Children's Home run by London Borough of Hounslow in Hounslow

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 enjoy their short-break stays. These offer them varied, life- enriching opportunities that they would otherwise not necessarily have access to.  Young people are safe and stay in a safe environment. A trained and experienced staff team ensures that they have fun and safe times.  Staff provide a nurturing environment, within which young people’s emotional, social and cultural needs are well met. As a result, they grow and flourish.  Young people benefit from good individual care plans. These are aspirational and promote positive outcomes.  Managers recognise the importance of consultation with young people and parents. These consultations are valued and play a role in the running and development of the service.  Risk assessments and behaviour support plans enable young people to take age-appropriate risks, dependent on age and capability.  Sensitively planned and well-managed transitions, for young people new to

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The children’s home provision is good because:

the service, those moving on to new placements or transitioning to independent living, are in place. These result in successful preparation for the next stage of their lives.  Parents and professionals are appreciative and highly complimentary about the staff and service provided.  The new interim manager has a vision for the service. She is creating a greater sense of confidence and renewed staff morale.  The inspection identified some areas for improvement. These are in relation to ensuring that staff have access to appropriate resources to develop their understanding of complex behaviours. The interim manager is to ensure that key documents, such as case records, the children’s guide and location risk assessments are suitably detailed and accurate.

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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 maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home records in Schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b)) 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out in particular the independent person’s opinion as to whether: Children are effectively safeguarded, and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)) 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 30/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The children’s home must provide a children’s guide available for all permanent children looked after. This should give a full explanation of the care they can expect to receive while living in the home. The guide must be age-appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  Ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints procedure and how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  Continue with the development of a workforce plan which can fulfil the

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Recommendations

workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1, paragraphs 19 and 20. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their needs, with specific reference to understanding the often complex and challenging behaviour of children with disabilities. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11 )  The registered person should review the home’s premises location risk assessment and include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented in relation to radicalisation and child sexual exploitation and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides a short-breaks service and full-time care on a permanent and emergency basis for up to five children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and a sensory impairment.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

08/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

25/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people who access this service have a variety of care arrangements. Some live permanently at the home, others stay under short breaks for overnight care and some visit for day care. This flexibility enables young people and parents to receive a level of support to meet their individual needs. A parent commented, ‘The flexibility of the home and the staff team enables us to manage the severe and different challenges of our children. This means that we have space to spend time with them as individuals.’

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Good

Young people make good progress while living in or staying at this home, because of receiving personalised and individualised care from a skilled and committed staff team. They are supported to practise their social skills and have other experiences that they may not be able to have at home. For example, visiting the library and choosing books, support to practise independent skills and participation in youth club activities. As a result, confidence for young people increases and anxieties while out in the community decrease.

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Good

Young people who live in the home long-term continue to make positive progress from their starting points. For example, one young person has made significant progress in the development of independent skills, enabling them to manage many aspects of their self-care without the aid of staff. For example, independent visits to hairdressers and purchasing of culturally appropriate skincare and clothing.

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Good

A young person requested a change of key worker. To enable her to have a voice in this matter, staff supported her to advertise, prepare suitable interview questions, interview staff and make a final choice of key worker. As a result, the young person has increased self-esteem, is invested in working with the member of staff and is more confident in their own independent abilities.

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Good

Good, respectful relationships are evident between young people and the staff team. Staff are warm, nurturing and caring. Young people were observed at ease and clearly confident in their interactions with staff. Good levels of skilled staff enable young people to have a level of supervision appropriate to their assessed needs. This also means that young people have opportunities to attend activities and social events in the community, including swimming and trips to holiday activity centres with overnight stays. These help to ensure that young people enjoy ever-new experiences and are able to broaden their horizons.

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Good

Transitions into and out of the home are sensitively planned and well managed. Since the last inspection, one young person has moved to a permanent foster placement. This transition happened over a number of months at a pace suitable to enable the young person to feel safe and secure, and to build a relationship with the new carer prior to the move. Another young person has moved into the home on a permanent basis. Again, staff took time to visit him at school and his previous placement to prepare for this new change in his life. The young person was supported to purchase furnishings and decide on the decoration and personalisation of his room. This has resulted in a safe transition and settled a young person in the home.

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Good

Relationships and contacts with parents and professionals involved in young people’s lives are promoted and well organised. A developing parents’ group enables them to meet together, share ideas and learn from each other. The interim manager invites professionals to these meetings, who provide training on a range of medical and practical topics. For example, strategies on how to manage and plan for the upcoming summer holidays. Parents and professionals speak highly of the service and hold it in the highest regard. A parent describes the service as ‘fantastic and lifesaving’. Another commented, ‘I do not trust anyone with my children, not even carers coming into my home. This home and the staff team is the only place l trust and know that my children are safe and well cared for.’ A local authority service manager commented, ‘From the initial introduction through to young people experiencing their first short break, the thoughtfulness of

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Good

managers and staff to both young people and their parents is second to none.’

