Children's Home run by Channels and Choices Kent LLP in Kent

Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 1 SC385631 Registered provider: Channels and Choices Kent LLP

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for no more than four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Therapeutic and educational services are available. A partnership company runs the home.

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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: 11 October 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children benefit from the therapeutic ethos that is threaded through everything that the staff do for them. The staff’s nurturing and supportive approach provides the children with safe, predictable care.  Positive relationships between the children and adults are underpinned by a mutual respect. Daily meetings provide an open forum for sharing experiences. Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 2  Children are making progress. Some have moved on in a planned way and others are making progress against their placement targets.  A strong culture of learning is promoted by the staff. All of the children have good school attendance and are achieving, and, in one case, exceeding their projected learning milestones.  Leaders and managers have high aims for the children. The managers’ passion and enthusiasm is understood and replicated by their team

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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

 Health and safety checks had not identified a blocked fire exit or trailing and overloaded wires in the staff office.  Not all staff are familiar with the local arrangements for safeguarding reporting and whistleblowing.  Bullying has been ongoing among the children. Although staff have responded to it, it has yet to be resolved.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2016 Full Good 07/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/01/2016 Full Good 04/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire. (Regulation 25(1)(a)) 30/11/2017

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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

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Recommendations

 Produce a children’s guide which should help children to understand what the day to day routines of the home are (‘what happens in the home’), the Statement of Purpose of the home (the care they can expect to receive while living there). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22) In particular, present the information in a child-friendly, age- appropriate manner and ensure that the details for Ofsted and the children’s commissioner are correct.

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse such as peer abuse, cyber-bullying and bullying in day to day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)

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Recommendations

 Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the therapeutic environment of this home. Staff are well trained in therapeutic care and deliver nurturing support. Relationships between the staff and the children are positive, with all of the children describing adults whom they can talk to if they are worried. The staff have high aspirations for the children. This is indicative of their passion and commitment in supporting the children to achieve positive outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff make use of daily meetings to help the children explore their thoughts and feelings. Themes within the home such as bullying or health and safety are explored, with staff supporting the children to reflect and consider each other’s feelings. Specialist assessments and interventions result in the children’s needs being well understood and met by the skilled staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is valued and promoted in this home. The staff take an interest in the children’s education and have positive links with the schools that they attend. The children are making academic progress, with one child exceeding her expected learning goals. Close working between the education and care staff ensures that the children receive consistent care. If the children are experiencing difficulties in school, the staff are quick to respond and welcome them home with a child-focused and nurturing approach. This is typical of the therapeutic approach that is well embedded into practice and provides the children with a safe haven.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are welcomed to the home in a planned way. Careful matching assesses the impact of a new arrival on the group dynamics. The children are prepared for new arrivals and help welcome new children by making them cards and introducing them to the daily meetings. They share their own experiences and talk to new children about the rules and the fun things on offer. Equally, the children leaving the home have carefully planned moves with visits planned to enable them to gradually transfer their loyalties to their new carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Clear and consistent boundaries help the children to learn acceptable behaviour. The staff work cohesively to ensure consistent practice and make good use of therapeutic thinking time to reflect on the dynamics on the home. Behaviour management is clear and tailored to individual needs. The staff have adapted their approach as the dynamics have changed. They have made good use of consultations with the organisation’s psychologist to underpin their thinking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are vigilant about administering and storing medication. Their ability to recognise harmful side effects enabled them to quickly seek further advice for one child. This resulted in a change to his medication, which had a positive impact on his health and wellbeing. This is a good example of how well attuned the staff are to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from professionals working with the staff is positive. Written plans are shared with social workers who are able to comment on them and make adaptions in Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 5 consultation with the staff. Communication is open and regular, and families feel well informed. This culture of partnership working and openness enables families to build trust in the staff. One parent commented, ‘They do a good job. We work together and I know he is safe with them as they keep me up to date.’

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

Children living at this home all have trusted adults whom they can go to if they have any worries. However the dynamics have changed as children have left and others joined the group. Bullying between the children is occurring, and despite staff taking some measures to address it, it is continuing. The staff are promoting the children’s individual friendships and interests outside the home. All children have social links in the community and some sleep over at friends’ houses.

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

Risk assessments are generic and fail to adequately identify individual risks or provide reliable strategies to manage them. This has not resulted in any harm to children. Impact assessments and placement plans are detailed and link to regular key-work sessions which demonstrate the progress the children are making. The staff are clear about the expectations for key-working, and records show that children engage in the process well.

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

Behaviour management plans clearly detail strategies to guide staff on what to do and when. Physical interventions are used as a last resort. Records of interventions are clear, and describe the measures taken prior to the hold and the support given to the child afterwards. Staff use a therapeutic approach to rebuild relationships after challenging behaviour occurs, and use key-work sessions well to help the children understand the difficult emotions they feel. This results in children making more positive choices and the need for physical intervention reducing.

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

Clear arrangements are in place in relation to fire safety. One child talked me through what needs to happen if the fire alarm sounds. She had clearly taken on board the importance of fire safety and showed me the meeting point outside. However, a fire exit route from the garden was blocked with a sofa. This was immediately rectified but had not been revealed through internal monitoring processes. Trailing wires presenting a trip hazard and an overloaded extension socket were evident in the staff office. A requirement is made to address these, although no harm has occurred to children as a result of these shortfalls.

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

The home is well maintained and decorated throughout. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to their individual taste. One child has moved bedrooms, and she was proud to show me her new colour scheme. Children have lots of toys and games, in their own rooms and in the shared areas of the home. Celebrations of festivals take place. Children were engrossed in preparing a Halloween display and had researched the history and meaning of this festival. This is a good example of the learning ethos that is threaded through the practice in this home. Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 6 There haven’t been any serious safeguarding concerns, missing episodes or allegations against staff since the last inspection. Staff receive safeguarding training as part of their induction. However, staff who had transferred from another home in the organisation were not clear on what to report, to whom or when. This does not demonstrate safe

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

working practice regarding transferring staff across the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced, and provides clear and consistent leadership. The staff’s confidence in managing children’s behaviour has increased, and this has led to greater consistency in behaviour management in the home. The manager and her deputy work together to ensure consistency of practice within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is regular through individual supervision sessions and observations of practice. However, supervision for new staff, including staff who have transferred from elsewhere in the organisation, has not been frequent or sufficiently detailed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff find ‘therapeutic thinking time’ a valuable reflective process. They regularly come together to share knowledge and make decisions about how best to support the children. Leaders and managers use this to guide effective shift-planning, ensuring they work to the strengths of the team. The manager has a good grasp of the weaknesses in the team and uses her workforce development plan to provide additional training and resources where required. Specialist training is provided to meet the complex individual needs of the children. The staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs, and have the skills to meet them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team works cohesively. The staff are clear about the expectations of leaders and managers, and have an active voice during regular team meetings. Staff find leaders and manages inspirational. One staff member said, ‘Managers are great. They have a good balance of therapeutic but firm ways of working. Exactly the right amount of each. I want to get to that stage.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has efficient monitoring systems in place, which she uses to produce good quality, reflective reports. Her detailed analysis enables her to monitor the progress that the children are making and the effectiveness of interventions used by staff.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 7 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: SC385631 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Channels and Choices Kent LLP

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Camburgh House, 27 New Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3DN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Martin Scholfield

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Inspector

Sarah Olliver, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC385631 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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