Children's home in Hammersmith and Fulham

Good

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

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 Children feel safe in the home. They are cared for by a dedicated, stable and competent staff team that is knowledgeable about all individual children’s needs. Children speak highly about the care they receive from staff. One child described the home as ‘outstanding’.  Management implements clear strategies that are effective to keep children safe. The manager is child centred in her approach and has strong aspirations for the children.  Children are well prepared for semi-independence and experience planned and supported transitions into their new placements.  The staff provide an environment where children can express themselves and explore and develop their awareness of diversity and equality.  Management has strong and effective communication and close working relationships with professionals involved in the children’s life. This ensures that effective support is provided to develop the children’s progress and

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

experience.  Staff provide the children with a structured daily routine and praise their achievements. All children make good progress from their starting points in relation to their health, education, and physical and emotional well-being.  The manager and staff have a clear understanding of the home’s ethos. They work together consistently and provide clear and consistent boundaries to meet the needs of the children.  The children describe their relationships with staff as a real strength of the home. They feel that staff treat them with respect and help them to keep safe.  This inspection identified some shortfalls and areas for improvements. These are in relation to records of supervisions, complaints, children’s files and the appropriateness of measures of control used in relation to incidents. These matters are not currently having an impact on the safety and well-being of children.

p.3

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person/s meet/s 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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

( 2) In order to meet the positive relationships standard, in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure (a) that staff (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. This is with particular regard to the use of measures of control. 30/11/2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(b)) 30/11/2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 30/11/2016

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) This is with particular regard to children's views expressed during their children's meetings.  Ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

p.4

Information about this children's home

The children’s home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for four young people, aged between 12 and 18 years, who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

20/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Good

A focused, competent and enthusiastic staff team that has a strong knowledge of the children’s vulnerabilities and needs cares for the children. The children enjoy good-quality relationships and interact positively with the staff and managers, who are warm and supportive of them. All children spoke warmly about the staff, and observations during the inspection demonstrated that they enjoy spending time with them. One child said, ‘This is home. The staff are so welcoming. They are 100% doing everything they can for me.’ Children feel listened to because staff and managers make time to talk to them about their interests and concerns, and support them with family contact. A member of staff reported, ‘We are a very strong staff team that has a strong bond, and our relationships have a positive and respectful impact on our relationships with the children.’ Managers and staff have high aspirations for the children, which are reflected in

p.6

Good

the home’s practice. Children are provided with high-quality care, in a warm, caring and nurturing environment, with firm and consistent boundaries. Children receive personalised care that helps them to make progress in all aspects of their lives. They are increasingly becoming aware of how their choices and actions impact on their lives. All children’s achievements are celebrated through verbal recognition by the staff team, and in their individual progress reports. These include individual positive messages from key workers for children. One message is, ‘You are committed to completing your GCSEs and going to college to further your education. We are all very proud of what you have already achieved, and as long as you are willing to work hard you will succeed.’ The children’s records reflect to children the positive outcomes that they have made while living at the home. These include acknowledgement of progress with regard to an incident,

p.6

Good

improvement in social skills, manners and respect, improvement in independence skills, and no self-injurious behaviours. Children read and comment on reports, and graphs are used to inform children of their improvements and of increases in areas such as challenging behaviour and possible reasons for this. As a result, children develop self-esteem and confidence and begin to make positive attachments with the adults who care for them. A child described the staff and home as ‘outstanding’. There is an expectation that the children attend an education provision. Staff provide consistent boundaries and routines, and are effective in encouraging children to attend their education provision. Therefore, children’s educational attendance and achievement improve, and they are all making good progress. Some children who had minimal attendance prior to their admission now access and engage in a full-time education package. This is because the staff work in

