Children's home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Hammersmith and Fulham

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:

 The staff are effective in maintaining boundaries to provide young people with the security they need.  Staff work flexibly to accommodate each young person’s individual needs.  Staff effectively role model how to compromise, and this allows young people to develop their negotiation skills.  Young people say that this is their home and that they feel safe.  A range of professionals are utilised to engage with the young people, including a therapist, a musician and an artist. This enables individual’s personal and emotional development through a range of mediums.  Young people benefit from the support of the organisation’s teachers, regardless of whether they attend the organisation’s education provision.  The location risk assessment is comprehensive and considers information from a wide range of external sources. This enables the manager and staff to protect young people and to maximise positive opportunities in the

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The children’s home provision is good because:

community.  The manager is working with local groups to ensure that the young people feel part of the wider community.  The previous requirement relating to a staff member completing a level 3 qualification is restated, as this is ongoing.  The manager and staff seek and incorporate the views of the young people into planning activities, improvements and incentives. The manager does not currently seek feedback about the quality of care from parents, carers and other professionals.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification by the relevant date. The individual must attain the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’) or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. The relevant date is, in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls two years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home, or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32(3)(b) (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 1 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. This is with regard to reviewing the quality of care provided. (Regulation 45 (5)) 1 September

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It provides therapeutic care for up to four young people between the ages of 11 and 18 who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education is available in the college operated by the organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

17 December 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Good

All young people say that this is their home. One said, ‘It was just somewhere I stayed but it is my home now.’ Another said ‘staff spoil us’. Young people feel safe and supported.

p.6

Good

The rapport between the staff and the young people is good. Staff use incentives to encourage young people to engage in meetings and appointments. The residents’ meetings consider young people’s views, and staff act upon these. Young people contribute their suggestions to menus, activities and how the home is managed on a day-to-day basis. The staff also use the meetings to give praise and reward for positive behaviours, this enables young people to feel listened to and boosts their self-esteem and confidence, while reinforcing positive behaviour.

p.6

Good

Each of the young people has an individualised placement plan that includes the development of life skills. This includes pathway planning for the older young people. The independence plans enable them to learn how to manage their weekly budget. Staff discuss these plans with the young people in key work sessions, preparing them for adulthood.

p.6

Good

Staff use key work sessions to discuss aspects of placement plans, concerns or development. They address specific topics with young people, such as drug use and sexual health. Young people benefit from these opportunities to reflect on issues that affect them.

p.6

Good

Two young people receive additional funds to purchase their cultural food. This encourages them to maintain and widen their knowledge of their ethnic origins. This in turn exposes all the young people to different food, recipes and cultures and allows them all to expand their knowledge of diversity.

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Good

Staff facilitate contact visits to family, including some at great distances. The team advocates for increased contact as appropriate and monitors the impact on young people’s change of moods before, during and after contact visits. Staff work with young people to identify strategies to assist them with any emotional anxiety, in order to make contact a positive experience.

p.6

Good

Yong people know how to make a complaint and have followed the organisation’s complaints process. This includes young people having the opportunity to comment on the outcomes. Consequently, young people feel valued, listened to and know that staff take their concerns seriously. All the young people are in education. One attends the organisation’s education provision and staff are working to integrate him gradually into a mainstream school. Staff are working with the school to maintain the plan for full integration by the start of the next academic year. One young person has completed a full-time course at college. Her determination to pass included approaching the on-site teacher for assistance with revision. She is currently applying for courses to commence in September and for part-time summer employment. An older young person, enrolled at college, is currently exploring career options. The organisation’s

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Good

headteacher says that young people benefit from ‘blended learning’. For example, focusing one young person’s English work on war poetry because of his interest in his grandfather’s military background covered English, history and literacy. The manager has regular meetings with the head of education to ensure that the staff team is able to support the young people‘s education programmes. This ensures that staff work with them to maximise their potential.

p.7

Good

Each of the young people participate in activities and sports within the community. These include swimming and theme parks. The organisation also holds events for young people placed within the group of homes. The young people spoke about the prom and say that they have money to buy outfits for the function and enjoy arriving in limousines. There are pictures around the home of past activities and events. This participation reinforces young people’s feelings of self-worth and narrows the gap with their peers.

p.7

Good

Young people say the house is homely. They enjoy spending time with staff, and mealtimes are social events, that give opportunities for family-style discussions, which make young people feel valued.

p.7

Good

Young people say they feel safe and that staff constantly ask them where they are going and who they are seeing. They say that staff are very protective. One young person said that the staff ‘feel like parents’. Each young person is able to identify staff they would tell if they felt unsafe or were worried about something.

