Jamma Umoja

Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 1 Jamma Umoja Jamma Umoja (Community Services) Limited 23 Haling Park Road, South Croydon, Surrey CR2 6NJ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is a family resource service offering assessment and treatment services. A group of directors owns the company.

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre provides assessments of parenting on a residential basis and in the community. The centre can accommodate up to nine families

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 19 August 2015

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This residential family centre is good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Families receive services that are individualised to meet their specific assessment needs.  Assessment tools are very effective in evaluating the parenting skills of parents.  Families understand the purpose of their placement and the concerns that placing authorities or the courts have about their care of their children.  Parents give positive feedback about staff and the overall service that they receive.  Parents feel that their experiences help them to provide safer care to their children.  Staff receive good support from line managers, and staff training is excellent.  Written assessments and final reports are of a high standard.  Staff work in effective partnership with other professionals.  Leaders and managers have streamlined services, and this has improved the centre’s functioning.  Leaders and managers have introduced new initiatives, which improves the quality and range of services available to families.

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Key findings from this inspection

The residential family centre’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers have failed to establish and maintain effective systems that monitor the quality of the service.  Leaders do not consistently conduct monthly regulation 25 monitoring visits.  Leaders do not consistently forward quality of care reviews and monitoring reports to Ofsted as required.  Staff recruitment and vetting practices are not sufficiently robust.  Not all records of complaints include their outcomes. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Statutory requirements

Requirement Due date Review of quality of care

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall establish and maintain a system for— (a) reviewing at appropriate intervals; and (b) improving the quality of care provided at the residential family centre. (Regulation 23 (1)(a)(b)) 01/02/2018

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Statutory requirements

The registered provider must supply to Ofsted a report in respect of any review conducted by him under regulation 23 and make a copy of the report available to residents. (Regulation 23 (2)) 01/02/2018

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Statutory requirements

Where the registered provider is a partnership, the residential family centre shall be visited in accordance with this regulation by— (a) the responsible individual or one of the partners. (Regulation 25 (2)) 01/02/2018

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Statutory requirements

(3) Visits under paragraph (1) or (2) shall take place at least once a month and may be unannounced. (4) The person carrying out the visit shall— (a) interview, with their consent and in private such of the residents and persons working at the residential family centre as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the residential family centre (b) inspect the premises of the residential family centre, records of any complaints; and (c) prepare a written report on the conduct of the residential family centre. (5) The registered provider shall supply a copy of the report 01/02/2018 Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 4 required to be made under paragraph (4)(c) to— (a) Ofsted, (b) the registered manager; and (c) to each of the partners. (Regulation 25 (3)(4) (a)(b)(c)(5)(a)(b)(c)) Employment of staff

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Statutory requirements

(3) For the purpose of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work in a residential family centre unless— (d) full and satisfactory information is available for each person employed in respect of all matters specified in Schedule 2. (Regulation 16 (3)(d)) 01/02/2018

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Statutory requirements

(5) The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him— (a) receive appropriate supervision. (Regulation 17 (5)(a)) 01/02/2018

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Statutory requirements

The registered person must ensure that a written record is made of any complaint or representation, the action taken in response, and the outcome of the investigation. (Regulation 20 (6)) 01/02/2018 Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families receive services that meet their individual assessment needs. Parents are aware of the purpose of their placement, the nature of assessments and staff’s expectations of them. One parent commented, ‘I know the local authority had concerns for me as a parent. I’m here for monitoring, help and support.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families settle at the centre quickly. The support and encouragement that they receive from staff is good. A parent commented, ‘My first impression? I was a bit scared. I had no idea what I was walking into, and that first night I was anxious. It was only when I met with my key worker that I started to feel at ease. She explained everything to me and then I felt more settled.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families build trusted and secure relationships with the staff team. A parent, new to the centre, said, ‘The staff are friendly, they make me feel comfortable. You get a chance, it’s not based on opinion.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Children and parents benefit from staff’s use of wide-ranging assessment tools and methods. Final reports are of a high quality. Assessments are child focused, evidenced based and analytical, with well-triangulated evidence. They provide good insight and understanding of families’ histories, identified difficulties and risks, and how the assessment intends to address unsafe parenting practices. A parent commented, ‘If it, the report, does come up negative, there’s a reason for it. I trust this place.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff pay good attention to issues of equality and diversity. For example, parents attend dedicated women’s groups and men’s groups. Staff and all families recently celebrated Jamaican Independence Day. Staff are skilled and experienced in working effectively with parents who have learning difficulties. Family plans and assessment techniques fully take into account parents’ learning needs, and these support safe care practice. Managers are moving towards making use of modified Parental Assessment Manual Software (PAMS) assessments with all families. Leaders and managers are exploring this initiative, following consultation with the individual responsible for devising the PAMS model.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families have good access to translation and interpreting services. A mother said of her experiences, ‘It’s like a family because I’m here alone in this country. I get treated the same, with respect. Staff love my baby.’ A father described his concern about not being able to attend his place of worship once at the centre. He said, ‘I’m a Muslim and attend mosque every Friday. It wasn’t an issue here as staff just changed my meetings, so I could go. Not a problem at all.’ The staff team has a good skill mix and is diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity. Staff team members have extensive experience of working within an anti-discriminatory framework with vulnerable families that have complex needs. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 6 Staff promote education and healthy lifestyles. There is a keen focus on healthy eating, and the daily tuck shop encourages this ethos. Cooking classes are a regular