p.6

Good

conjunction with the organisation’s school and children’s colleges to meet children’s needs. Staff proactively promote healthier lifestyles and help the children to stay in good health. Children are actively encouraged and supported to eat healthily and in line with their cultural preferences. The staff work closely with agencies to provide support to children in both their physical and emotional health. These agencies include sexual health, alcohol and drug misuse services and the child and adolescent mental health service. This provides the children with the necessary skills and knowledge for them to make informed choices regarding their health. The organisation’s psychotherapist attends the home weekly to develop relationships with children and to work with them on their specific needs. The psychotherapist involves staff in discussions, to further promote staff understanding of children’s individual needs, and offers strategies to further

p.7

Good

support the children. This means that children are cared for by staff who understand their needs. The children are consistently stimulated at the home, because staff spend good- quality time with them. Staff support the children to try different opportunities and to develop new skills. Children enjoy accessing activities, such as trampolining and going to the gym, and some children are supported to have part-time employment. Staff seek new possibilities based on children’s interests and fully support children to try new activities and to broaden their horizons. This enhances children’s personal and social development. Children’s self-esteem increases because they are celebrated as individuals, supported, encouraged and praised throughout the day. Children influence the running of the home in various ways, such as through day- to-day conversations, community meetings and key-work sessions. Although children spoken to are clear that staff seek their views, community meeting

p.7

Good

minutes lack detail about the ways in which ideas suggested by the children have been considered consistently. The children make good progress in developing their independent skills in line with their ages and abilities. Some children enjoy cooking meals with staff and developing domestic skills and self-care skills. Other children have fully embraced independence and have individual independence plans. They develop skills in budgeting, independence in the community and shopping. Some children have recently successfully transitioned from the home in a planned move to semi- independent placements, after making significant improvements in all areas of their needs from their starting points. These skills will continue to develop and carry them into adulthood. Children live in a home, the location, design, size and layout of which meets the needs of all the children placed there. The decor of the home is to an exceptional

p.7

Good

standard, and is well maintained. Children are very proud of their individual rooms, which have been unquestionably personalised and are of a good size. They have sufficient outdoor space, where they engage in activities, such as using the trampoline or spending time with staff. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

Children living in the home feel safe and are safe because staff take their responsibilities for keeping children safe seriously. The safety and well-being of the children is at the centre of practice, and staff promote a culture that ensures that children are listened to and respected as individuals. This helps the children to engage with staff. Safeguarding arrangements are good. Staff are trained and are clear about their responsibilities for whistle blowing and about how to report concerns. They understand the need for effective links with the local safeguarding team, and there is a good knowledge about how the protection and welfare of children are managed should concerns arise. On occasions, when there have been allegations or concerns raised regarding staff practice, the management has been proactive and worked with the designated officer and thoroughly investigated these concerns. This demonstrates that children are consistently and effectively

p.8

Good

protected. Some children do go missing. On these occasions, staff are proactive in following children and keeping them in sight when possible. Staff contact them on their mobile telephones, speak to their family members and drive to possible areas where the children might be, thus ensuring that children, when possible, are quickly located. When there are additional concerns, such as possible child sexual exploitation, management requests multi-agency meetings to identify strategies and close working relationships with police in the local and other authorities. Staff engage children in discussions regarding the dangers and risks of leaving the home, and they reduce their free time. Management ensures that all staff receive training in child sexual exploitation and are informed of the potential signs and required action. As a result, all the children have significantly reduced their missing incidents from their starting points on admission to the home. Some children have

p.8

Good

built effective resilience to and understanding of the risks they were in and have successfully removed themselves from these dangers. As a result, children are safer and more knowledgeable and they have a more informed awareness of how to keep themselves safe. The staff take time to understand the background of each child and they have a good awareness of how previous experiences impact on and influence current behaviours. This is because staff spend quality time with the children and promote a positive, proactive and respectful culture of care. Detailed strategies, implementation of the organisation’s diversion programme and consultation meetings with the organisation’s psychotherapist assist staff in understanding the impact for the children and ways in which they can support them. Children listen to staff, make positive choices and have made positive progress in other areas of their lives. As a result, challenging behaviour, aggression and verbal abuse incidents

