Children's Home run by Tulip Care One Limited t/as TulipCare in Kent

Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 1 SC361090 Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited trading as Tulip Care

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‟s home provides therapeutic residential care and support for up to five girls who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A separately registered school on the same site may be accessed by those living at the home (although it is currently not in operation).

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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 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: 29 November 2016

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 A resilient and cohesive staff team readily provides troubled young people with warmth and stability.  The young people who move in develop a sense of belonging and an increased sense of self-worth.  Staff help the young people to learn important life lessons from significant events and unforeseen circumstances. This helps them to prepare for adulthood.  Staff get to understand young people who have complex backgrounds and help them to make progress.  Staff are sensitive, flexible and embrace diversity. This makes young people who have diverse backgrounds, needs and interests feel included and affirmed.  Young people reduce their risk-taking behaviour and become safer.  Young people who are disengaged from formal learning regain their self-control, motivation and focus, and return to full-time education.

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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

 The full integration of therapeutic activities, plans of care and reviews of progress for individual young people, has not yet been achieved.  Although the young people clearly achieve and make progress, the manner in which this journey is recorded does not adequately show how these gains have been made and how this informs plans for improving the quality of care.  Risk management plans do not always address how progress will be made in reducing identified risks.  Aspects of restraint practice and the management of risk require review and improvement.  Systems are not sufficiently developed to ensure that key information to keep young people safe and promote their well-being is readily available, particularly to new staff and agency workers.  Further skills auditing and workforce development planning is required to ensure that the therapeutic approach to care, as stated in the home‟s statement of purpose, is being maintained.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 3 18/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/06/2015 Full Inadequate 21/11/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

12. (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; In particular, ensure that risk assessments describe how risks will be reduced and how this will be measured. 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard requires that the registered person knows and understands the impact that the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and uses this knowledge and understanding to inform the development of the quality of care in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(f)) In particular, ensure that plans of care are measurable and enable progress to be effectively monitored. 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

35.—(1) The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— (a) how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and (b) the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. (2) The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (3) The registered person must ensure that— (a) within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made 30/09/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 5 which includes— (i) the name of the child; (ii) details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; (iii) the date, time and location of the use of the measure; (iv) a description of the measure and its duration; (v) details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need

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Requirement Due date

to use the measure; (vi) the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; (vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and (viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (b) within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and (ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and (c) within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. In particular, ensure that all staff are clear about what constitutes restraint and ensure that each incident of restraint is recorded as

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8) In particular, ensure that this enables managers to monitor and develop staff capacity and competencies, including those relating to therapeutic care, to deliver care as set out in the statement of purpose, and also to monitor the progress of all relevant staff in attaining the required qualification within the timescale.  Usually, rooms (children‟s bedrooms) should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 17, paragraph 3.20) In particular, seek to avoid room searches unless there are clear grounds to do so Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 6

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Recommendations

in the interests of children‟s well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people develop empathy and learn to help others. The young people from the sister home moved into this home immediately following a fire that made their home uninhabitable. The young people were helped to make positive adjustments to sudden new circumstances by staff who are skilled and caring. They display tolerance, care and the ability to share their home with others. The young people who move into the home are received with great care and caution. All reasonable efforts are made to ensure that their needs are fully understood, and that all foreseeable risks have been properly considered to enable their safest possible care. Young people feel understood, cared for and at the centre of staff‟s attention. This helps them to settle quickly. The young people receive highly individualised and consistent care. This enables them to trust staff and feel secure. Young people become more confident and self-controlled and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

this helps them to move back into formal education, where they engage with learning and make progress. Staff communicate closely with young people‟s teachers and are proactive in dealing with any issues that might undermine progress. Routine psychological assessments inform detailed care plans, resulting in the young people being understood and helped to make progress in their specific areas of difficulty. Young people have ready access to regular in-house therapy when they are ready to engage with it. Relevant information from these activities informs the therapeutic care of the young people. Further work is, however, required to ensure that the psychological understanding of the young people is more clearly and effectively integrated into their key-working sessions and the practice of their day-to-day care. The young people are confident in expressing themselves and make their views and opinions known. They are actively involved in the decisions that affect their daily living

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and longer-term plans. Individual records show that a range of practices are used to gain the views and opinions of the young people, who are involved in their own risk management and care planning. The home has an established practice of regular young people‟s meetings, and the young people readily participate in relevant discussions about their preferences, interests and differences. The young people feel connected with the world outside the home and participate in a wide range of community activities such as youth clubs, sea cadets and dance classes. They learn self-care skills such as shopping, cooking and housekeeping and are encouraged to participate in a variety of art and craft activities. They become more confident and feel less stigmatised by being in care. Staff are open-minded and encouraging of young people who wish to explore faith issues. The registered manager and her staff team collaborate closely with parents, carers and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

extended family, as well as with placing social workers and other professionals. This Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 7 ensures that the young people maintain safe and satisfying contact with their families and that their transitions from the home are thoughtfully and properly managed.

