Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 1 SC459354 Registered provider: Jamores 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

This is a privately owned home for three children who have emotional and/or behavioural needs and/or a learning disability.

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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: 21 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children receive personalised care that meets their needs well.  Children make good progress while living in the home. This is particularly the case in regards to their emotional well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 2  Children like living in the home and enjoy positive relationships with staff.  Children feel safe. The home’s child protection policies and procedures are effective and help keep children safe.  Staff have good working relationships with other professionals.  Staff listen to what children say and take their views seriously. Staff manage complaints appropriately.

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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

 Medication records are not consistently accurate.  Not all staff demonstrate a good understanding of child protection procedures.  Records of restraint and incident records when cross-referenced do not reflect the same information.  Staff do not always inform Ofsted of critical incidents in a timely manner.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/07/2016 Full Good 28/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 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

23 Medicines The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23(1) 01/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered provider must: ensure— (a) that staff— (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(v)(vii)) 01/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

40: Notification of a serious event (4) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (a) a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; (b) an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (d) a child protection enquiry involving a child— (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the 01/11/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 4 registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept. The home’s restraint log must allow staff to record full information as specified in the regulations. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) In particular, that staff ensure they document the correct date when restraint incidents occur.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care that meets their needs. They make good progress from their original starting points. Staff devise placement plans that are in accordance with issues identified in local authority care plans. This helps to ensure that care provided meets children’s educational and healthcare needs. Children’s attendance at school has improved since they began living at the home. This helps them to meet their learning targets. Staff promote children’s educational achievements; the home has recently employed an educational consultant to complete baseline-learning assessments. This helps the staff team develop a better understanding of children’s educational abilities and determine how best the home can promote their successful learning. Most children now enjoy attending school and several have made significant improvements academically. One child has recently received the Petchey’s

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Outstanding Achievement award at school. Children lead healthy lifestyles and staff promote this ethos. Children are registered with primary healthcare services at the start of their placement. Staff work hard to encourage children to keep scheduled healthcare appointments. Children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder and autistic spectrum disorder have good access to relevant services to help them manage these conditions. As required, children have access to sexual health services and advice to help keep them safe. Children enjoy meals that staff prepare for them and participate in making meal choices, assisting with food shopping and food preparation. Children enjoy meals that are culturally appropriate. One child described a recent activity where he prepared spaghetti bolognese, his favourite traditional dish. Staff ensure that children’s emotional and mental health support needs are very well

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

met. The service employs an art therapist and a behaviour support practitioner. Both therapists meet regularly with children to explore a range of issues identified by the placing authority as being of concern. Recent issues include loss and bereavement, attachment, identity and anger management. The input of the therapists has been very Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 5 successful in addressing some deep-rooted historical traumas. Some children receive prescribed medication. Staff’s recording of their administration of medicines is not always consistent. During the inspection, a recording error on a child’s medication record was noted. This is despite the staff team having recently completed medication training and there being a medication auditing system in place. Accurate medication records are essential to ensure that children taking prescribed medicines are not at risk of harm. The relationship between children and staff is very good, and both parties clearly enjoy

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

working with each other. One child said, ‘Staff are nice, they care about young people, they care about young people properly.’ A staff member, when asked what they liked the most about their job, responded, ‘Seeing the young people happy, smiling and not presenting with challenging behaviour. As long as they’re happy, I am.’ Staff encourage children to capture, through photographs, their experiences at the home. Throughout the building, there are many pictures of children participating in activities with staff and enjoying themselves. Children also have memory books, which similarly capture images of children and staff having fun together. Children participate in leisure activities that they enjoy. For some children, their involvement in planned events is designed to engage them in positive activities that discourage their risk-taking behaviour. One child had recently spent a week on holiday with staff precisely for this purpose. Other children enjoy gardening, attending to their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

allotment, go-karting and playing console games. Children have good opportunities to share their views and opinions about the home and their placement. Staff encourage children to participate in making decisions about their care. This is most noticeable in the choices that children make in relation to the leisure activities, meal choices and the décor of the home. One child recently changed bedroom, as he preferred a larger room. Staff regularly hold residents’ meetings to give children further opportunities to share their views about the home. Staff address well children’s identity needs, particularly in relation to disability, gender and ethnicity. For example, staff give clear and simple guidance to a child who has learning difficulties to ensure that he has understood what staff advise. The home’s therapists are exploring with another child her family heritage and ethnicity. This is to help her to develop a positive relationship with her family and to increase her self-

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

esteem. Children develop good practical skills to help them prepare for adulthood and moving on. Children participate in the home’s semi-independent programme and show some improvements in managing their personal care, meal preparation and keeping their personal space clean and tidy. Children enjoy safe and appropriate contact with friends and members of their families. Staff are supportive of agreed contact arrangements and encourage children to have family members and friends visit the home if they so wish. Therapists have taken the opportunity to meet with parents privately while they visit the home for contact with their children. Parents are able to provide historical information that was previously unknown and which explains key events in the child’s early childhood. Staff then Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 6 sensitively share the information to help explore the child’s life events and family

