Children's Home run by Personal Security Service Limited in Essex

Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 1 Registered provider: Personal Security Service 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 registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties . The home is owned by a private organisation.

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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: Not applicable; this is the first inspection.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: This is the first inspection.

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children build warm, trusting and helpful relationships with staff.  The children benefit from a child-centred, caring ethos in the home.  The children have the opportunity to experience and take part in a wide variety of social and leisure activities. Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 2  The children come to live in a home that is beautifully decorated and furnished throughout.  The staff have a good understanding of safeguarding practice.  The manager offers good support to the staff through her daily presence in the home.

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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

 The manager has not notified the regulator of all incidents relating to the children that are deemed serious.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

This is the home’s first inspection Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 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

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 16/02/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first full inspection since the home was registered in September 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over a short period of time, and relative to their complex needs and starting points, the children make good progress in all aspects of their lives. The children build warm, trusting and helpful relationships with the staff. Parents and professionals speak positively of the progress that the children make and the good work that is done to help children to achieve their goals and to develop positive behaviours. A parent said, ‘He [the child] was always safe, the staff were brilliant and the manager was amazing; she [the manager] is so child-focused.’ Similarly, a professional said, ‘I find the staff professional; they [the staff team] speak about the children like they are people and talk to them like human beings, not numbers. Whatever needs doing for the welfare of the child, they [the staff team] will do.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from carefully planned introductions and visits to the home. The manager and staff team make a great effort and give particular attention to detail for each child’s admission and transition plans. Consequently, the children’s individual needs are well met and they soon settle into their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from a child-centred, caring ethos in the home. Although relatively new, the staff are well equipped to meet the needs of the children and they are committed to and insightful about the children’s individual needs. The manager and the staff team consistently focus on the emotions behind the children’s behaviours and not on the specific behaviours themselves. This approach promotes a reflective and successful strategy for responding to the needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consultation with the children occurs through daily interaction with the staff and through individual key-work sessions. The children actively take part in regular children’s Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 4 meetings. The children have support from the staff to express their views about their care and the things that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When appropriate, the staff support safe, managed contact with families, which helps the children to develop relationships that will sustain them into adulthood. This helps the staff to understand family dynamics, build relationships with families and use these experiences to enhance outcomes for the children. A parent said, ‘I would ring them every day to speak with [the child] and see how [the child] was; [the staff] would always try and get [the child] to speak with me. [The staff] were always polite and professional and were very honest about what [the child] was doing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the opportunity to experience and take part in a wide variety of social and leisure activities. These include frequent trips out in the community, going to Thorpe Park, bowling, doing base jump, and going to local youth clubs. The manager and the staff work together to make sure that the children have good, enjoyable experiences.. There is currently an active tournament taking place for one particular card game that both the children and the staff enjoy and compete together for ‘champion’ position. This gives the children new life experiences that bring them closer together, and offers great enjoyment and an awareness of the world around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education needs form an important part of their care. There is a dedicated education support worker who supports the children’s attainment in education through the maintenance of good routines, provision of educational activities and through participation in multi-agency meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care and support plans are well organised, detailed and helpful. Records contain good information and provide a unique picture of each child. The staff understand the children well and use their knowledge carefully to think about what events and behaviours mean in order to help the children to progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children come to stay in a home that is beautifully decorated and furnished throughout, and which meets all of their needs. The management and staff team have worked hard and show an ongoing commitment to add warmth and special touches to the decor. The outside garden is large and has plenty of space for the children to grow and thrive.

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

The staff have a good understanding of safeguarding practice. They are fully aware of their responsibility to protect the children from abuse and they can confidently describe reporting procedures. The staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the roles of external agencies and report in confidence their organisation’s whistle-blowing policy. This knowledge helps to ensure that any safeguarding concerns are promptly investigated, recorded and resolved in a timely manner.

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

The staff understand the children’s vulnerabilities and consider more specific risks in respect of their individual needs. Formal risk assessment procedures are well managed Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 5 and demonstrate the strategies deployed by the staff to keep the children safe. Regular reviews of risk assessment and strategies ensure that risk management remains current and proactive, which enables the children to develop and grow in a safe environment.

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

Behaviour management strategies are regularly reviewed and reflect the children’s triggers and behaviours. The staff know how to manage these and some of the children positively engage in this process. The staff and the children fully appreciate the impact of physical interventions; staff de-escalate challenging behaviour successfully and physical restraint is only used when necessary to protect the children or the staff from harm.

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

Children are happy at the home and say that they feel safe. The good relationships that the staff have with the children assist the staff to recognise when children are going through a difficult time. This helps the staff to recognise the potential triggers for children. The staff encourage the children to take responsibility for their actions and with the strategies that they learn, the children are able to protect themselves actively from harm and as a result, there have been no incidents of going missing.

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

Sound recruitment procedures mean that all of the necessary background checks are carried out before a member of staff commences work. This helps to ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with the children.

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

An assessment of the local area is in place and regularly reviewed. Having a good knowledge of local risks to the children means that the staff can be vigilant about the risks, and work with the children to raise their awareness, both inside the home and out in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home was registered and prior to this managed the organisation’s other setting. She is nearing completion of the level 5 diploma in leadership and management and has good insight into the children’s strengths, vulnerabilities and progress. She offers good support to the staff through her daily presence in the home and leads a staff team that is dedicated in caring for the children. The manager is accessible and approachable and, when necessary, will offer practical support in the care of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular, effective monitoring provides a clear overview of all areas. Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision and plans are in place to promote continual improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions cover a wide range of topics appropriate to individual staff members’ needs and they are supported by mandatory training in core areas, which include safeguarding, physical intervention and first aid. Training focuses on the individual ‘training journey’ and the roles of the staff and their responsibilities for the children. Training ensures that the staff have the skills that they need to meet the individual needs of the children they care for. Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 6 Regular monthly team meetings, both practical and clinical, ensure that the children are discussed in detail and that they remain the focus of activities within the home. The staffing levels meet the needs of the children. Experienced staff are suitably qualified and new staff are enrolled on the level 3 diploma once they have successfully completed their probationary period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Consultation with professionals, including placing authorities, education professionals and the police, is constructive and promotes improved outcomes for the children. Good multi-agency working helps to manage risk. The manager challenges external professionals when necessary, and the manager and the staff advocate on behalf of the children. Parents and professionals report ‘really good and absolutely fabulous communication with the home’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good-quality assurance review is conducted through monthly visits by the external visitor, along with oversight from the manager. When shortfalls in service provision are identified, prompt action is taken to address this to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When notifications are made, information is concise, clear and provides sufficient information to describe events and the actions taken by the home in response to these events. However, not all incidents relating to the children that are deemed serious have been reported. Failure to notify means that the overview of a home monitored by Ofsted is not accurate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose reflects the ethos of the home. The aim to ensure that all children enjoy their time at the home through individualised care is apparent throughout, and especially in the approach and practice demonstrated by the manager and the staff team.

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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: 1258658 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Personal Security Service Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Personal Security Services Limited, 47 High Street, Barnet, Herts EN5 5UW

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Inspectors

Cathy Russell, social care inspector Ricky D’Arcy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1258658 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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