Children's Home run by Benecare Limited in Kent

Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 1 SC401927 Registered provider: Benecare Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by an organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 September 2017

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 14 December 2016

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This children‟s home requires improvement to be good because:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Staffing difficulties, including the sudden departure of the previous manager and other staff, have adversely affected the dynamics of the home.  Recording and reporting is variable in quality and frequency.  Risk assessments fail to adequately detail the risks or provide effective strategies to reduce them.  Health monitoring practice is not widely understood by the staff team and some recommended monitoring equipment is yet to be obtained.  Children‟s progress is difficult to monitor due to the gaps in recording.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The new manager has a proven track record with the organisation. She is in the process of registering with Ofsted.  The turnover of staff has provided an opportunity to bring enthusiastic people to the team. This is supporting the manager to develop practice.  The children have continued to make progress and are settled at the home.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2016 Full Requires improvement 17/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/07/2015 Full Requires improvement 03/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff 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. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i) 30/11/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the registered person must ensure that the health and well-being needs of children are met. (Regulation 10(1)(a)) 30/11/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 30/11/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(2)(a)(b)(c)) 30/03/2018

p.3

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children‟s guide helps the children to understand the day-to-day routines of the home and what they can expect to receive in terms of care from living there. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

p.3

improvement to be good

A lack of accurate care planning detracts from the overall progress children make and Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 4 their experience in the home. Internal care plans have been cut and pasted, resulting in targets being repeated. Where children make some progress, this is not detailed in the plans. Staff have not developed goals in line with the children‟s changing needs. Some information from the previous year that was no longer relevant was still on records that had been updated. These shortfalls mean that the care children receive is not sufficiently personalised to reflect their needs.

p.3

improvement to be good

Key-worker relationships have been disrupted by the staff turnover. There are, however, some long standing staff who have built good relationships with children. One child said, „The staff here are good, I can talk to any of them.‟ Staff hold one-to-one meetings with the children. However, staff have not consistently used these opportunities to review children‟s progress or to develop new goals for them. This has resulted in lacklustre plans and records that fail to demonstrate the progress that children have made, or the progress that they could make. The staff have ensured that communication with the children meets their needs. The picture exchange communication system (PECS) is used throughout the home. In each room, choice boards and symbols are clearly displayed. This has enabled the children who use PECS to enjoy greater participation and clearer communication with the staff. Admissions to the home are carefully considered. The manager and director of care work

p.4

improvement to be good

together to discuss potential placements and will undertake visits to assess further the match with the existing children. The staff have developed effective plans for children moving in and out of the home. As a result of this, children arriving at the home and those leaving have been well prepared for the changes they experienced. The behaviour of some of the children has improved recently. The new manager‟s consistent, child-focused approach and careful planning has enabled the teams to reflect and adapt plans to achieve better outcomes for the children. The children have good attendance at school, with a home tutor providing flexible learning for one child. The child is learning a foreign language and is learning to cook meals from the country as part of the lesson. This individualised approach to care and education is a good example of the new manager‟s enthusiastic approach. Since the last inspection, staff have undergone further training to increase their

p.4

improvement to be good

knowledge of the particular needs of the children. Recent training has covered specific medical conditions relevant to the current needs of the children. As a result of this, staff are better informed to meet the individual needs of the children. The staff ensure that children attend medical appointments. However, staff can be slow to respond to advice and they do not widely understand the systems that are in place for monitoring some conditions. This lack of clear understanding of required processes could result in ineffective monitoring, as staff are not clear what to record and where. The children enjoy different activities. Some attend a local youth club, while others enjoy visiting the beach and the local countryside. The manager has recently refurbished a summer house to provide a sensory space for the children to enjoy. The development of social spaces in the home enables the children to spend time relaxing in their own space

p.4

improvement to be good

as some are sensitive to the noise of others. Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 5

