Children's home run by Kennet Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 1 Registered provider: Kennet Care 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

The home is registered to provide care for up to four young people. The statement of purpose states that the home caters for the needs of young people between the ages of eight and 17 years old. It aims to create a warm, caring environment that is safe and supportive, enabling young people to recover from past life experiences and grow to achieve their full potential. The home is the only home owned and operated by this small, private organisation. The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 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 requires improvement to be 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/08/2017 Full Good 24/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans and risk assessments are detailed and include all of the relevant information staff need to support children. 30/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff— 30/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 4 meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure key-worker sessions focus on the aims of the placement and offer children sound advice and direction. The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, carry out comprehensive impact risk assessments in order to determine the suitability of placements. 30/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(2)d)) 30/07/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). Specifically, ensure that records following incidents are clear and detailed.  When establishing the home the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can assess services to meet needs identified in relevant plans. The review should include the Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 5 identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  Immediate searching [of a child’s bedroom] may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another

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Recommendations

person’s safety or well-being (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20). In particular, record the reasons for such searches.  Any external agency staff should meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.16)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘The progress for the young person has been incredible. Their proactive way of working has made the difference.’ This was how an external professional described the impact that staff have had on young people’s progress since the young people arrived at the home. Additionally, young people appear happy and relaxed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team provides bespoke care for each young person. Staff are aware of the young people’s interests and also their aspirations. Staff then tailor activities and their approach accordingly. One professional commented, ‘They really care about him and want to give him a range of experiences. They are dedicated to showing him what life has to offer.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Incidents are managed to enable young people to both learn and develop. The use of life-space interviews enables a reflection on situations. There are different types of one- to-one work undertaken with the young people. However, the key-work sessions do not focus on or reflect the aims of the placements, and also do not take opportunities to advise young people on certain areas in which they are vulnerable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have developed strong attachments to the staff. The young people have built attachments quickly due to the open and accepting way that staff work. Staff are skilled in how they engage and interact. Young people are also supported to build strong and secure friendships in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress in relation to reducing the frequency of their challenging behaviours; they learn to build and sustain attachments. Professionals say that progress is excellent and they couldn’t have asked for more; one commented, ‘He is like a different child.’ Progress in education is good; staff support young people to understand the importance of education and the staff prioritise education. Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 6 Staff take into account young people’s views, and actively seek these as part of day-to- day practice. Staff work with the young people and actively listen and take action in response to their views when applicable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Everyday experiences are both fun and motivating to enable young people to learn and try new things. A range of activities are available to young people. The staff ensure that young people have memorable first experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home are managed well, with the other young people also prepared for this move. There have been four discharges from the home since the last inspection. All members of the staff team have learned from these placements, and have considered what they would change in the future. There is reflection on practice following discharges.

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improvement to be good

Keeping young people safe is a priority in this home. Staff act promptly on any concerns and report them to the necessary professionals. When concerns are identified or raised, appropriate action is taken and young people are supported following this.

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improvement to be good

Some risks are well identified by staff. However, individual vulnerabilities are not fully understood by the staff team. Staff may miss opportunities to ensure that young people are aware of and given appropriate advice on how to keep themselves safe, specifically regarding drug exploitation, substance misuse and gang culture. Risk assessments in these areas are also weak.

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improvement to be good

Impact risk assessments are not completed until after the decision to offer a placement has been made. The decision making on placements is not evidenced and risks identified in referral paperwork are not reflected in the written impact assessments. In addition, the match or mismatch with the staff’s experience, knowledge and skills is not fully considered before a placement is offered.

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improvement to be good

There have been instances of missing from care. However, staff are aware of the procedures and instances have reduced. The staff’s actions have been proportionate.

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improvement to be good

There has been only one physical intervention recorded and it was used as an urgent response to safeguard a young person. Sanctions are also used only infrequently. The manager has worked with the staff team to take a restorative rather than punitive approach to behaviour. Incident reports are completed, but sufficient detail is not always recorded.

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improvement to be good

Room searches have been carried out and are recorded in daily logs. However, they are not recorded on a separate log, which may inhibit review, and the grounds for searching are not always recorded. Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 7 There has been a local area risk assessment completed. However, this lacks specific information, including areas of concern in the local community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people are clearly the priority in this home: they are involved in, and central to, all decisions made. The senior team is ambitious on their behalf, promoting positive experiences for all the young people. The home has a positive impact on the young people. Managers review this regularly in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very aware of the areas of strength and weakness in the home. He has a very child-centred approach and high expectations of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is staffed and resourced with a high staffing ratio to meet the young people’s needs. There is a mix of new staff and longer-standing staff and they are beginning to work together to support the young people. The staff report that they are well supported in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are training plans in operation for the staff team and the manager is identifying gaps and working to fill these. There has been a range of training opportunities available to staff; however, these haven’t been specific to young people’s vulnerabilities. The managers only use consistent agency staff, but they have not ensured that these staff have the necessary training and qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with reflective supervision on an individual basis and in a group, to enable them to learn and develop as a team. Newer staff receive the same frequency of supervision as established members of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the importance of monitoring and has developed the systems that support this. The independent visitor has recently changed; the manager reports that he uses the challenges and comments from the independent visitor to develop the service further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed strong and positive relationships with professionals to ensure the best possible support for each young person. He has successfully created a team whose members are enthusiastic and have a sense of shared ownership in ensuring the best for each young person.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 8 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: 1185488 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kennet Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stan Colaco and Co, Atlantic House, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0TD

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Inspectors

Emeline Evans: social care inspector Maire Atherton: Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 10 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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