Children's home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Hertsmere

Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 1 SC407326 Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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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 provides care for up to three children who have experienced trauma. A private organisation operates this setting. The on-site school provides education for children up to the age of 16.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has left the home. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to be registered. She has been managing the home since January 2018. An experienced deputy manager supports her.

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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

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the interim inspection on 24 January 2018, a compliance notice was issued. This notice related to the failure to comply with the regulations in respect of leadership and management. A monitoring visit took place on 5 March 2018. This monitoring visit found that the compliance notice had been met. However, the monitoring visit identified some breaches of regulations. As a result, two statutory requirements were made. Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/07/2016 Full Inadequate 17/05/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that repairs are carried out within reasonable timescales and that the decor is maintained to provide a well-kept and homely environment. 31/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2)) 08/06/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the Statement of Purpose is accurate and child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the Quality Standards for the children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 4 quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  Ensure that records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  Ensure that the arrangements for contact and any contact details (telephone numbers etc.) are included in plans agreed between the registered person and

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Recommendations

the child’s placing authority and updated regularly. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.15)  Ensure that any records kept electronically enable information to be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)  Ensure that staff are 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

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Recommendations

62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that records of any allegation of harm or abuse relating to any child, irrespective of whether they are placed at the home, are clear and sufficient.  Ensure that any review of the quality of care enables the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of care that the young people receive has improved. Although issues remain with regard to the effectiveness of some elements of leadership and management, these shortfalls have not had an effect on the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are making progress in their education. Young people who were previously not attending school are now engaged in education. One young person has sustained this progress over time. Another young person has made positive initial progress, although it is early in her placement. A social worker said, ‘The fact that she is still there and engaging with education is amazing. She had not been in education for over a year.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 5 Young people have, with the support of the staff, rediscovered their aspirations. The staff support the young people to access opportunities such as work experience. This has resulted in increased motivation for the young people. One young person talked with enthusiasm about her upcoming college course. Another is looking forward to an activity-based week away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have made progress in reducing risky behaviours. For example, they have stopped going missing. One parent said, ‘They [the staff] are the only people who have managed to engage positively with [the child] over a long period of time. She is safer than she was.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the young people to ensure that their health needs are met. They encourage and enable them to access specialist services as needed. The young people benefit from regular visits by a psychologist. These visits have increased from once a month to once a week. This increases the support available and the likelihood of young people accessing it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the young people to have positive contact with their families. One parent stated that their relationship with their child had improved in the short time that she had been at the home. Young people are developing and reinforcing important relationships that will exist long after they leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are generally positive about the home. Families report good relationships with staff. One professional said of a child he was working with, ‘She feels cared for, and that is a massive thing. She [the child] believes in them [the staff]. She believes in the leadership team.’

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

No young people have gone missing from the home. A parent spoke about how his child used to go missing, but now does not. He stated, ‘She is safer now than she was.’

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

The home works with the psychologist to provide support and therapy to the young people. As a result, young people’s risk-taking behaviours have reduced since coming to the home.

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

The young people have good relationships with the staff. These relationships enable them to share concerns. One young person said, ‘I could talk to anyone in the house if I am not happy. They [the staff] listen.’

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

Senior managers are regular visitors to the home. The young people know who the senior managers are and are comfortable communicating with them. This increases the potential for the young people to share concerns about the care that they receive.

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

When young people disclose concerning information about their past, it is promptly Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 6 shared with placing authorities. This enables safeguarding professionals to take appropriate action to keep the young people safe.

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

There are occasions when staff use physical interventions to keep children safe. Interventions are proportionate. Debriefings take place with the staff and the young people. These help the staff and the young people to reflect on incidents. A professional spoke of the improvements to practice, and stated, ‘The team is happier and feeling more supported. They [the staff] are reflecting more on their practice.’

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

Professionals are positive about the home’s approach to safeguarding. One professional stated, ‘They [the staff] are doing really well at managing the risks with the young people.’

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

Some records relating to safeguarding are insufficient. However, these shortfalls have had no effect on the safety of the young people. For example, the records in the physical intervention folder lack clarity in some areas. In addition, in one instance, records relating to concerns that were identified about a young person who was not placed at the home were poor. Although the action taken was appropriate and swift, the records were wholly insufficient.

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

Senior managers from the organisation have had extensive involvement in the home. This has been necessary to enable the progress that has taken place. Despite this, managers have not ensured that the two previous requirements have been met.

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

The manager has updated the location risk assessment, but has done so without consulting the relevant people. In addition, the update contains inaccuracies regarding police involvement with the home. Therefore, the assessment is not a full or accurate appraisal of the risks associated with the location of the home.

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

Leaders and managers have made progress in addressing the quality of the accommodation; however, they have not done so at an acceptable pace. Although new windows have now been installed at the front of the property, a large stain on the lounge ceiling had not been repaired by the start of the inspection, despite having occurred two months previously. In addition, the corridors are still in need of attention, as there is damage to the walls. The general effect is unwelcoming.

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

The manager ensures that plans are in place for all of the young people. Managers monitor these plans regularly. However, this monitoring has not identified issues in plans relating to contact arrangements. Records relating to contact arrangements lack clarity and are at times contradictory. This increases the potential for errors to occur.

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

External monitoring arrangements have improved considerably in the past few months. When acted on, these have the potential to contribute to sustained improvement. However, the manager’s wider internal review of the quality of care lacks depth and Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 7 offers little challenge. As a result, the manager’s monitoring does not contribute to improvements.

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

The statement of purpose has been updated. However, this is not an accurate reflection of the home, and includes some claims that are not happening in practice, such as specific activities and actions. This is misleading for the young people and placing authorities.

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

The staff receive regular supervision. However, the records are held electronically and, in the absence of the deputy manager, the manager was unable to provide these records on request. The systems used do not allow for staff to have prompt access to these records, nor do they enable those who need to test the quality of records to do so.

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

The staff and management team challenges other agencies when they feel that those agencies are not acting in the best interests of the young people. This advocacy increases the young people’s belief that staff understand them, listen to them and take their concerns seriously.

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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: SC407326 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: CareTech Community Services Limited, 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Ashley Hinson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC407326 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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