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

activity at the centre. Parents receive support to address substance misuse issues, and staff conduct random drug and alcohol testing to help keep children and parents safe. Arrangements for managing medication are appropriate. Families access primary care services, and parents receive good support to address emotional and mental health support needs. On site, parents attend group reflective and ‘Think Space’ sessions, which help explore their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Children and parents enjoy a range of play, social and recreational activities. Families make routine use of the centre’s conservatory for movie nights, group relaxation and board game activities. Children have access to the playroom, which contains a wide range of play, music and educational materials. Staff encourage families’ participation in planned activities, such as a dance academy, summer barbecues, and social events within the local community. Parents particularly enjoy the weekly coffee morning hosted by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Children have access to family members and their significant others when it is safe for them to do so. Care plans are explicit about contact arrangements. These detail which individuals may visit the centre and those prohibited from having any form of contact with families. This is to safeguard children and, in many cases, resident parents themselves. The centre’s contact room is comfortable and contains appropriate play and recreational equipment. Staff provide supervised contact and subsequent reports as required.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff consider the protection of children their highest priority. They ensure that their protection of children is robust and that children do not experience harm, abuse or neglect. This is also the case for staff’s protection of adults. The staff team’s vigilance and supervision is effective, and very few critical incidents occur at the centre. Parents are clear about the concerns that the local authority and courts have about their ability to care safely for their children.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

A father said of the service, ‘I’ve gone from being a nervous wreck, to now having the confidence to hold my baby. I’ve gone from zero to hero in a matter of weeks. She has a lovely routine now.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families feel that staff are genuinely interested in their welfare. A parent said, ‘Staff are interested in my views, they listen. They are really flexible with my programmes. The staff are friendly, helpful people and they give good advice – both what’s good and what’s going wrong. They’re like family, really nice.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families benefit from comprehensive, robust child and adult protection procedures, which support staff practices. Staff manage allegations appropriately. There have Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 7 been no instances of anyone going missing, or staff using restraint techniques. Staff understand the risks that the use of the internet may pose for children and parents. In order to minimise risks, staff conduct routine checks of parents’ mobile phones and electronic devices to promote the protection of family members. One parent, who is not returning home with his child, said, ‘Domestic violence was part of my past history. I’m due to go home soon, but I still attend groups. It helps me to reflect on things past.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families receive information about making complaints and are confident that staff will take seriously any concerns that they express. Since the last inspection, the centre has received a number of complaints. Staff managed these promptly and appropriately. However, the centre’s complaint logs do not always record the outcome of complaints as required.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families receive clear messages from staff about treating each other with respect. A number of complaints received from families have been about other residents. Staff ensure that families have the opportunity in residents’ meetings and in private one- to-one sessions to try to resolve difficulties sensitively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Individual, up-to-date risk assessments address effectively any known vulnerabilities for each child and adult. These set out what action staff should take to protect each individual family member. There are clear plans in place that help to minimise actual and potential risks. The centre’s use of CCTV, one-to-one supervision and staff escorting is subject to change. This is in response to the level of risks posed by families.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre’s recruitment and vetting procedures require improvement. Not all written references, application forms or staff induction relate to the post that staff members currently hold. In additional, staff files do not contain confirmation of relevant formal qualifications as required. This does not confirm that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children and adults.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and parents enjoy and are comfortable in their surroundings. The centre is a safe, homely and secure environment. Staff regularly review and update risk assessments for the building. The recent refurbishment of the kitchen and ongoing redecoration of the premises gives the building a pleasant, modern feel. Parents are complimentary about their accommodation, particularly of their self-contained private space.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents understand that the centre’s use of CCTV and audio monitoring is for the protection of family members. Staff use surveillance methods appropriately to help minimise the risk of harm or abuse to children and adults. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 8

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good

Leaders and managers of the centre have a clear vision for the development and expansion of the service. Their ambitions are realistic and promote a high quality of care. However, managers continue to fail to comply with key regulations in relation to the leadership and management of the centre. These include inconsistent monitoring and reporting on the quality of the service. This was identified as a weakness at the previous inspection and remains so at this inspection.

