Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Bedford

Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 1 SC412953 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is one of a group of homes. Up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties live at the home. At the time of this inspection, all of the children were male.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff have good insight into the needs and personality of each of the children.  The staff are perceptive and sensitive to the children’s emotional well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 2  When required, the staff take action to seek advice, guidance and support from external services and professionals. These include a therapist who visits the home weekly, and who works with the children as well as the staff.The majority of the children develop meaningful and supportive relationships with the staff.  A structured incentive reward system helps many of the children to modify challenging behaviour.  The provider has developed a system to ensure that the staff take positive action to address unacceptable behaviours when the children attempt to bully one another.  Communication with placing local authorities is consistent and efficient.  The staff work as a team to motivate the children to participate in their day and

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Key findings from this inspection

often this is to good effect.  The staff go above and beyond to help the children to see their families and friends.  All of the children participate in education in some way, which is a significant achievement for the majority of these children.  The frequency of restraint is reducing.  When children do go missing, the staff are appropriately responsive and work positively with other agencies.  Feedback from the placing local authority social workers is, on the whole, very positive.

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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

 For every child, the approach to accessing physical activity should be routinely consistent.  The statement of purpose should be kept under review, and HMCI should be notified of any revisions.  Each employee should receive consistent, practice-based supervision and an annual appraisal.  A review of the quality of care should be completed every six months.  Any information gleaned from return home interviews should be taken into account when rewriting risk assessments.  Sanctions should be restorative in nature.  Staff should be consistently ambitious for every child in relation to developing independence skills.  The registered person should only accept placements for children when they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the children’s assessed needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 4

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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

The health and well-being standard is that children are helped to lead a healthy lifestyle. (Regulation 10 (1)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, take a consistent approach to ensuring that all of the children benefit from opportunities to take part in physical activities. 09/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must 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)) 09/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the home’s manager must receive supervision. 09/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, employees who transfer between homes within the group must have an appraisal. 09/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months and supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a)) 09/02/2018

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Recommendations

 Homes should take account of information provided by any independent return home interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 5 nature and help the children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the staff are ambitious for every child in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5). In particular, consistently implement the agreed approach to promote and encourage the development of skills for independence.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person only accepts placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The Statement of Purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make notable progress from their starting points. At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home. The majority of children are, in the main, established and comfortable, and say that they like living in the home. Where children are not making the expected progress in specific areas, or need additional support, the staff are often proactive and are good at identifying alternative resources to help the children. For example, the staff make external referrals when they have concerns about any child’s mental health. When necessary, the staff advocate for the children to help them to get the services that they need from other agencies. This open approach helps to ensure that individual children receive the correct all-round support. The highly individualised plans for the children are regularly reviewed and adjusted by the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are sensitive and responsive to the emotional needs of the children. One placing social worker said, ‘Our child’s emotional understanding has grown.’ The staff benefit from the advice, guidance and input from a therapist who visits the home. The psychologist speaks to the children and participates in staff handover and team meetings. This helps the staff to understand the lasting effect of childhood trauma, and encourages the staff to think consciously about each child’s individual character and personality. This means that the staff develop meaningful relationships with the majority of the children and, as a result, the children are more likely to accept the help and support on offer. One child said, ‘All of the staff do a lot to help all of us here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work hard to ensure that, where one child has the potential to or does bully Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 6 another, they intervene to address the behaviour. Individual key-work and mediation sessions help the children to reflect on their actions and talk about their feelings. A panel set up by the provider and external support from other managers within the wider organisation help to ensure that individual children are left in no doubt that bullying is not tolerated. The previous registered manager oversaw the referrals of the children coming into the home. Records show that some consideration is given to identifying the likely effect of a new admission on the more established group of children. A thorough evaluation, assessment and discussion with existing staff and children helps to ensure that the home only accepts placements for children who are more likely to get along

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The term-time routines in the home are designed to ensure that all of the children attend education. For example, one child attends school locally and has good attendance. One social worker said, ‘Our child has progressed massively. For example, he is getting to school more than he ever was before.’ The provider also delivers education in the home. The size of the property means that education can be delivered to more than one child in different rooms in the home, when necessary. The education staff work to identify the children’s abilities. The teaching staff provide termly reports to help enhance the residential staff’s overview of children’s educational progress and engagement with learning. When the children show resistance to attend or participate in education, the staff reflect and persevere. For example, by working with teaching staff, the residential staff continue to emphasis to the children that learning is the expectation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One day a week, one child goes out of the home to participate in an alternative activity- based education service. This provides structure for those children who have been out of education for some time, and helps to build confidence in individual children who come to recognise their own abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff go over and above to ensure that the children have contact with their families and those who are significant to them. They work closely with placing authorities to ensure that contact plans are followed and reviewed. The children are encouraged to develop appropriate friendships in the local community. The children sometimes invite friends to come to spend time at the home. Friendships help the children to develop a sense of belonging, and can help to improve social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For the children who smoke cigarettes or use cannabis, the staff seek advice and guidance from other professionals to deter or reduce these behaviours. Actions include inviting other agencies to come into the home to talk to the children. The staff use activity planners with each of the children to encourage them to take part in different activities outside of the home, for example drumming, going to the gym or going to the cinema. However, the approach used by the staff to motivate every child to take part in stimulating, healthy, physical activity is not consistently successful. As a result, some of the children spend long spells of time in their bedrooms using games consoles. This does not ensure that the children develop good routines around their physical health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Records, and the last statement of purpose received by HMCI, show that there is a system to encourage some of the children to practise independence skills each week in areas such as meal preparation and budgeting. However, in recent months the staff’s Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 7 efforts to motivate some of the children have not been consistent in this area. This means that opportunities are missed for the more able children to practice skills in developing independence, and doing more for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children keep pets, and the staff work alongside them to give ideas about how to care for the animals. This helps the children to understand the significance of nurturing. The children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. The accommodation, including the garden and outbuildings, offers generous space for four children to live and relax. Any damage to the home caused by the children is repaired quickly. The staff encourage the children to spend time together at mealtimes, and this process helps to reduce isolation and improve sociability.

