Simon Kerr-Edwards

Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards Simon Kerr-Edwards

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Resthaven, Chinnor Road, Bledlow Ridge, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP14 4AJ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this adoption support agency

This adoption support agency is run by an individual practitioner and is based in the South East of England. The provider offers: individual play therapy for children and young people; therapeutic life-story work for children and young people; joint attachment-based play therapy or therapeutic life-story work with a child or young person and their adopters together; Therapeutic Parental Support Consultations with adopters on parenting and their children’s psychological issues.

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Information about this adoption support agency

Inspection dates: 31 January to 1 February 2018

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Overall experience and progress of

service users, taking into account: outstanding

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Overall experience and progress of

How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected good

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Overall experience and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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Overall experience and progress of

The adoption support agency provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the adoption support agency contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for service users.

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Overall experience and progress of

Date of last inspection: 12 March 2015 Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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Overall experience and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards

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Key findings from this inspection

This adoption support agency is outstanding because:  Children develop excellent relationships with the provider. Children put their trust in an adult; for some, this is the first time in their life that they have been able to do this.  The quality of the work is of a consistently outstanding quality.  The provider’s highly flexible approach to the work ranges from ensuring that the timing of sessions suits each child, to using a range of different research-based approaches when working with children.  Children, including those who it was once thought would struggle to do so, grow in their self-esteem and confidence.  Children develop resilience and deal with their frustrations far more effectively.  Some families say that the work has changed their lives and has helped to prevent family breakdown. Children’s home life has become more stable and happier as a result.  The extremely skilled and experienced provider is particularly sensitive to

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Key findings from this inspection

children’s and parents’ needs. Where he senses that the work is not having the desired effect, he takes time to consider why this may be and addresses any barriers to the child’s or their parent’s engagement.  The provider is held in high regard by his clients and by the professionals he works with. The adoption support agency's areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The detail of the provider’s supervision is not recorded.  The case notes that the provider keeps are not accessible to a child who wishes to read them.

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Recommendations

 Ensure a written record is kept detailing the time and date and length of each supervision. The record is signed by the supervisor and the registered provider at the end of the supervision. (National Minimum Standard 26.2) In particular, ensure that there is an agreed record of each session.  Ensure the agency has and implements a written policy that clarifies the purpose, format and content of information to be kept on the agency’s files and on the child’s and prospective adopters’ case records. (National Minimum Standard 27.1) In particular, ensure that the policy details what information will be recorded about each session, to support the child’s understanding of how the work has impacted on them should they wish to read the file in the future. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

This provider consistently delivers an outstanding quality of work that makes a significant difference to the lives of adoptive children and their families. The provider has an excellent understanding of the needs of children who have been in care, and the particular needs of children and families affected by adoption. The provider is stoic in his attempts to find the best way of working with each child and each family. He takes a thoughtful and flexible approach to ensuring that he provides a physically and emotionally safe environment for children. The provider has realistic expectations and aspirations for all concerned; this is important because, for some children, the progress they are able to make is limited by the emotional impact of their complex histories. In the context of these limitations, many children make exceptional progress. Many of the parents and the children that the provider works with come to him in

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

crisis situations. The provider is exceptionally skilled at helping children who are in crisis to develop trust and confidence in him. This is a remarkable achievement for some children who have never trusted adults, or who have refused, or been unable, to discuss their fears and worries in the past. The provider is highly sensitive to children’s and parents’ needs and actively involves them in planning the work. For example, to help children to engage with him, the provider makes sure that sessions are timed to suit the child and family. He uses children’s interests in the sessions and does not rush things. The provider is always searching for different ways to approach problems. He uses ideas from current research to try different ways of working with children and families alongside tried and tested play therapy techniques. The provider is highly astute at assessing and re-assessing situations as the work

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

progresses. For example, on occasion, he has assessed that a child and/or their parents need a break from the intensiveness of therapy due to other trauma or stress in their family life. He has also paused work so that the family can benefit from a break during which they can consolidate their progress. The trusting relationships that children develop with the provider, and his success in making this emotionally intense work fun for the child, forms the foundation from which children are able to face and begin to come to terms with their difficult feelings. Children develop an understanding and acceptance of how their past has affected them, and they learn that the past abuse that they have experienced is not their fault. Children become resilient and develop strategies to help them cope better with their sad and angry feelings. Children’s self-esteem and confidence increase and they develop a more positive sense of identity. Children’s relationships with their

