Children's home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 1 SC046480 Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company which operates four homes in the south of England. It is registered for four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 September 2017

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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 outstanding

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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: 14 December 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children and young people receive high-quality, individual care. They have excellent relationships with the staff. The staff make time for the children and young people. Frequent key-working meetings help residents with important areas of their lives.  The registered manager carries out good individual and group risk assessments. Placement plans describe the children’s and young people’s needs very well. The children and young people help the staff to write their own placement plans.  The children’s and young people’s complex needs sometimes lead them into difficulty. In spite of this, they have all made good progress in every area of their lives.  The registered manager responds very quickly to any safeguarding concerns. He meets with the agencies working with the children and young people to review risk levels.  The manager prioritises and delegates well. He has excellent systems in place to

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Key findings from this inspection

make sure that the home is managed efficiently. No requirements or recommendations have been made as a result of this inspection.

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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

 Some children and young people in the home experience frequent serious incidents. One child goes missing and places herself in risky situations. The home should continue to keep this young person’s safety under review.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/04/2016 Full Good 20/11/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people receive a very good standard of care. The quality of direct work with the children and young people is exceptionally good. The staff hold regular and spontaneous key-worker sessions. These are important conversations with the residents. This work helps the children and young people to make progress towards their targets. During the inspection, most children and young people were relaxed and enjoying activities with their staff. The children and young people always have someone with whom they can speak if they are worried about anything. When the children and young people make complaints, these are investigated fairly. The staff and managers have a good understanding of the effects of trauma and abuse. This understanding is reflected in exceptionally good placement plans. Detailed and readable plans help the staff to foresee difficulties before they arise. When the children

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and young people are distressed or anxious, the staff act quickly to defuse difficult situations. This helps to avoid a major incident. The registered manager and staff encourage the children and young people to participate in a wide range of activities. During the inspection, children and young people were playing board games and cards with staff. One young person, who is now the captain of his local football club, was getting ready to go with a member of staff to watch a Premier League match. This young man has done well in the home in other ways. He also set up and ran quiz nights twice a week for several months, for his peers and staff to enjoy. All the children and young people have made some progress in their education. This varies according to their individual areas of difficulty. Some young people are not in school but enjoy attending a community farm as part of their education. They love working with animals and are considering this as a career. Another child has 97% school

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

attendance. He has achieved a Young Writer Award at school and is about to have a poem published. Some young people are ready to learn independence skills. The staff encourage young people to take increasing responsibility for looking after themselves. One young person cooks weekly meals for everyone in the home, to promote his cooking skills. The children’s and young people’s health needs are very well recorded. The staff help them to access all the help that they require. As a result of the staff’s intervention, one young person is now having help with his eyesight, speech and language. As a result, he is better able to cope with education. Children and young people are referred to specialist services, such as the child and adolescent mental health service, when required. The staff make sure that the children and young people receive a good, well-balanced diet to maintain their health and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a very rigorous system for monitoring medication. The registered Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 4 manager or the practice manager now carry out medicine audits twice a week. All staff are to receive updated training from a pharmaceutical company. This ensures that the administration and recording system for medicines is safe. Since the previous inspection, three children and young people have been admitted to the home. Two young people have left. Each prospective resident is carefully assessed before they are introduced to the home. Admissions and discharges are planned very carefully, with the child or young person at the centre of the process. The staff help the children and young people to enjoy positive contact with family members, in line with the placing authority’s plans. Some young people are working towards moving back home. To prepare for this, the staff have helped them to increase

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the contact that they have with their families. As a result, the children’s and young people’s behaviour is more settled and they have fewer incidents. Other children and young people have started to meet close family members with whom they have had no contact for many years. The staff have worked well with parents and placing social workers to manage the new contact arrangements sensitively.

