Children's home run by Children Assisted in a Real Environment 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:

 Children have made consistently good progress since the last inspection.  There is a committed and resourceful staff team. They are a strength and work well together.  New staff in the management team have helped to ‘raise the bar’ at this home. Processes are better and evidence is established.  There is a good level of consistency in staff which helps with boundaries, structure and routines for young people. Positive relationships with children are obvious, and staff show interest and loving care towards them.  There is better support in place for staff, and the expectations from leaders and managers are clear.  External monitoring is of a high standard. A development plan is in place and a new compliance post has been created. This has helped the home to improve and update its policy and processes.  Staff and managers work well with other professionals and give a good challenge to ensure that placing authorities meet children’s needs.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Clear and effective case records help staff to understand and provide good care for children.  A staff training programme is in place, but it does not include training on the risk of children becoming radicalised. The staff receive supported time and discussion in team meetings to ensure that they understand the quality standards.  There is currently no safe care policy, for when young people require personal care.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) This is in relation to ensuring that safe caring policies are in place, for when personal care is required.  Ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) This is in relation to staff knowledge and training in the prevention of radicalisation.

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care and accommodation to up to five children and young people with learning disabilities. The manager of this home also manages another home owned by the same company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/11/2015 Full Good 26/03/2015 Full Adequate 28/01/2015 Full Inadequate

p.5

Good

Children receive good-quality care at this home. Two children live at the home full time and five others visit on occasions, for short breaks. The manager carefully matches the children to ensure minimum disruption to the two children who live at the home full time. Each child knows their own routine, which helps them to feel safe and understand what is expected of them and when.

p.6

Good

Each child has a specific key worker who is responsible for ensuring that all professionals receive appropriate updates. In addition, the key worker is a familiar person who provides one-to-one sessions with the child about important things such as school, activities and family. Observation at the home showed warm and positive relationships between staff and children, with clear boundaries and structures in place. One member of staff said, ‘It’s like a home, very family orientated, staff just work naturally together.’

p.6

Good

Children make progress in a variety of ways. Key workers ensure that children keep to their routines, get up in time for school, receive regular healthy meals and attend all necessary health appointments. Children work towards set targets to help them to achieve and to create routines, for example reducing the time spent on electronic devices and going out for a walk in the community. A social worker said, ‘They offer him lots of activities outside the home.’ Other examples are changing clothes on their return from school, helping to bring their laundry downstairs and setting the table for dinner. Although these tasks may be small, their consistency achieves a reduction in unwanted behaviours and rituals, and encourages positives.

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Good

Staff use a variety of ways to communicate effectively with children and to understand and meet their wishes and feelings, for example weekly meetings involving children in choosing menus and activities for the week. Picture exchange communication systems, symbols, showing/guiding and verbal communication all help staff to understand children’s views about their home.

p.6

Good

Staff work hard to ensure that good communication takes place with other professionals and family members. All children have a home/school communication book which is regularly completed and shares important information about routines, health and any other issues arising. Children who attend for short breaks receive a pictorial diary of what they have been doing during their stay. Children who live at the home also have pictorial diaries, and these are shared with professionals and family at review meetings. One teacher said of the home’s staff, ‘They are fantastic, they send weekly overviews, include photographs, they write in the school diary, attend meetings and are on the end of the phone.’

p.6

Good

The home prepares children well for transitions. It seeks information prior to admission for short breaks or placements. Children receive visits at home, and staff contact schools and other professionals to gather relevant information prior to any stay taking place. Children and parents are encouraged to visit the home before the short breaks commence. The ratio of staff on shifts is high, particularly when children go out into the community. This ensures good-quality, safe care. Most children living in this home will require ongoing care into adulthood. Good forward planning is in place, with early meetings to discuss transitions and the next steps into adult services. One social worker said, ‘They are doing a really good job with the children whom they are working with here. We are looking ahead for a transition to adult services.’

p.7

Good

The home undertakes risk assessments prior to children coming to the home and updates them at regular intervals. The manager and staff team collate information from all relevant professionals involved in children’s care, which helps to keep them as safe as possible. Risk assessments link to children’s care plans and behaviour management plans. They are simple and helpful, giving clear information about behaviours, known triggers and strategies to manage. A front sheet clearly indicates if the risk is high, medium or low. It also indicates who undertook the assessment and the review dates, and is signed to indicate that staff have read it.

