Children's Home run by Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy in Kent

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

 The home delivers high-quality therapeutic care covering all aspects of children’s needs. The staff are trained and experienced in delivering the organisation’s chosen form of therapeutic care.  The home provides a safe place for children to live, as a result of the strong commitment of staff to safeguarding across all areas of children’s lives.  Staff skill in delivering therapeutic care results in children making outstanding progress in their educational, emotional and social lives. In particular, children can address their previous traumatic life experiences in a safe environment, knowing they will be listened to and supported.  There are excellent relationships between the staff and the children in their care. As a result, children develop strong attachments to staff, over time.  As a result of detailed pre-admission planning and sensitive moving in arrangements, children quickly settle into the home and embrace the

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

therapeutic culture that the staff promote.  The development plan put in place by the registered manager a year ago has been highly successful in its outcomes.  A well-defined and efficient organisational structure promotes change and improvement. Monitoring and auditing systems are exceptional. A full range of systems enable detailed analysis of the current provision, and future planning and development of the service.  The management of the service is of a high standard. The registered manager is visionary and has clear plans for the continued development of the service. He is research-led and has written papers in response to national research studies by social care experts. He applies this knowledge to current practice here.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take into account the following recommendations:  A record of supervision should be kept for the staff, including the manager. The records should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with Regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations and quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3) This relates specifically to ensuring that supervision records are better organised and maintained.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate four children and young people. The home specialises in the treatment of young people who present with severe emotional and behavioural problems. The home is a specialist therapeutic residential community providing care and treatment to psychologically traumatised children. It is operated by a charitable organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/12/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/08/2015 Full Good 24/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/12/2014 Full Good

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Outstanding

The home provides a supportive, nurturing environment in which children develop a sense of stability and belonging. They build trusting relationships with the staff, and this adds to their sense of security. As a result, children are more able to engage in the therapeutic treatment and guidance that they receive from skilled practitioners. A significant part of the home’s ethos is for children to gain confidence in living together with others. Although at times this can be challenging for the children, staff apply consistent therapeutic care that enables children successfully to gain confidence in living together with their peers. Children also learn to be sensitive to their peers’ current difficulties and individual personalities.

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Outstanding

Children receive individual psychotherapy sessions. Excellent collaboration between care, education and therapy teams ensures that children’s needs are properly understood by all the adults who care for them. The staff are confident and consistent in the way that they meet these needs and, as a result, children make healthy attachments and outstanding progress in their ability to process their feelings and relate to others.

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Outstanding

The impact of the total package of care and therapy is exceptional, with significant changes seen. Children who once found it difficult to engage with adults now have the confidence to do so, including one child who previously would not engage in an inspection now engaging fully in the inspection process. Children who found education difficult now engage 100% and have developed an enjoyment of learning. Children who previously required medication to manage their behaviour no longer need this. Children feel safe to explore their past life experiences and are able to start to make sense of their feelings, and know when they need to seek extra support if they are having a particularly bad day.

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Outstanding

The health needs of children are very well met through the systemic practice at the home. Children are encouraged to make healthy life-style choices, from exercise to healthy eating. Meal times are also social occasions at which the staff promote skills such as good table manners. Fresh, home-cooked food is enjoyed by the children. The food provision is varied, nutritious and healthy. Overweight children have successfully lost significant amounts of weight as a result of the balance between exercise and healthy eating. For one child, this has had a tremendously positive impact on his confidence and social engagement skills. In addition, children now take more interest in their appearance and hygiene.

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Outstanding

Children attend school on a daily basis and the programme of learning is adapted to meet all their needs, educational and emotional. Care and school staff communicate throughout the day to make sure that every child has a successful school day. Collaboration between the care and school staff has seen daily homework successfully introduced. In addition, the sex education programme delivered in school has been supported by the care staff through the additional homework set. A well-structured system allows for the staff team to support children on a one-to-one basis during dedicated homework time.

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Outstanding

The placement and family support officer provides links between the home, local authority and families of the children. This high-quality support enables families and social workers to be kept fully up to date and well informed about all aspects of their child’s care, treatment and decisions made. This works especially well for those local authorities that have children placed a long way from home. An example of this can be seen when families are not able to be present at their child’s placement review. The placement and family officer will visit the family prior to the review to read through pre-review reports and give them the opportunity to have a voice at the review.

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Outstanding

Detailed and comprehensive referral systems result in the correct placements for children. It is very rare for the service to end a placement, as its referral and decision-making processes are highly effective.

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Outstanding

Children’s safety is a key focus at the home. Policies, procedures and practices enable staff to protect children from harm and abuse. The registered manager and staff have a thorough understanding of the particular risks associated with each child. They are competent in following the correct referral procedures, if required. All concerns are shared with the relevant safeguarding authority. Senior managers and leaders of the organisation maintain oversight and scrutiny of safeguarding matters through three-monthly meetings.

