Children's home run by Sherico Care Services Limited in Westminster

Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 1 SC037543 Registered provider: Sherico Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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 inadequate

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was conducted on 19 August 2017. As a result of the visit, Ofsted imposed a notice restricting accommodation at the home. A further monitoring visit was conducted on 3 October 2017. The notice restricting accommodation at the home remains in place as a result. Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 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

 The provider has failed to appoint a registered manager for the home within the specified 26-week period. Therefore, leadership and management are judged inadequate. This is in line with revised Ofsted guidance. As a result, the overall experiences of children and young people are judged as requiring improvement.  Children do not make good progress from their original starting points while living at the home.  Children‘s educational and health outcomes do not improve as a result of the care that they receive.  Regulation 44 monitoring reports are insufficiently detailed, do not comply with the regulations and are not forwarded to Ofsted in a timely manner.  The organisation‘s internal monitoring systems are not effective and do not result in improvements to the quality of care provided.  Leaders have failed to resolve all the shortfalls identified at the last inspection.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The home has an appointed manager.  Children generally have positive relationships with staff.  The frequency of missing episodes and children‘s extremely challenging behaviour is reducing.  The home‘s staff recruitment drive has been successful.  Staff vetting practices are safe.  Staff recording in key logs and children‘s files shows some improvement since the last inspection.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2017 Interim Not judged 22/11/2016 Full Inadequate 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)) 01/03/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to-

p.3

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(h)) 01/03/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (―the independent person‘s report‖) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‘s opinion as to whether -

p.3

Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children‘s well-being. (Regulation 44(4)(a)(b)) 01/03/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‘s report to- HMCI. (Regulation 44(7)(a)) 01/03/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must- 01/03/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 4 maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37(2)(a)). In particular, a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rosters worked.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to-

p.4

Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(vii)). In particular, that the broken bedroom furniture and the torn settee is replaced. In addition the home should consider purchasing a television for the lounge area. 01/03/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 01/03/2018

p.4

Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‘s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 62, paragraph 14.4). This relates to daily logs, risk assessments, care plans and semi-independence plans. Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 5

p.4

improvement to be good

The inadequate rating for leadership and management has significantly influenced the judgement for this outcome area. The lack of a registered manager for in excess of 26 weeks contributes to the judgement decision. The restriction imposed on accommodation has meant that the service has admitted no new children to the home since the last inspection. Currently, there is one child living at the home.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff provide individualised care to children to help to meet their care planning goals. However, the quality of care does not promote positive outcomes, as children‘s progress largely remains static. A local authority social worker says of the current placement, ‗the social work team are concerned that this placement is not meeting B‘s needs.‘

p.5

improvement to be good

Children do not make significant progress from their original starting points. They do not attend school and do not consistently engage in the educational activities available to them. As a result, their learning outcomes are poor. Similarly, children do not take responsibility for living healthy lifestyles, so their healthcare outcomes are not positive.

p.5

improvement to be good

Children generally share positive relationships with the staff team and believe that staff are interested in their welfare. Child B said of staff: ‗They have a mixture of different staff here. Some I like, some are cool. The staff I didn‘t like have gone now.‘ A member of staff commented: ‗The best thing about my job is working with young people who emotionally need support. As a mum and grandmother, I can put myself in their shoes.‘

p.5

improvement to be good

Children have good opportunity to share their views and opinions about their lives and their experiences at the home. For example, they are able to contribute ideas about the home‘s decor, have a choice of bedroom and enjoy meals that they prefer. Children are aware how to make complaints, as they receive clear information and staff talk with them about this. Children rarely make complaints about the home.

p.5

improvement to be good

Children regularly spend time with their families and friends. Children have access to leisure activities that staff arrange for them. However, they rarely participate, preferring to spend time with family members and friends.

p.5

improvement to be good

The last inspection and subsequent monitoring visits highlighted significant concerns for staff‘s protection of children. This inspection notes some improvement in the home‘s safeguarding practices.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff more consistently adhere to policies and procedures that relate to children being absent without authority or going missing from the home. Records suggest that, while Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 6 the child in placement continues to go missing regularly, the frequency of these episodes is reducing. Staff take appropriate action when children are missing, and related records show some improvement in how they are completed.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff set boundaries with children that help to keep them safe. However, the degree to which staff are successful is variable. Staff use incentives to encourage positive behaviour and sanctions to discourage poor or challenging behaviour. The local authority social worker commented, ‗B seems to understand and respect the sanctions/rewards system and the fact that if he returns to placement all week he can earn a trip at the end.‘ The frequency of physical confrontations with staff has reduced and there are fewer critical incidents than in the recent past.