p.7

Good

Some children require a level of personal care by staff with washing and dressing. Both children and staff remain vulnerable when undertaking this level of personal care. However, a safe caring policy is not in place.

p.7

Good

Risk assessments include the risk of children who may go missing from the home. Due to their vulnerability and capacity, the children living here would be at high risk if they went out alone. Staff ratios are high, and never lower than one-to-one in the community. Although there is no restrictions to either entry or exit from the home, there is a front gate immediately outside the front door which reduces the risk of children running out of the home into the street. Close supervision prevents incidents and means that staff pre-empt potential risks quickly, thus keeping children safe and supervised at all times.

p.7

Good

Staff receive good training in safeguarding and the risk of child sexual exploitation, including regular updates. Staff showed a good awareness of safeguarding procedures and protocols, and were confident about how and where to report incidents if this is necessary. Staff also had a good knowledge of the whistleblowing policy and procedures. Their understanding enabled them to feel confident about reporting concerns about colleagues, including managers. Staff have not yet received training in the prevention of radicalisation.

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Good

The manager undertakes regular health and safety risk assessments of the home environment. This includes regular checks to the fire systems and fire drills to ensure that staff can safely evacuate children in an emergency. A further assessment of the outside of the home and the local area, undertaken by the manager, alerts staff and placing authorities about potential risks, as well as local resources, in the area.

p.8

Good

The use of restraint is rare at this home and no incidents have been recorded since the last inspection. Nonetheless, all staff receive training and refresher courses on managing challenging behaviours. Updated restraint and incident recording logs since the last inspection ensure compliance with regulations. The use of body maps is part of this recording. This is good practice, ensuring that any injuries are recorded, including minor scrapes, bruises and grazes.

p.8

Good

Since the last inspection, managers have appointed a compliance manager who has updated all the home’s policy and procedures, ensuring that they are compliant with regulations. In addition, the compliance manager supports staff to understand and interpret the quality standards and apply them in line with the home’s statement of purpose and function. This enables the staff to understand the ethos of the home and its vision for working with the children placed there.

p.8

Good

Staff files indicate safe recruitment of staff. Routine safeguarding checks ensure that unsuitable people do not gain access to working with children in the home.

p.8

Good

A suitably qualified and competent manager runs the home. She also manages another, similar, children’s home that is owned by the same company. The registered manager ensures that appropriate arrangements are in place to provide cover when she is not available. In the past six months, leaders and managers have expanded the management team to include a deputy manager who is at the home every day and a compliance manager who also works between the two homes. The registered manager holds the required level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

p.8

Good

The registered manager prioritises the children’s needs and knows them well. Observations showed positive relationships and familiarity between the children and the manager. The registered manager has a clear overview of the children’s care plans, when their reviews are taking place and their overall progress. In the past year, the home has significantly improved its organisation and management. A deputy manager is now in place to support the registered manager in the day-to-day running of the home. A compliance manager is in post. He provides oversight and updates to policy, procedures and other systems, which supports the organisation of the provider, for example with policy updates and a training and supervision matrix to provide systems to track these activities. The registered manager oversees practice more effectively with this additional support within the management structure. All staff receive regular supervisions and yearly

p.8

Good

appraisals. Case records show good oversight by the registered manager. For example, all incident reports are now read, signed and dated.

p.9

Good

There is good external monitoring of the home. An independent person visits the home once each month and seeks feedback from children, parents and professionals. These reports allow for an objective view of the progress made or any improvements needed.

p.9

Good

The manager uses the independent reports, along with her own review of the quality of care, to create a development plan. The management team holds monthly developmental meetings. It uses a self-evaluation cycle to determine who is to complete developmental work and by when, to continue a motivation to improve. The management team attended training on evidencing outcomes and members also network well with other homes, all of which sustains progress.

p.9

Good

The staff team feels supported. Although there have been changes over the past year, staff morale remains high. Staff said, ‘It’s a good place to work’ and ‘Children are the centre of everything we do.’

p.9

Good

A strength of this home is staff’s ability to work together as a team with the professional network and the family. The approach is good and utilises joined up thinking, which is helping children to meet their potential and achieve. For example, one member of staff said, ‘We are working consistently with (name of child), have timetables and guidelines. We are working in the same way as school. When we know triggers, then we can all understand how to manage.’

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 0300 123 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 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

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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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