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

Mostly children do not go missing from this home, and some of the children do not go missing at all. However, for a short time the frequency and intensity of children going missing increased significantly during the placement of one child, who was known to go missing from previous settings. The child has since moved to an alternative resource. When children leave the home and go missing, or when children are not where they say they are, the staff take decisive action. They liaise effectively and transparently with the appropriate agencies, and take steps to remain in communication with the child when this is possible. The home has improved its systems and ensures that when a child returns to the home after being missing the named local authority provides the child with the opportunity for an independent return home interview. However, the home is not able to demonstrate how the information from the interviews is used when risks are

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

re-evaluated. As a result, the recommendation relating to this part of the quality standard, which was raised at the last inspection, is repeated.

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

Incidents continue in the home, and there are occasions when the staff are hurt by the children. The staff use a range of techniques to de-escalate challenging situations, and frequently to good effect. For example, one child threatened to cause significant harm to himself on more than one occasion. Skilfully and patiently, the staff worked with the child at the critical moment in time to ensure his safety. Team meetings and revised risk assessments help the staff team to stay alert to any ongoing concerns relating to the children’s behaviour, both in the home and in the wider community. This helps to reduce the likelihood of children coming to further harm. For example, when children are out with friends the staff stay in regular physical and phone contact. The staff take action when the children push the boundaries, just as a responsible parent would.

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

The staff do use physical intervention as a last resort, after alternative strategies such as distraction and calm talking have not been successful. Records show that not every child is held. When staff intervene physically, this is for short periods of time and to prevent children from causing harm to one another. Records show that the new manager has oversight of all records of intervention, and this helps her to see that staff use their collective knowledge of each child to manage situations where children’s behaviour is heightened or risky. Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 8 Records show that the staff do use sanctions to manage some of the behaviour for some of the children. The number of sanctions have increased, but relate to very few of the children. Examples sampled demonstrate that frequently when a child receives a sanction the result for the child is a loss of money. This does not encourage children to

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

reflect, and means that not all sanctions are consistently restorative in nature.

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

A structured incentive reward scheme forms the basis of the behaviour management system. This means that each child is awarded points on a daily basis, for example for their attitude and behaviour. The children understand the system, and it works particularly well for those who are motivated by money. The staff use praise and encouragement to demonstrate that they have noticed when the children have been thoughtful, or are behaving well. One member of staff said, ‘The more the children get to hear that they are doing something positive, the more we hope they will continue with those positive behaviours.’

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

The registered manager left in October 2017. The previous deputy is now the manager, and she is applying to register with Ofsted. The home’s manager has begun to complete the required level 5 qualification. The home’s manager said, ‘When I came to the home I gave the staff encouragement and let them know how much they are appreciated.’

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

The home has developed good working relationships with placing social workers and other agencies who often visit the home. One placing social worker said, ‘The home have helped our child to become emotionally literate and have offered consistency.’

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

The home’s manager is having a positive impact, and has taken time to ensure that she understands the home’s strengths and areas for development. She has the support of the staff, who value her contribution and her tolerant approach to dealing with each of the children. The home’s manager has worked directly with the children and has a good understanding of their support needs, and this helps her to galvanise support from other agencies when this is necessary. One member of the team said, ‘The manager is really good with the children. Her get-up-and-go attitude motivates us to get up and go.’

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

External scrutiny and reporting structures help to monitor safeguarding arrangements and identify where improvements can be made across the home. The home’s manager has introduced some new systems, and this helps her to efficiently monitor the staff’s work and also check that staff complete the appropriate records. These systems help the manager to keep track of what has been done, and enable her to provide the staff with constructive guidance, particularly when the team is dealing with complex incidents and behaviours.

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

The staff have access to a range of online and face-to-face training opportunities. The psychologist who is assigned to the home provides some training sessions about motivational theories; these sessions are given to staff in team meetings. The home’s manager provides the staff with formal supervision. However, this follows a period of time when supervision did not happen regularly for every member of staff. Some Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 9 changes within the wider organisation have meant that the home’s current manager has not had supervision since taking up the post of manager. There have been some changes within the staff team, but the team is now full. Those staff who have been in post for over one year have had appraisals, but one member of staff who transferred into this home from another home in the group has not. This means that the formal arrangements for supervision and appraisal are inconsistent, and this does not ensure

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

robust professional accountability. Currently, this has minimal impact for the children because the staff say that they receive good support from one another, and have the opportunity to speak to the therapist. One member of the team said, ‘We work solidly as a team. There have been some massive changes in the children’s behaviour. We have been able to show [child’s name] that we really care about him.’

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

The provider keeps the regulator up to date when incidents occur in the home. Following a recent incident which took place near to the home, the home’s manager updated the location risk assessment, and this helps the staff to have a greater understanding of potential hazards in the surrounding area.

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

Ofsted has not received a copy of the home’s most recent statement of purpose. The home’s manager has not completed the formal review of the quality of care, or sent it to Ofsted within the required timescale. These regulatory shortfalls have minimal impact for the children, but they do not enable the regulator to have access to relevant information about the effect of any changes within the service.

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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: SC412953 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Farm House, Station Road, Aldbury, Tring HP23 5RS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Deysel

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Inspector

Rosie Davie, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC412953 11 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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