p.8

Good

decrease. This supports the children to develop self-esteem, self-belief and respect for others. On some occasions, staff have physically intervened as a last resort. These interventions are minimal, and the children and the staff are provided with an opportunity to reflect on the incident to identify further strategies to reduce the risk of a recurrence. Some children receive a measure of control following an incident. Although the majority of these are appropriate, some sanctions do not link to the inappropriate behaviour, or records fail to explain the link. For example, a computer ban was imposed for two days as a sanction for running away from staff. This fails to provide children with an effective sanction to reduce the risk of a recurrence. The children are protected by sound recruitment processes that ensure that staff are carefully selected and checked, to prevent unsuitable people working in the

p.9

Good

home. On occasions, children are involved in the recruitment process, through interviewing potential staff. In this way, their views are taken into account in recruitment decisions. There are established systems and structures to maintain safe practices and fulfil the health and safety obligations. The environment is physically safe. Fire safety training and regular checks to the fire system ensure that due care is taken to ensure that everyone is safe. Children are involved in fire drills and are aware of what to do in the case of a fire.

p.9

Good

The manager has been in post since 2015, has over six years’ experience and is currently completing her level 5 diploma in leadership in health and management. The home is managed effectively by a committed manager, with support from an enthusiastic, dedicated and motivated staff team. Staffing levels are good, and provide the children with competent adults to care for them. This is because the staff team members have a range of experiences and qualifications. They are skilled in working with the children and are supported by their senior managers in their roles. All members of staff spoken with gave positive comments about the management’s supportive leadership of the service. One member of staff spoke about the managers of the home valuing the work that the staff do with the children, and ensuring that they, as staff, feel valued and respected. Staff induction is good, and new staff members are given the time to familiarise themselves with

p.9

Good

the home’s policies and the children’s individual records. This ensures that they have some knowledge and understanding of the children before they begin to work with them. The staff say that they receive regular and effective supervision. However, records of supervisions are not consistently written up to demonstrate reflection and discussions that occurred. Staff complete all mandatory training in line with the organisation’s requirements and feel that the training provided is of a good quality. Additional specific training enhances their skills and knowledge and supports their practice, to meet children’s needs effectively. The organisation’s psychotherapist is available weekly to provide additional support to the staff, to provide additional debriefs, to advise on strategies to meet the children’s needs, and to give additional supervision for the manager. Well-organised communication, discussions

p.10

Good

and meetings with health and education professionals in the organisation further drive improvement for the children. The service is aware of its strengths and weakness and continually improves the quality of care and outcomes for the children. The one requirement and the two recommendations from the last inspection are met. The manager has updated the statement of purpose so that it is individualised to this home and reflects the service that this home will provide. Staff fully embrace the child-centred ethos of the home and view this as central to their work with the children. The manager has made changes to the printing of records from the monitoring system. This ensures that records are all legible. The manager has updated the home’s risk assessment, and the document now includes children’s views and those of external professionals, thereby providing more information to keep children safe. Effective monitoring activities are conducted by the management, and external

p.10

Good

monthly visits are carried out. These highlight shortfalls and act as a mechanism to identify action to improve the services in the interests of the children. Managers have a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement of the home. As a result, managers are able to demonstrate the impact that living in the home is having on the children, with improvements being continually driven forward. Children are well informed about how they can make a complaint and are appropriately encouraged to do so. Children are actively involved in and informed of the process, including having access to mediation meetings. However, records held in the home fail to inform on the outcome of children’s complaints. Children’s records, such as risk assessments and independence plans, are not consistently up to date. Although this has minimal impact currently, it does not ensure that any new staff recruited to the service have all the required information to meet the

p.10

Good

children’s needs. Information relating to significant events affecting children’s safety is notified to the relevant agencies, which include Ofsted and the safeguarding teams from the local and home authorities. This ensures that concerns about children’s safety are shared by the staff and management, in order to protect children.

p.11

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’.

p.12

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

p.12

What the inspection judgements mean

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

p.12

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

p.13

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 .

p.13

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,

p.14

Information about this inspection

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

p.14

Information about this inspection

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

p.14

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

p.14