Children's Home run by Shalamar Children Limited in Essex

Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 1 SC475088 Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is privately owned and managed. The home operates using a therapeutic approach to childcare.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 22 November 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Each child has made progress in their own individual way.  The children feel comfortable enough to seek out the staff for advice and Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 2 support.  The children attend and make progress in their education.  The home has good and meaningful relationships with other agencies.  The staff come to know and understand the children well.  The staff are nurturing in their approach.  External professionals say that the communication is very good, and that the staff are well prepared for meetings.  The building and the garden combined offer generous accommodation for four children.  The children like their home.  The registered manager is having a positive impact on the care that the children receive.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Help the children to understand about acceptable and socially-aware behaviour, to help to reduce the impact of some of the children‟s behaviour on others.  On every occasion, make a record of the measure used during a physical intervention.  Write records in ways that will be helpful to the children.  Make a written record to show that all of the fire prevention checks are completed regularly.  Ensure that the evaluation of the information received during the recruitment process clearly shows that every individual is of integrity and good character.  Ensure that every member of staff who has been in post for over one year receives an appraisal.  Ensure that any review of a risk assessment is clearly recorded.  Ensure that the local authority is formally reminded of its duty to arrange for an independent return to home interview when a child has been missing.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 01/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust, an understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the requirements of the regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) order 2005 are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2)(b)) In particular, record that testing of fire detection and fire prevention systems is happening consistently. 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The requirements are that the individual is of integrity and good character. (Regulation 32(1)(3)(a)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(c)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of the measure of restraint in relation to a child in the home a record is made which includes a description of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(iv)) 04/08/2017

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Recommendations

 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) In particular, ensure that reviews of risk assessments are clearly recorded.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of the information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 4 paragraph 9.30)  Lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. („Guide to the children‟s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  Ensure that information about the child is always recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved on to placements nearer to their home authority. Two children have moved into the home. The staff are working steadily to understand and manage this change in the group dynamic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are calm, nurturing and responsive. All of the children seek the staff out for support. They all have good relationships with the staff. These relationships help to increase the likelihood of the children accepting a lot of the advice and guidance that they are given. For example, one child who came to live in the home two months ago has already made significant progress in managing his personal hygiene and physical appearance. His health and well-being are improving, and he is becoming proud of his progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home works well with external professionals and encourages them to visit. These professionals are welcomed into the home. The nurse for children looked after visits the home to support the staff in their work, and to provide specific advice and guidance about health and well-being. This is beneficial for all of the children because this practice ensures that their individual needs are understood and identified by the appropriate professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and deputy manager work hard to ensure that the children access the education that they are entitled to. They advocate for the children and they are, in the main, successful. The children are mostly meeting the attendance targets set in their education plans. The children understand that they are expected to attend school, and this is helping them to engage in learning generally. One member of staff said, „In the afternoons, our child is not in formal education, but we are talking to the school staff about increasing his hours again. We plan the afternoons to give him some structure and to think of things to do that will help to educate him and help him to learn.‟ The placing authority for another child who is placed far from home said, „Our child had missed a lot of education and we are delighted that she has been learning. Her progress overall is far beyond what we could have hoped for.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff benefit from support from two therapists, who work independently from one another. The staff quickly come to have a good understanding of the individual character and personality of each child. One of the staff said, „Having the support of the therapist who comes here to offer us consultation is really good because it helps us to work on Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 5 anything that might be difficult with one of the children.‟ The staff try to understand the impact of the children‟s previous experiences, including early trauma. The staff seek to find constructive ways of managing the children‟s intensive emotions sensitively. However, observations during this inspection and historical incident records show that the combined intervention from the team does not consistently go far enough to encourage each child to take responsibility for their behaviour around the other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are well aware that some of the children shout, push, swear, argue and bicker. However, the staff‟s strategic efforts to manage more intensive behaviours consistently fall short. For example, one child was pushed by another on more than one occasion and the staff‟s interventions did not prevent this. The approach does not help children who are already socially disadvantaged by circumstance to take responsibility for their behaviour or to develop socially aware behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in a rural location. There are chickens in the garden and they are now kept in a dedicated coop, which is an improvement. Sometimes, some of the children take an interest in feeding the animals. This helps them to practise providing care and nurture.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The different communal areas, combined with a substantial garden, mean that there is generous space for the children to relax and play. The children receive good support to see their families and those who are of importance to them. The children are aware that they can bring friends to the home. One member of staff said, „One of our new children brought a friend home the other day because she wanted to show off where she is living.‟ Children‟s bedrooms are personalised. Each child receives a reasonable budget when they move in to encourage them to buy any desired personal effects and decorations. This helps to welcome children and encourages them to invest in their private space. More than one child said that they like the house and their bedroom.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The registered manager has taken a proactive approach to working with the police to safeguard the children. Prior to any child‟s arrival, the manager notifies the local missing person liaison officer to share information. A police officer said, „This good communication helps us to find out more information about the child before they arrive.‟ The missing person police liaison officer visits the home. This excellent example of multi- agency working helps both the home and other agencies to be prepared and ready in the event of an incident of a child going missing. For one child, the incidents of going missing have reduced significantly, which represents a major achievement for her. Her placing authority said, „Before coming to live here, she was consuming alcohol, taking drugs and [going] missing most days. We have moved on a long way.‟

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff encourage the children to talk about how they are feeling. For example, during this inspection, one of the children told staff on two different occasions that she felt like she wanted to run away because she wanted to have more time with her friends. The registered manager told her, „It‟s good that you can tell us that you want to do that because we want you to be here and to help you.‟ This helps the children to know that the adults want to help and protect them. Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 6 One of the children has started to go missing from school. The staff are quick to respond and to liaise with education colleagues. The staff follow the home‟s procedures and offer support to him on his return, which includes talking to him about his reasons for leaving. However, the home‟s arrangements for ensuring that the placing authority meets its duties in providing children with the opportunity for an independent return home