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

The risk-taking behaviours of the young people who move in reduce substantially. Some young people at high risk of child sexual exploitation, with established patterns of going missing, stop this behaviour completely after moving in. There were no recorded missing episodes during this inspection period involving the young people currently permanently placed at the home. Full procedures are in place should a young person go missing. The home has established a reputation for responding to missing episodes in an urgent and tenacious manner. The young people sign individualised agreements relating to their safe use of the internet, smoking and general behaviour in and around the house. This contributes to staff maintaining clear and consistent boundaries for the young people to keep them safe and provide them with a sense of security. Relevant and individualised management plans are used to guide staff in protecting young people from identified risks. These

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

clearly describe the risk, triggers for the risky behaviours and guidance on the best response, but fall short in adequately describing how risks can be reduced and how the young people can make progress in these areas. Current recording and filing systems do not give new staff easy and ready access to key information about the young people, including risk management information. Avoidable delays in accessing this information could place the young people at increased risk. The home caters for young people with high levels of risk of self-harm and risk of exploitation. This has led to a routine approach to room searches, without sufficient prior justification being established. This intrudes on the privacy of the young people and detracts from the family atmosphere in the home. The registered manager and her staff work closely with external agencies in thinking and planning around effective ways to keep the young people safe. For one young person,

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

there is joint planning underway involving the placing social worker, the parent and the youth offending team, for her to resume using her mobile phone. The home has a progressive and realistic approach to working alongside the young people to help them understand and deal with the dangers and hazards of online activity. The young people are encouraged and supported to take developmentally appropriate risks, and their journey to independence is actively supported and encouraged. Positive behaviour is rewarded and the young people‟s progress in maturing and improving self- control is celebrated. Policy and practice in applying physical restraint is sound and only takes place when de-escalation has been unsuccessful and thresholds for risk of harm have been reached. There have been three recorded incidents of physical restraint during this inspection period. Managers and staff, however, do not always recognise that

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

physical restraint has been applied, particularly when defusing volatile situations and separating young people. Some records of restraint lack sufficient detail, specifically the young person and the involved members‟ reflection on the incident. Safer recruitment procedures are diligently followed and the young people are not Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 8 exposed to improperly vetted staff. The physical environment of the home is attractive and of a high standard. Maintenance is regular and necessary repairs immediately attended to. Health and safety procedures, including fire drills, are properly followed. These factors combine to show the young people that they are valued and that their well-being is important.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced and qualified registered manager leads a cohesive staff team that displays a strong team working ethic. These factors are significant in respect of the effective manner in which the home has managed the sudden influx of young people resulting from fire damage to the sister home. Staff are positive and morale is good. One member of staff said, „It‟s been difficult at times, but I have quite enjoyed the liveliness of the home.‟ The registered manager is confident in her staff team and its ability to manage challenging situations. The team members know when to consult her and she knows when her direct involvement with the young people becomes necessary. She said, „I am confident in my staff. They don‟t run to me, they deal with things.‟ This enables her to focus on managerial priorities and maintain a broad perspective on the quality of care being provided. Good-quality induction, regular supervision, clinical group discussions, and a planned

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

training programme sustain the staff‟s capacity to provide sensitive and consistent care to the young people. Staff have high aspirations for the young people and they work hard at supporting them to achieve. Individual records reflect a strong interest in helping the young people to overcome difficulties, reduce self-defeating behaviours and exploit their areas of strength and interest. The young people respond to this attention and become increasingly able to reflect on their mistakes and recognise their strengths. The full weight of the psychological thinking and understanding invested in by the home is not yet, however, being fully felt by the young people. This is because leaders and managers need to refine and simplify procedures and recording methods to ensure that the therapeutic needs identified are fully integrated into the day-to-day care of the young people and the culture of the home. Refinements to recording systems are also

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

required to more reliably and clearly reflect the steady progress that the young people make. Current systems do not easily enable the registered manager to monitor the quality care provided and the effectiveness of specific helping interventions. The home‟s statement of purpose has recently been updated and provides a clearer picture of the ethos of the home and how a model of therapeutic care is maintained. Further development in the integration of therapeutic understanding and care practice must be captured in further revisions.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 9 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 who 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‟. Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited t/as Tulip Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 19-20, Bourne Court, Unity Trading Estate, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD

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Inspector

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 11 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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