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Good

Support for young people’s health needs is excellent, due to close partnership working with healthcare providers, such as child psychology. Appropriate training promotes a clear understanding of the safe administration of medication. An experienced cook who knows the young people’s individual cultural, health and dietary needs provides a variety of home-cooked nutritious meals .Young people are encouraged and supported to take part in the making of meals and baking cakes.

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Good

The home has a strong safeguarding culture. Staff protect young people from harm, abuse and neglect while in the home. A professional stated, ‘Safeguarding is paramount to managers and staff. Individual risk assessments and behaviour support plans ensure that our young people are supported and cared for in a safe way. This is particularly important as we use the service for our more challenging young people.’ Young people benefit from clear and consistent routines through effective behaviour support plans and management techniques. There are low levels of physical intervention. Thresholds for physical intervention are clear, with individual support plans setting out in detail the intervention to be used for each young person. Challenging behaviours are well understood and managed. However, staff do not currently receive clinical group supervision to allow them opportunities to gain a greater understanding of managing more complex behaviours. The interim

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Good

manager examines all incidents to ensure that practice and learning in this area remain effective for the continuing support of young people and the staff team.

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Good

The internal and external systems ensure that there is no unauthorised access to young people by unknown adults. The home’s location risk assessment adequately assesses any risks in the locality and strategies to manage these. However, comprehensive knowledge of the risk of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation within the community is lacking. Staff are trained in child sexual exploitation and have knowledge of the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty.

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Good

Highly trained and skilled staff strive to balance rights to independence with their safety needs to protect vulnerable young people. Detailed risk assessments ensure that risks are identified and understood. These are regularly reviewed, updated where necessary and effectively shared among the staff team. This enables staff to have a shared and comprehensive approach to managing risk and promoting young people’s development. For example, using good quality risk assessments which are implemented effectively, staff enable more independent young people to facilitate independent travel to school, access age-appropriate youth clubs and general involvement in the local community. As a result, young people gain self- confidence and increased self-esteem from these opportunities for increased independence.

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Good

High levels of supervision by staff, who are familiar with young people’s individual needs, help to ensure that they are not at risk in the community, or at risk of going missing.

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Good

There is good emphasis on, and awareness of, safeguarding matters. Safeguarding protocols and procedures, including whistleblowing, are well known and are implemented by staff and managers who place young people at the forefront of their practice.

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Good

During the inspection, the regulator reviewed a complaint. The local authority is aware of this complaint and is dealing with it in an appropriate and transparent manner. There are no concerns for the safety of young people. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The interim manager has been in post for four months, and this is her first management role. She holds an honours degree in early childhood studies and psychology in early years. She does not yet hold a suitable level 5 qualification. However, there are clear plans in place to achieve this, in line with regulations. The interim manager has recently submitted her application for registration with Ofsted.

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Requires improvement

The service has experienced a good deal of change over the last year, inevitably leading to a drop in staff morale. The interim manager, with the support of the service manager, is working towards providing a ‘secure base’ model of care. They are prioritising the needs of young people and improving the quality of support provided to staff. A member of staff commented, ‘The manager is equally child- and staff-focused, morale is on the up and staff feel more settled and supported.’ Another staff member said that, ‘She is instilling renewed confidence and purpose in the team.’ Parents described the manager as ‘understanding and going the extra mile’ to support them. Professionals described her as ‘exceptional and a breath of fresh air.’

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Requires improvement

Young people’s care plans and risk assessments are relevant and meet their individual needs. However, young people’s records require updating to ensure that full personal information is known and recorded, such as information on culture, language, admission and discharge dates.

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Requires improvement

The children’s guide does not provide enough information for young people who live permanently in the home. For example, their rights while in care, the home’s complaints procedures and rights to advocacy.

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Requires improvement

An effective business development plan guides improvement plans for the service. However, the home’s workforce development plan requires further work. As a result, there is no central point of reference in the home from which to analyse the skill-set of the current staff team.

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Requires improvement

Positive feedback was received from young people, parents, professionals and the staff team during the inspection. They reported good engagement and consultation with managers where their views and opinions are sought. However, these views are not recorded in the manager’s quality of care reports. Parents feel confident that young people are safe, well cared for, stimulated and have fun during their short breaks.

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Requires improvement

Reports from the independent visitor give good scrutiny of the service and play an important role in its future development. Action plans are viewed positively. However, the reports fail to give the visitor’s opinion on the safety of young people or how their well-being is promoted.

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Requires improvement

Leadership and management of the service is improving due to the manager gaining a good sense of the strengths and the areas for development in the service. As result, she is beginning to develop a clear vision for its development, particularly in relation to outreach support for young people and parents and improved understanding of the mental issues for young people.

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Requires improvement

The staff team receives effective supervision, and this, together with regular team meetings, enables the members of the team to reflect on their practice and to learn new ways of working. Training allows for continuous learning and improvement. The majority of staff have a minimum of a level 3 vocational requirement, with newer members enrolled on a suitable training course.

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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

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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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