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good

Monthly monitoring visits do not happen systematically. Different staff members complete tasks that help to inform the monitoring process. This is ineffective. Consequently, reports are disjointed and do not contain strong analysis that helps to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the service. Managers do not produce reports in a timely fashion, and there are significant delays in forwarding reports to Ofsted. This is a breach of the regulations.

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good

This is also the case for the six-monthly quality of care review reports. Managers are also required to forward these reports to Ofsted, but do not do so. This is a breach of the regulations.

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good

The staff team members feel well supported and generally receive regular supervision, which they find helpful. However, records of staff supervision do not demonstrate that all staff receive supervision regularly. The previous inspection also highlighted this as an issue.

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good

Leaders and managers have recently restructured staffing patterns at the centre, and there are now dedicated teams, which work together. The teams are stable, with an increased sense of accountability and a shared vision and ambition for service improvement. The centre is properly staffed and is well resourced to meet the service’s stated aims and objectives.

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good

The registered manager is an experienced, qualified social worker with extensive experience of managing residential family centres and working with families that have highly complex needs. In recent months, the registered manager has reviewed the function and operation of the centre. This has resulted in the delegation of a number of key roles to other senior staff. This streamlining of tasks has offered staff the opportunity to introduce some specialist features. For example, one of the social workers has taken the lead on promoting life story work. Families now undertake this sensitive piece of work in a meaningful way. They are able to explore their own backgrounds and share information creatively with their children. This is irrespective of whether or not they return to the community to care for their children independently.

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good

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have enlisted the services of a human resources company. The staff induction process shows improvement and, to date, all staff have undergone annual appraisals. In recent months, managers have Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 9 made use of the organisation’s staff disciplinary procedures to ensure that staff performances promote high-quality care.

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good

Staff training and development is excellent. Children and adults benefit from the entire staff team receiving training in PAMS. Staff have an in-depth knowledge of this assessment model. This ensures that there is a good understanding of the model and its impact at all staff levels and that there is careful coordination of effective work with families.

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good

Staff responsible for the completion of written assessments are very experienced, skilled, qualified social workers. Staff have an excellent knowledge of key issues that help to inform practice and support their assessments. A family court judge recently commented in his ruling, ‘JU was a good choice for the dilemmas that were presented by this case. The evidence of JU’s officers has been impressive and carefully presented.’

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good

Staff receive good support and supervision in preparing written reports. This results in consistently high-quality assessment reports with realistic recommendations about children’s lives. Staff have excellent opportunities to reflect on their practice. This is a priority for managers and contributes to the continual improvement of the service.

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good

Leaders show commitment to demonstrating the difference that the service is making to the lives of families. They are keen to track the progress made by children and adults. Newly introduced management tools monitor the impact that various assessment tools and programmes are having in evaluating the parenting skills of adults. Staff team meetings have a focus on placement issues and progression.

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good

There is frequent case file auditing to ensure that records are clear and assessments are effective. A newly developed multi-professional panel, involving the directors, social workers and the agency psychologist, is in place. This is to review the progression of cases on a fortnightly basis. Reviews also ensure that staff practices reflect the ethos and objectives of the service.

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good

The centre’s revised statement of purpose is a comprehensive document that outlines well to stakeholders the aims and objectives of the service. Staff collaborate closely with other professionals working with families at the point of their admission to the centre and thereafter. This is particularly the case for physical health and mental health professionals, local authority social workers and staff of community- based services.

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good

Written feedback from a local authority social worker states, ‘I have been pleased with the service from Jamma Umoja. I have been kept updated and informed. I was impressed by the recommendation meeting as the manager was clear and transparent with the parents, and because of this I could say with confidence to others as to what advice the parents had been given.’ Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 1 Staff’s liaison and communication with key partners is effective, and professionals are able to make a significant contribution to the assessment process. This ensures that assessments are reflective of the centre’s multi-disciplinary approach to working with families.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 1

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Jamma Umoja (Community Services) Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 272 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4JR

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Residential family centre details

Email address: wayne.pearson@jamma-umoja.org

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 1 to 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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