p.7

Good

Staff work with young people individually and as a group to address bullying, racism, homophobia and any forms of discrimination. Bullying is not a prevalent issue. Staff manage conflict well and understand how to defuse situations and help young people to reflect on their actions.

p.7

Good

Each of the young people demonstrates episodes of anxiety, upset and anger. Staff use various diversion techniques, including humour, to calm them. The rapport between the staff and young people is evident. Staff are firm and consistent. This assists young people to feel safe and secure.

p.7

Good

Staff recognise and reward positive behaviour. They use a creative system of small incentives, which young people value highly, to support engagement in residents’ meetings and attendance at health appointments. Staff encourage young people to reflect on their behaviour and to set targets for themselves each week. Consequently, young people learn to take more responsibility for their behaviour.

p.8

Good

Staff use a warning system to help young people to identify and understand negative behaviour and its impact on others. The sanctions and consequences used support young people to reduce unwanted behaviours.

p.8

Good

Staff identify risk-taking behaviour, such as using cannabis, and implement actions to reduce incidents. This has included working with young people directly to help to raise their awareness of the impact of cannabis use, engagement with external professionals and liaison with police and a housing association about an address of concern. This multi-faceted approach contributes to empowering young people to make safer choices.

p.8

Good

The numbers of incidents of missing from home has greatly reduced since the last inspection. A young person who had high levels of missing from care has since moved on. The manager recognised that the home could no longer meet this young person’s needs, and a more suitable provision was sought. The placing authority concerned failed to conduct any return home interviews. The manager challenged the placing authority about this shortfall and submitted a formal complaint to the authority concerned.

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Good

The manager and staff have positive relationships with the local police. This includes input from the police about risks in the local community and addressing risk-taking behaviours. The location risk assessment is comprehensive and considers information from a wide range of sources, including the police. The manager has addressed previous presenting risks, such as access to the road and the roof, with clear risk reduction measures in place. While the road still presents a risk, the manager has taken all reasonable action to reduce this and continues to work with community partners to look at possible further risk reduction strategies.

p.8

Good

The manager made a referral to the local authority designated officer when an allegation was made against a staff member. This matter was concluded in line with local and organisational policy. This supports young people to see their complaints acted upon. Judgement grade

p.8

Good

The manager has been in post since October 2015. She has a level 3 qualification and is currently working on her level 5 qualification. She has worked hard to address the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection. One requirement relating to all staff attaining a relevant level 3 qualification remains. This is due for completion in November 2016.

p.9

Good

The diverse staff team is well established and offers a range of experience and skills that young people benefit from. Staff are good role models and display calm and consistent approaches, and this helps young people to feel safe and cared about.

p.9

Good

The manager uses team meetings to discuss the young people and to identify areas of progress, alongside strategies to assist them to reach their goals. The organisation has an online recording system that is used to track the young people’s progress. The manager charts progress based on various factors, including the number of incidents, restraints, incentives earned, engagement in education and their social and emotional wellbeing. This enables staff and young people to understand the progress they have made and the impact of the home on young people’s experiences.

p.9

Good

The team has been through a turbulent period over the last few months. The manager recognises that accepting a number of new admissions in quick succession contributed to this. Staff morale had been low, but staff say that this has improved and that they worked together to make considerable progress in the delivery of care.

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Good

Staff say that the manager is supportive and caring. She encourages staff to review their practice and reflect on any incidents. She supports staff with trying to view events from the young people’s perspectives, promoting their empathy with young people.

p.9

Good

A local authority social worker said that that a young person, ‘was very complex and had made a lot of progress at the home’ and that the young person’s ‘confidence had increased’ and they feel ‘part of the organisation’.

p.9

Good

The manager’s internal monitoring is comprehensive, highly analytical and realistic. It identifies the factors that may impact in the future and sets out improvement plans for the next six months. The report shows an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the service. It demonstrates that the manager understands the reasons for shortfalls and how future practice needs to be informed by learning from incidents and events. Young people are consulted, and their views are reflected in the running of the home. To date, the views of parents and external professionals and staff, in respect of the quality of care provided, are not sought by the home. This means opportunities to capture and act on these views to further improve the care provided are missed.

p.9

Good

The manager chases the placing authorities for missing information and is proactive in ensuring that statutory duties are conducted, such as social work visits and return home interviews. This contributes to young people accessing their rights and ensuring that external professionals carry out their responsibilities.

p.10

Good

There are clear maintenance systems in the home. This means that damage caused by the young people is addressed promptly, and that young people live in a home that is well cared for and makes them feel valued.

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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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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