight. Children who previously lacked access to health services receive the provision that they require, including in-house therapeutic support. Each child has full attendance and engages well when at school. For all this is excellent progress. As their headteacher stated, ‘We continuously assess and remove any barriers to learning with the home. As part of this, we hold progress meetings with the home’s staff, which are well supported. All the children are sitting down and learning. They can show you their work with pride and can verbalise what they are learning. This is huge progress and a real achievement.’

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Good

Contact with family members has been facilitated well, with visits being made by them to the home when possible. One child was particularly appreciative of being able to go for a day out with his dad. Without staff arranging and supervising the trip, a valuable relationship-building experience would have been missed. Accompanying this, emotional support for children and young people before, during and after contact helps them to manage their anxiety and to make sense of their situations. Children learn to occupy and to manage their time appropriately, and older children role model affectionate older brother behaviour, which enhances their own as well as the younger children’s experiences of the home. Examples include making birthday cards, offering to do extra chores and explaining the house rules. Children have very positive relationships with each other. Some are showing empathy and are providing support to others in a manner that has caused great

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Good

pleasure across the team and for involved professionals. Children set themselves weekly goals and make decisions, including about meal and activity planning. Children are also enabled to change rooms to reflect their progress or developing needs, for example to a larger room where young people transition from, or to a smaller room, if required, to contain a child’s spatial awareness. The manager takes complaints made by children seriously. Any complaints receive investigation and a personalised letter explains the complaint outcome. Children who have complained feel listened to. Children develop their independence at a pace and level appropriate to their individual ages and circumstances. For some, this may be improving bedroom tidiness and personal hygiene; for others this may be cooking meals. The home provides a high-quality physical environment for children. Bedrooms are personalised to children’s tastes, and generous communal areas allow for time

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Good

together. A large well-kept garden expands the environment of the home. Children say that they regularly enjoy playing outside.

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Requires improvement

Arrangements for recruiting staff are safe and effective. Required health and safety checks are complete, and ongoing maintenance ensures that children live in a safe environment. Staff show commitment to the home’s safeguarding ethos by signing up to the home’s safeguarding polices, and these are held on their files. This policy provides clear guidance in the follow-up of any safeguarding concerns. Online hyperlinks also provide up-to-date research and training for staff. Consultation with the LSCB provides increased quality assurance. Staff are confident in their understanding of safeguarding and their knowledge of safeguarding procedures. All children have individual risk assessments. Staff have completed workbooks with children regarding keeping themselves safe, using appropriate communication methods. Staff practice is consistent regarding responses to self-harm, and bespoke therapeutic training covering this area has been provided recently,

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Requires improvement

alongside mapping for one child against triggers and events. However, there is insufficient evidence in one written risk assessment to support staff in reviewing their practices or evaluating the warning signs. Child sexual exploitation risk assessments are used but do not feed into the home’s location risk assessment to prevent the incidences being seen in isolation. Other records such as up-to-date placing authority placement and care plans were not on file for one child, and staff had not sufficiently escalated this. Allegations are shared with relevant partner agencies, including Ofsted, promptly. Strategy discussions take place to consider multi-agency concerns, following any allegations against staff members, and in-house strategies are reviewed following each event. There have been a number of incidents that have raised competency issues regarding some staff. For example, one member of staff did not safeguard

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Requires improvement

children due to ineffective shift planning. Another staff member appropriately whistle blew following an incident when other staff members did not respect a young person’s dignity. One staff member did not wear appropriate staff attire. These situations have been individually challenged by the registered manager, through meetings, supervision and the disciplinary process. Although these have been managed well in terms of staff members’ practice and minimising impact on the children, children are not receiving good help and protection. Some staff members are better at engaging closely with the children whilst keeping to clear professional boundaries than others are. As one social worker states, ‘The general day-to-day shift team, some staff, do a very good job and they have a fabulous approach with my child.’ Children go missing rarely, with five incidents since the previous inspection. Staff members follow local authority missing-from-home

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Requires improvement

protocols. Missing children receive well-coordinated responses. Clear action plans minimise repeat missing behaviour. When a child is missing, staff search the local areas and inform relevant agencies. Children are suitably welcomed back and supported on their return. The children engage fully in the incentive scheme and respond well to positive reinforcement. They recognise when their behaviours have improved and are proud of their progress. Physical holds are used only as a last resort and in order to safeguard individuals. Management monitoring of restraints demonstrates correlation with other factors, one example being a supported ceasing of medication for one young person. However, one report failed to highlight an injury to a child. Sanctions are used sparingly and in a manner that promotes behavioural improvements.

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Good

A permanent and suitably qualified registered manager with relevant experience manages this home effectively. Succession planning is a strong ethos and the acting manager, who has just passed her probation, is now applying to register with Ofsted. Staff feel supported in their role. One member of the staff team stated, ‘I learnt her way with the children. There is always something to learn from her and she is a great role model.’ Some staff vacancies are being carried that are not having a significant impact on children. The home maintains high staffing levels using consistent bank staff, with occasional regular agency staffing. The use of regular bank staff enables children to develop relationships with dependable staff whom they get to know and trust. Consultant psychotherapists provide direct therapy for children, and training and support for staff, with the aim of embedding consistent care. The registered

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Good

manager has started to assess and to begin to increase staff members’ level of skills and practice to deliver the home’s stated aims and good-quality care to young people. Her plan includes no further admissions to the home, role modelling on shift, capability plans, extra support including an additional staff member for the mornings, and over-recruitment to the vacancies. One of the staff team stated, ‘We are a committed group who work above and beyond. We ensure that we don’t let the children down. This is our priority. It is such a rewarding job.’ Another team member added, ‘It is a joy working with these children. One, in particular, is loving and caring with a cracking sense of humour. I’m here for all of them.’ Staff spoken to demonstrate good knowledge of possible signs and indicators of exploitation. Ongoing staff development to extend their knowledge and understanding of therapeutic approaches takes place in child-focused meetings led

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Good

by psychotherapists. The registered manager promotes a reflective approach through team meetings, end of shift discussions and individual supervision. Professionals are welcomed into the home to work with the children, and this widens the scope of support available to them and improves the experience of living in the home. The registered manager is proactively involved in monitoring individual care arrangements, which supports the good progress made by the children. For example, the registered manager consults with professionals and adjusts planning when required. She is very aware of the progress and of any limitations or specific issues for each resident. The management team has met the previous two requirements regarding internal monitoring reports being sent to Ofsted and understands the impact of the quality of care on children’s progress. The manager uses monthly development plans that are comprehensive and show a depth of knowledge about the home’s strengths

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 whom 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

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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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