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Outstanding

Children build extraordinary, trusting relationships with the staff and, as a result, develop the confidence to share past traumatic life experiences. The pace at which this happens is commendable, and is a reflection of the whole package of care and treatment. Children feel supported when at their most vulnerable. One child said: ‘I find it difficult to listen to staff saying positive things to me, but I am getting better. I trust the staff and can talk to them about anything.’

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Outstanding

All staff receive child protection training, and senior staff receive advanced child protection training. Safeguarding is a weekly agenda item at the staff meeting, at which staff can raise concerns. Additional training received includes issues such as female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation and e-safety. A designated safeguarding lead has completed the ‘Train the trainer’ course for the delivery of ‘Prevent’ training. The registered manager maintains very good links with the local safeguarding agency and other professionals, for example the missing person’s coordinator, even though there have been no incidents of children going missing. The staff are aware of the procedure to follow if a child did go missing.

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Outstanding

Safe, organised and age-appropriate access to the internet is in place. The staff support children to understand the risks associated with all forms of social media. Risk assessments for e-safety and online exploitation inform staff how to manage individual or group risks. As a result, there have been no incidents or concerns. The staff are highly consistent in applying the safe rules of internet use.

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Outstanding

Behaviour management systems ensure that children are safely managed. This is an area of expertise at the service. A calm and skilled approach, together with high staffing levels, successfully diffuses any evolving incidents. Risk assessments inform and support the staff to apply highly effective management behaviour practices. Children quickly learn that staff apply consistent practice in behaviour management. Behaviour management plans are detailed and continually reviewed. Staff are able to identify triggers and amend strategies that are put in place to meet the changing challenges that children may present with as they move into teenage years or revisit previous life experiences. Overall, challenging behaviours decrease significantly over time.

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Outstanding

The home has a strong anti-bullying commitment. Restorative justice practice has resulted in very good outcomes for both victim and perpetrator. The number of bullying incidents are very low, with records showing that swearing between children is recorded as a bullying incident. This reflects how well the staff recognise all forms of bullying, both visible and hidden. Children are clear in what to do if they are being bullied and feel confident in the staff’s ability to address any such incidents.

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Outstanding

Recruitment procedures are thorough and ensure that all adults who are employed at the home are suitable for work with children. Recruitment interviews thoroughly explore an individual’s motivation for working with vulnerable children, and assess the candidate’s ability to form strong and trusting relationships. As a result, children are cared for by skilled practitioners who really do care about them.

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Outstanding

All health and safety checks are carried out, recorded and audited to a high standard. All external tradesmen are closely supervised and provided with contracts and protocols, enhancing the safety of the children. The maintenance team is very much part of the therapeutic community and goes ‘that extra mile’ to ensure that children are provided with a safe environment and outdoor play equipment/areas that they can enjoy. Judgement grade

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Outstanding

The registered manager has been in place since July 2015. He is very well equipped to fulfil the role as manager and has shown over the past year that he is very capable of improving and developing the service to a high standard. He has suitable care and management qualifications and continues to undertake additional training. He has an applied systemic therapeutic qualification which enables him to engage fully in the organisation’s chosen therapeutic method. In the past year, he has also undertaken research projects which adopt a neuropsychological perspective, to explore and understand the mechanism behind patterns of trauma and suffering. In addition, he undertook a study in response to Sir Martin Narey’s review of children’s residential care and the role that therapeutic care can offer to meet the recommendations made in the report.

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Outstanding

The staff team is a real strength of the service. The registered manager has worked hard to ensure that children are cared for by a stable, experienced and competent staff team. The manager is supported by two assistant managers who enhance the management of the service, especially in the registered manager’s absence. The care staff and therapy staff are fully integrated and meet weekly. The staff feel well supported and say that the registered manager is an excellent role model who has created an environment that provides challenge and recognition. There is a real sense of team work. The staff receive a wide range of good-quality training and regular supervision, delivered by senior care and therapy staff. This is provided individually and in group sessions. Staff say that the quality of supervision is high. However, supervision records are not as well organised as they could be.

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Outstanding

This is an outstanding service that is visionary and value-led. The registered manager’s vision for the home is that it establishes a culture in which staff members and children are working and thinking together, in order to learn more. The children are nurtured and challenged to develop a love of learning (not just academically), which inspires them to take pride in their achievements and establish strong foundations for their future. He has the commitment and skills to ensure that his vision and values continue to be met.

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Outstanding

The promotion of equality and diversity is embedded within the culture of the service. There is a culture of openness and acceptance. Children feel safe to explore their personal beliefs, and are challenged about their attitudes and behaviours if this is necessary.

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Outstanding

Monitoring and auditing systems are well established and detailed. Reports, as a result of quality of care visits, are comprehensive and enable the registered manager to monitor the care provided and act on any recommendations made. Feedback from professionals included: ‘The home offers a very personal and individual service for each child, with the child’s needs being the primary focus. Staff are a friendly team and demonstrate an excellent understanding of psychodynamic theories and the repair needed to aid a child’s recovery.’ The home’s statement of purpose is kept under review, and is amended to reflect changing circumstances and practice developments. It is an accurate and informative description of the service provided.

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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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