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

adoptive parents improve. As children make progress, their adoptive parents regain an enthusiasm for parenting their child. Parents become more resilient because they have developed a better Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards insight into their child’s needs and understand how to meet these needs more effectively. Parents gain the confidence that they need to support, love and nurture their child in the way that suits their child best. Parents told inspectors that they do not know what they would have done without the provider. One parent described him as the ‘linchpin’ to their family. All parents spoken to said that the work has helped to stabilise their families, and some felt that it had prevented a family breakdown. One said that the work has been ‘life changing’. Another said that they were ‘delighted with the service’.

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good

The provider helps parents to develop a good understanding about how past trauma and abuse has affected their child’s behaviour and emotional well-being. He supports parents to develop strategies to deal with their child’s behaviour more effectively. These improvements reduce children’s vulnerabilities because parents are better equipped to keep their child safe. There have been no safeguarding issues that the provider has needed to deal with. The provider has established strong working relationships with other professionals, including the local authority social work teams. The provider has had occasion to raise concerns about the quality of care planning for one child. He referred his concerns immediately and effectively; he made sure that the local authority followed these up and that the issues were addressed satisfactorily. The provider has developed a clear policy and procedure on safeguarding children

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good

and on handling disclosures of historical abuse. The provider attends updates to his training in safeguarding children on a regular basis. While no complaints have been made, people using the service express confidence that, should they make a complaint, this would be dealt with appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The agency is managed effectively and efficiently by a suitably qualified and highly experienced provider. The provider keeps the needs of children central to his practice. He is passionate about his work and extremely skilled at effectively balancing the needs of the children and the needs of adopters. The statement of purpose and children’s guide are kept under review and they clearly set out the ethos and objectives of the agency. The provider meets these consistently and to a very high standard. Regular monitoring and review of the work ensures that it is meeting the needs of families as the work progresses. Introductory sessions and mid-way reviews of the work allow children and parents to express their views. The progress and outcomes of each piece of work are evaluated so that there is a clear understanding about progress. Any recommendations for future work are made to the commissioners. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The provider is highly regarded by other professionals, who highlighted some of the outstanding work that he has carried out. One stakeholder commented on the many strengths of the provider, saying, ‘He (the provider) is a really valuable resource for us.’ If the provider feels the commissioned work is not meeting a child’s needs he will adjust the therapeutic approach, and for some families he has successfully advocated for funding for additional work. The provider feels well supported in his work through regular clinical supervision. However, there is no formal record made of these meetings to evidence what, if any, advice has been given, or how decisions are made. This has not detracted from the positive impact of the work undertaken with children and their families. The provider takes his professional development seriously and makes sure that he is up to date with current thinking in his area of specialism. He also delivers training and clinical

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

supervision to other play therapists across the country. The provider keeps some notes about each family session and provides commissioners and families with comprehensively written reviews and end-of-work summaries. These summaries, and the provider’s handwritten notes of each session, could be written in a more straightforward way. This would ensure that the notes would be more easily understood by parents and children should they wish to read the records in the future to aid their understanding of the work, their progress and their previous experiences.

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Information about this inspection

During this inspection, inspectors looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, young people and adults. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children, young people and adults. They watched how professional staff work with children, young people, adults and each other and discussed the effectiveness of the help provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people, adults and their families. In addition, inspectors have tried to understand what the adoption support agency knows about how well it is performing and what difference it is making for the children, young people and adults whom it is trying to help.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, using the 'Social care common inspection framework', to assess the effectiveness of the adoption support agency, how it meets the core functions as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards

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Responsible individual:

Registered manager: Mr Simon Kerr-Edwards

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Responsible individual:

Email address: simonkerredwards@gmail.com

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Inspector

Rosie Dancer, social care inspector Inspection report for adoption support agency: Simon Kerr-Edwards 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 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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