p.6

improvement to be good

However, the child currently living at the home continues to display challenging behaviour and to demand that staff adopt his point of view when there are disputes. The child‘s youth offending team (YOT) worker says of the placement: ‗B shouldn‘t have continued to live there. He enjoys playing professionals against each other. He appears to be free to do whatever he wants, free to go wherever he wants. I don‘t think it‘s gotten any better.‘

p.6

improvement to be good

Staff devise risk assessments very regularly, particularly when incidents occur. However, these risk assessments are not always explicit about the strategies that staff should use to help to reduce similar incidents or prevent them from recurring.

p.6

improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to develop independent living skills. Some children have preparing for adulthood as a placement goal. Children regularly cook meals for themselves, tidy their bedrooms and do their laundry. The home has good recording tools that assess the children‘s practical living skills and identify areas for further development. However, staff do not make use of these tools, so are unable to assess children‘s progress fully as they prepare for adulthood.

p.6

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been no allegations against staff or any instances of staff using restraint. The staff team, many of whom are newly appointed, receive training in child protection, managing challenging behaviour and missing persons procedures. This supports them to provide care that helps to keep children safe.

p.6

improvement to be good

Staff work in partnership with other professionals. This is particularly the case for local police teams in relation to children going missing. Managers request multi-agency strategy meetings to address persistent episodes of unauthorised absences and being missing from the home. Staff‘s communication with other professionals is adequate. The child‘s social worker commented: ‗Communication between staff and myself is good. I am kept updated with information.‘ The child‘s YOT worker commented that contact with staff at the home had been ‗intermittent‘.

p.6

improvement to be good

Leaders‘ recruitment and vetting of staff are safe. This was not the case at the last inspection, and staff recruitment practices were a cause for concern. Managers have improved upon staff vetting practices and can now evidence all vetting information, as required. This ensures that the staff team is suitable to work with vulnerable children. Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 7 The home‘s building is physically safe and secure to meet the needs of children. There are no health and safety issues. Staff ensure that there are good fire precaution systems in place and they conduct regular building checks. Staff conduct room searches appropriately.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant weaknesses in the leadership and management of the home. This does not support improvements in the home‘s quality of care or the experiences and outcomes for children.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has had no registered manager since January 2016. The home‘s previous manager withdrew her application to become the registered manager. The current appointed manager has been absent from the home for a significant length of time. At present, the home‘s newly appointed deputy manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the home. This arrangement is unsatisfactory, and management oversight of the home is weak.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The last inspection highlighted weaknesses in the home‘s internal and external monitoring systems. There has been little improvement. The provider still fails to ensure that independent regulation 44 monthly monitoring visits take place and that reports are forwarded to Ofsted. The monitoring reports that Ofsted receives are of a poor quality. They do not comply with the regulations and do not help to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The organisation‘s internal monitoring is ineffective. For example, managers complete case file audits, but some records, such as daily logs and staff rotas, are inaccurate, confusing and difficult to follow. Risk assessments and care plans do not consistently offer staff clear guidance about the work that they must do in order to meet children‘s needs and to reduce risks. Records of children‘s semi-independent programmes are blank.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The last inspection and subsequent monitoring visits identified concerns for the home‘s staffing patterns. There was evidence to suggest that staff were working alone with children. The staff rotas are unclear, and in many cases they inaccurately identify which member of staff is on shift. The home is required to keep clear and correct records of which staff member is working with children on any given shift and to confirm that lone working does not happen.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home‘s physical environment requires improvement. In particular, there is broken furniture in child B‘s bedroom and a torn settee in the lounge. The television for the lounge is missing. Children say that they would like the television replaced.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The vetting and recruitment of staff show improvement since the last inspection. Staff confirm that they receive good support from their managers and regular supervision, and that long-serving staff receive appraisals. The home‘s new responsible individual has Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 8 undertaken some of these.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive good training that supports safe care practice. More recently, managers encourage staff to take classroom-based learning as opposed to mainly e-learning. Staff appreciate the opportunity to develop new knowledge and skills with their colleagues.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose is a detailed document that outlines the aims and objectives of the service. However, the document requires revision, as it does not contain details of the responsible individual, the staff and their qualifications. This a requirement of the regulations.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home require significant improvement if the home is to have a positive effect on the experiences, progress and safety of children.

p.8

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 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.8

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: SC037543 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sherico Care Services Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2–4 Balmoral Road, London E10 5ND

p.9

Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Patrick Sullivan, regulation inspection manager Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

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 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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10