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

The home produces comprehensive risk assessments on individual children and young people. These provide good-quality information to help the staff to care for children and young people safely. The registered manager’s compatibility risk assessments help to match the children and young people safely. Some residents, who were well matched at the outset, become incompatible over time. When this happens, the manager acts swiftly to protect all parties and make sure that they are safe. Occasionally, this may mean requesting that the local authority moves a child or young person elsewhere. This is never done without considerable reflection. The staff have offered to provide continuing support for one young person who is about to move to another service outside the area. This will help the young person to continue to follow keen sporting interests. This is good, child-centred practice. The lounge and kitchen are already decorated to a good standard. The staff have plans

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

to refresh the decoration in these areas. This will further improve the environment. The home is currently experiencing a high number of incidents. This is due to some children and young people experiencing changes in their lives, so it is no reflection on the home. The number of incidents has decreased for some children and young people. Some children and young people go missing and place themselves in risky situations. They also harm themselves when they go missing. The registered manager and staff act quickly and correctly to keep children and young people safe. The registered manager works closely with other professionals to manage the continuing risks of children and young people repeatedly going missing. The registered manager said that every time there is a new incident, there is now a multi-agency meeting to keep these children’s and young people’s safety under constant review. There have been a small number of safeguarding issues in the home. For example, a

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 5 young person managed to gain access to an adult-content website. This was in spite of protective software and education for the residents on e-safety. As a result, a younger child saw inappropriate images. The computer was removed because the risk of a further breach of security was too high to manage safely. Currently, the children and young people do not have access to a computer within the home. The registered manager will keep this under review as the group of children and young people changes over time. If any children or young people make a disclosure, the matter is reported immediately to the relevant children’s services department. A risk management plan is put in place to add further protection. Risk management meetings are convened. These measures protect the children and young people well. A social worker praised the manager’s swift and decisive action in one instance.

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

Staff recruitment is carried out safely. The recruitment files show a high standard of checking and information. This helps to ensure that unsuitable people do not work with children and young people. The staff encourage children and young people to behave well. They do this through a fair system of rewards and restorative consequences. The registered manager makes sure that staff follow consistent strategies. This means that the children and young people understand what is expected of them. When children and young people have to be restrained, this is always done correctly and for the right reasons. Staff are well trained to hold children and young people safely. Behaviour management plans are clear that when it is not safe to hold children and young people, alternative strategies must be used. All restraints are very well recorded. The registered manager monitors them closely and debriefs the children, young people

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff and social workers think very highly of the registered manager. Comments include ‘he is brilliant’ and ‘he goes over and above, all the time’. Placing social workers praised the manager’s skills with the staff and young people, and his good communication. The registered manager, who holds a management qualification at level 4, is very aware of the staff and the individual children’s and young people’s needs. His colleagues value his leadership skills. He also has excellent relationships with the children and young people and always places their needs first. For example, a child was worried about something that had happened. The registered manager received some news and then went out to visit the child while he was on an activity away from the home. This meant that the child did not have to carry that anxiety for the rest of the day. The registered manager works very well with families and other agencies. His

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

professional relationships help the children and young people to achieve positive outcomes. He has a very good understanding of the children’s and young people’s progress. To this end, he has been researching novel ways to help the children and young people to use technology to help them engage in managing their own aims and Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 6 targets. The manager’s work is well supported by good-quality independent visitor’s reports. The registered manager regards these reports, as well as those from Ofsted, as an opportunity for further development. The home has a very experienced and skilful staff team. Most staff members hold a qualification at level 3 in the care of children and young people or are working towards this award. The company has a very good programme of induction and in-service training. The staff receive good-quality supervision, which the registered manager uses to help

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

keep track of practice in the home. When the registered manager is on leave, the practice manager deputises very well. She is a knowledgeable and experienced member of staff, who is exceptionally supportive of anyone joining the team. The manager and staff receive regular consultation from a qualified child psychotherapist. This person specialises in trauma and attachment. Their valued contribution to the staff training and development programme helps the manager and the staff to understand and respond to difficult situations in an optimal way. Notifications made to Ofsted have been timely and appropriate. This allows Ofsted the opportunity to comment on any safeguarding incidents and enhances the children’s and young people’s safety.

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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: SC046480 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Lytton Road, New Barnet, Barnet EN5 5BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Kendall

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Inspector(s)

Heather Chaplin: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 8 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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