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

interview fall short. This is because the correspondence from the home is not going far enough to make clear the placing authority‟s responsibilities.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children‟s care and support plans are extremely detailed. Each is highly individualised and provides specific information about the help and support that the child needs. A lot of time has been dedicated to writing the plans. The plans help to direct staff towards the likely issues and the actions to help to achieve progress. There are improved individualised risk assessments on children‟s files. However, the review process does not ensure that the amendments have been made clear enough in respect of the relevance of any new information and why this had led to a change in the risk rating. This practice could result in staff misunderstanding the risk and making avoidable mistakes.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children receive pocket money and they can earn additional cash by getting involved in chores and jobs around the home. This helps to provide them with some structure and it supports the daily routine. The children are encouraged to save up for the additional things that they want. The registered and deputy manager are currently reviewing the system for sanctions and consequences because they recognise that greater consistency will be fairer for all of the children. This shows a desire to promote a structured and child-centred approach to behaviour management.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff use physical intervention to manage behaviour, such as when children become particularly overwhelmed and begin to cause damage around the home. There are a high number of physical interventions which relate in the main to managing some of the behaviours of one of the children. The records sampled show that staff only use physical restraint when they have been unable to de-escalate the behaviour. When physical intervention is used, it is for a short time. The responsible individual states that the home does not use floor holds. However, the records show that when there is an intervention, the description of the measure used is not recorded. This means that in the event of a child, their parent or the placing authority looking for detailed information following a particular incident, the information may not be there. This practice does not meet regulation and is not helpful to the child, their parents or the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has been registered since the last inspection. He is having a positive impact on the quality of the children‟s experiences because of the changes that he is making and the fact that he is approachable and visible. He is currently working to achieve the relevant level 5 qualification. The children seek him out to tell them what is on their minds. This means that he is making an impression. Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 7 The registered manager is working alongside the deputy manager and, together with the staff team, they are working to improve the home and the systems in the office. The manager and the staff have offices together in one part of the house. This helps with communication and frees up more communal space for the children to use. There are regular staff meetings and discussions about the children, alongside regular discussions with the children about what the plans for the day might be. More than one member of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

staff said that things have changed and that the new manager is making a difference. One member of staff said, „He makes a real effort to balance getting the paperwork done with spending time with the children.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The company‟s directors have regular input into the home. This has become more structured and is an improvement because, for example, they are signing in and out more regularly to show when they have been to visit the home. The responsible individual continues to work at the home from time to time as part of the rostered staffing. This demonstrates her commitment to the success of the home. She said, „I just think that all of our children are lovely.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been some recent additions to the staff team but overall the staff retention since the last inspection has been good. The recruitment files sampled identified some gaps in information held. For example, when a background check reveals information of potential concern, the approach to completing a risk assessment is not consistent or sufficiently robust. This means that the process for vetting staff does not demonstrate how the decision of suitability has been reached, will be monitored and reviewed in every case. This increases the likelihood of unsuitable individuals coming to work with vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The induction programme includes mandatory training, such as safeguarding. This helps to equip the staff with some of the skills that they need to fulfil their roles effectively. Around half of the staff have the required level 3 qualification. Others are enrolled on and working through the course. Overall, the home meets the requirement in respect of staff‟s qualifications. Some of the staff have worked in the home for over a year but they have not had an annual appraisal. The registered manager and deputy are working towards implementing a new model for staff appraisal.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager oversees the staff‟s work but he is not consistently signing and dating records to demonstrate that he has had oversight of them. This specific shortfall has no impact on the children. The senior leaders recognise that some of the recording needs to improve and, as a result, they have introduced training to begin to address this. More time is needed for the results to show because this inspection identified that a number of the written records are not written in a way that would be helpful to children seeking to read their files now or at a later date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The system to monitor whether the fire detection arrangements are working fails to meet regulation. The staff carry out fire drills and they include the children. The registered manager described the procedure that he expects the staff to follow when completing checks around the home. However, for some months, the staff have not Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 8 recorded any checks of the fire equipment. This failure to demonstrate that checks have been undertaken and any actions identified could result in faults being overlooked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has met the three requirements raised at the last inspection. Monthly training has been introduced for the staff. This takes place out of the home and it includes looking at current research and practice. Each of the 12 staff members has the opportunity to meet individually with the therapeutic consultant when she visits the home on a weekly basis. The second therapist supports face-to-face training and meets with the managers. The staff can access written resources about attachment work from the central system and there is online training. All of this is good because it encourages the staff to think about their role but, overall, more time is required for the registered manager to embed the approach described in the statement of purpose. This is particularly in relation to how staff respond as a group when the behaviour of one or more of the children is having an impact on the atmosphere in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Referrals are made and advice is appropriately sought from the local authority designated officer. The managers take complaints seriously. They address and look into issues raised by children or others. The managers are responsive. For example, records show that the home bought flowers to apologise to the neighbour for some disturbance. This thoughtful practice helps children to learn about and see resolution in action.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The independent person visits this home every month. She provides robust external monitoring. She places demands on the managers and leaders by making clear recommendations about what needs to improve. This is helpful and provides a focus on the expectations described in the children‟s homes regulations and quality standards. She said, „The registered manager is making a difference. He tells me, “I have a vested interest in making sure that this home is the best that it can be for the children.”‟

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the „Social care common inspection framework‟, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟.

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Children’s home details

Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 9 Unique reference number: SC475088

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3, 2nd Floor, Stanhope House, High Street, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex SS17 0HA

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Inspector

Rosie Davie, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC475088 10 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children‟s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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