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff have undertaken safeguarding training and are clear about what to report, to whom and when. During the inspection, staff did not express any concerns about how children are cared for and safeguarded. For a child who has previously gone missing, details of what may cause him to go missing, including when and where he might go, are clear and procedures are detailed, clear and widely understood. This supports staff in prioritising the safety of the children. Risk assessments are largely generic and, in some cases, are not in place. For example, at the time of inspection, one child had equipment in their bedroom with no risk assessment in place for its use.. The manager responded to this immediately. However, the sampling of other cases showed that risks were not always adequately assessed. Some risk assessments had been in place for six months with no signatures, and therefore it could not be reliably known if staff had read or understood them. This

p.5

improvement to be good

results in risks being potentially unknown, with a lack of effective strategies in place to guide staff in what to do. Physical intervention is used as a last resort. The new manager has refreshed the staff focus on positively engaging with the children. This has effectively reduced the need for physical intervention. The proactive management style has also invigorated the staff, reigniting their passion for child-focused work. Partnership working arrangements between staff and external specialist agencies, such as schools and paediatricians, are good. The manager has arranged for specialist help for one child who made a threat related to fire. Following a key-work session, a fire safety specialist visited the home to support the learning needs of the child. This is a good example of the manager‟s ambition to develop the home and support the children to have positive outcomes. The staff undertake regular health and safety checks around the home to ensure the

p.5

improvement to be good

safety of the environment. Personal evacuation plans are in place for each child and all the children can participate in fire drills. With staff support, children know how to exit the building in the event of a fire. The home is generally comfortable and welcoming. Development plans include the refurbishment of the bathrooms, which are in need of redecoration. The children‟s bedrooms are decorated to their individual taste, providing a comfortable space for the children to relax.

p.5

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

The new manager has worked successfully for the organisation for several years. She has enrolled on the level 5 diploma and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. She is aware of the shortfalls of the service and has plans in place to address them. The service has been affected by several factors:

p.5

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

 the unexpected departure of the previous manager Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 6  chronic staff absence  significant staff turnover.

p.5

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

The new manager has been in post since June. She quickly identified the areas of strengths and weaknesses and has made some progress in addressing them. Supervision of staff has become more frequent and new staff feel well supported. One staff member said, „It feels like I‟ve worked here for years. I‟ve been so welcomed by the company and the staff, who are all really supportive.‟ The independent visitor makes suggestions to improve practice. However, some actions have been carried over because they are not complete. The manager is developing systems to improve the responses to the recommendations of the independent visitor, and to improve internal monitoring. She has updated the children‟s files to bring them in line with the quality across the organisation. However, the improvements are yet to be fully embedded. Since the last inspection, management and staffing changes have impacted on the service. Record-keeping has been inconsistent and the new manager has had to

p.6

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

prioritise which area to tackle first. Her focus has remained on the children; however, this has meant that there are ongoing shortfalls in recording and reporting. As a result, records fail to provide full and useful evidence of children‟s progress. The progress and development of the children is variable. Staff do not document the progress and experiences of the children adequately. There is a lack of evidence of children‟s starting points and progression. Records of one-to-one time with the children are variable. Consequently, it is difficult for children and staff to judge how well children are doing and how they are progressing towards their goals. This does not enable managers and staff to properly oversee and review children‟s progress. Staff meetings are not sufficiently regular. Significant gaps between meetings have contributed to an inconsistent understanding of the manager‟s expectations for the

p.6

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

monitoring and recording of some aspects of the care provided. As a result, staff are not clear about the changes being implemented by the leaders, reducing the effectiveness of implementation plans. The statement of purpose is up to date and is amended when necessary. This detailed document clearly highlights the aims and objectives of the service. A children‟s guide to the home provides an overview of the home, and the rules and expectations. However, it does not include the home‟s daily routines or the use of door alarms. As a result, external agencies, children and their families do not receive clear information relating to this aspect of the service. The shortfalls highlighted in this report have impacted on the service and the overall experiences of the children. However, the manager has made a positive impact on the service in a relatively short space of time. She has begun to make changes that focus on

p.6

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

supporting the children. The development plans that the manager has begun to implement include actions to address the other issues highlighted in this report.

p.6

Information about this inspection

Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 7 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.

p.7

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: SC401927 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 113a St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks TN13 3PE

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stephen Richmond

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post Vacant Daniella Harding

p.8

Inspector

Sarah Olliver, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC401927 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9