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

Children are safe and protected from neglect and harm. They feel safe. One child said, ‘Staff are always on duty. I didn’t trust them at first, but it’s ok now. I think staff would protect me.’ The organisation has clear child protection policies and procedures. Staff receive regular safeguarding training and information. Despite this, not all staff demonstrate a good understanding of the action to take in the event of a child making an allegation against a member of staff. This is not in the best interests of children. Staff are consistent and clear about setting boundaries, which offer children structure to help keep them safe. Staff understand the impact a child’s disability may have on their behaviour, and so staff are careful and sensitive in working with children about their presentation and behaviour. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are tailored to meet the needs of individual children. These are comprehensive and are updated regularly. Staff document

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

positive handling intervention plans that are explicit in offering staff strategies to help curb unacceptable behaviour. Staff devise plans in conjunction with the behaviour support practitioner. These plans are largely successful. A child says of the work that she is undertaking with the therapist, ‘I used to smash things up. Now I can keep my temper, I won’t get anywhere like that. Instead, I take a big breath, go to my room and listen to my music. That’s what I’ve learned and, for the most part, it works.’ Staff maintain detailed records of all critical incidents and any instance when staff restrain children. Staff’s use of restraint is measured and appropriate. They use physical intervention only when there are serious risks to children or others. The home employs a consultant trained in de-escalation techniques, including physical intervention. The majority of the staff receive two-day or refresher training in such interventions. This is to ensure that

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

staff manage children safely if staff need to restrain them. Managers and the consultant monitor and review each critical incident, including when children are restrained. This is to ensure that staff manage situations safely and to explore any learning from such incidents. Records of restraints comply with the regulations. However, there are discrepancies in staff’s recording of dates. This is important to ensure that records accurately reflect when critical incidents take place. Children benefit from staff’s vigilance in their supervision of children and this helps keep them safe. For example, for one child who regularly goes missing from the home without permission, staff discretely follow her to monitor her movements and make sure she is safe. Key-work sessions and work with therapists focus on reducing the child’s risk- taking behaviour. The home’s missing person’s protocols are effective and staff take

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

appropriate actions that reduce the frequency of children going missing. A local authority social worker says, ‘We were looking at an alternative placement due to X’s high risk, but as this has reduced and she has positive relationships. We’re not considering moving her, but continue to review the situation.’ Staff manage complaints, including children’s complaints, promptly and appropriately. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 7 One child said, ’They turned something little that I said into a complaint. I didn’t even mean it like that, but they dealt with it.’ The manager monitors all complaints and investigates concerns. Staff recruitment and vetting practices are safe. The provider completes all of the necessary checks to ensure that staff are of good character and have sufficient experience to work with vulnerable children. New staff have a clear induction period and they receive good support. This means that staff manage complex care tasks only when

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers prioritise the needs of children. The home’s care planning process is effective. Children’s outcomes improve from their starting points and their experiences are positive. Leaders and managers have insight into the home’s strengths and weaknesses and managers continue to drive improvement in the home’s quality of care. Managers have resolved all identified shortfalls from the last inspection. However, staff do not consistently notify Ofsted of key events as outlined in the regulations. This denies the regulatory body an opportunity to review and confirm that staff and managers take appropriate action in response to critical incidents. The registered manager is not in day-to-day management of the home. Another manager is in the process of applying to become the home’s registered manager. This manager is appropriately qualified and experienced and offers the staff team strong leadership. There is sufficient staff in the home at all times; the home is currently

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

recruiting for additional staff. This supports children to meet placement goals. The home is well resourced and is financially viable. The staff receive good support and supervision, which they find useful. Training opportunities are very good and regularly include input from the two therapists and consultants. Staff have access to some specialist team training, for example attachment theory and a training programme exploring teenage relationship development. Team meetings and clinical group supervision are other forums for staff development. Managers conduct annual appraisals to gauge staff’s continuing learning and development. The home’s monitoring systems are effective and help managers identify the strengths and weaknesses of the service. These monitoring systems support the continued improvement of the service and positive outcomes for children. Leaders and managers complete regular internal audits. This helps provide managers with a good overview of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the home’s operation and effectiveness. Staff routinely ask children about their views of the home and their ideas of how to improve their experiences and quality of care. Staff work in effective collaboration with other professionals to promote the protection of children and enhance their general progress. This is particularly the case with local authority social workers, local police teams, youth offending team workers and educational professionals. Case records detail regular information sharing with external partners. A placing authority social worker comments, ‘Communication with staff is good. At times, I have requested information and it has been slow in coming, but not of late. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 8 At least two staff from the home always attend our professionals meetings.’ The home’s statement of purpose is a detailed document that outlines well the aims and objectives of the service and the nature of the care provided. This is to ensure that

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

stakeholders are aware of the services available. The children’s guide is a user-friendly document for children’s use. The guide is a creative summary of services provided and includes information about advocacy and making complaints. Staff maintain children’s case files in an orderly manner. Information is comprehensive and up to date. Key records such as one-to-one sessions, risk assessments, behavioural management plans and records of children who go missing from the home are appropriately detailed. The management and leadership of the home is strong. This has a positive effect on children’s experiences, safety and overall progress.

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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 differences 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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 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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