Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children's home: 1234163 1 Registered provider: Jamores 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 owned and run by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since May 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 22 September 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the last inspection, on 22 September 2017, Ofsted was satisfied that the home had complied with the notice restricting accommodation. At that time, progress made in meeting the previous requirements could not be fully tested because the home was not operational. From that inspection, Ofsted imposed a condition that the registered provider must give four weeks’ notice prior to admitting any child to the home. The provider has complied with this condition. A monitoring visit took place on 16 March Inspection report children's home: 1234163 2 2018.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/09/2017 Interim Not judged 09/06/2017 Full Inadequate 06/03/2017 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: 1234163 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that 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; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(f)(h)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the required skills and experience before assigning them extra responsibility; ensure that records are clear and accurate, and that monitoring of the building is effective; evaluate the service provided through monitoring tools in relation to regulation 44 and 45. 31/08/2018

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

Specifically, that confidential information is not on display and is presented in a manner it would be in a family home and that the home has a domestic and lived Inspection report children's home: 1234163 4 in feel.

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, focus on increasing young people’s abilities to keep themselves safe without the need for constant staff supervision and locking doors.

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improvement to be good

Children make good progress while in the home. The behaviours that place children at risk of harm such as going missing, typically reduce or cease altogether. Children say that they like staff, and children’s demeanour shows how comfortable they are. Two children have moved on from the home since the last inspection. One moved to a service that is better able to meet his needs, and another successfully returned to their family. A child who recently arrived to the home is settling in well and is positive about the support she receives.

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improvement to be good

Staff make a concerted effort to engage with children’s family members when this is appropriate, and they engage with other professionals in care planning. Children’s views are consistently sought through targeted and well-planned key-work sessions, ad hoc discussion and formal consultation. Responses to children’s ideas and requests are not always documented but they are evident in day-to-day practice. The children’s complaints log is stored in a communal location, which means that complaints are not confidential.

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improvement to be good

Children access education through: tutors in the home; enrichment activities, including horse riding and helping at the stables; and social and independent skills with staff, including cooking and shopping. The staff have strong links with the virtual school and children have a plan for their reintegration into formal education.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to develop their self-care skills while living in the home, with a recognition that some children lack some basic skills: this improves their self-worth. Children have access to individual therapy and specialist services, including alcohol and substance misuse support. Children are supported to attend routine medical appointments, including those that they are anxious about. Children are also supported to learn skills for independence and tolerance of others, dependent on their age and future plans.

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

Inspection report children's home: 1234163 5 Children say that they feel safe in the home. They identify staff who they would go to if they were anxious or upset. Staff have a good understanding of their roles in keeping children safe and know how to respond should they be concerned for a child’s safety or well-being, including how to escalate their concerns to external agencies. Staff have received training in alcohol and substance misuse and exploitation, to understand better the needs of those they care for.

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

Children who have experienced exploitation are protected from harm, and key-work sessions support them in how to keep safe. Joint working with partner agencies, such as substance misuse workers and the youth offending team, further help children to understand the risk they may face and how to interact with peers in the community.

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

There have been no instances of children being missing since the last inspection, but a flow chart in the office prompts staff in how to respond should this happen. However, children are under constant monitoring in the home, including locking external doors at times and following children when they leave the room to use the toilet. This could potentially limit children’s opportunities to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff have a strong understanding of children’s behaviour and what this is conveying. They receive support from the in-house psychology team to understand and interpret children’s actions. Those who self-injure are supported to consider what triggers this behaviour. Their bedrooms are made safe to reduce the likelihood of them accessing items that they might use to harm themselves. Children who have lived in the home for a longer period are beginning to take responsibility for their actions; they trust that staff will keep them safe and still care for them after incidents.

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

Overall, children are protected from avoidable hazards through regular checks of the environment and fire protection systems. However, the house floor plan does not indicate which doors are fire doors and there are no specific plans and protocols regarding the locking of internal and external doors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since May 2017, this has led to the judgement of inadequate. There is a manager in place, who is in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is still in the process of forming and developing into the service that the responsible individual and managers aspire to establish. Managers have created a positive culture within the new staff team and this continues to develop. The skills and drive of the management team are being passed on to staff, and this process is ongoing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are consistently positive about working in the home, and their enthusiasm is clearly seen by inspectors and children. Staff feel that they are well supported. They have had access to the training they need to support the children and to help them develop and Inspection report children's home: 1234163 6 staff say that they can access managers at any time for support or guidance. Supervision is mostly regular, and the appraisal process has begun, although with little staff input to date. The home manager has regular supervision with seniors within the organisation but would benefit from external supervision too. Comprehensive debriefs and handovers for each shift change mean that staff have the time and space to process what has happened and what this means for each child, and to consider their own feelings in relation to any incidents or challenges.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s plans are clear and aspirational. Key-work sessions are carefully planned with psychology team support. The staff who undertake key-work sessions with children do not always have the required training or skills to explore some subjects, potentially limiting the impact of the sessions or making these conversations more difficult for children. Links with social workers are strong, and the home manager is confident to challenge any decision that he does not feel is in the child’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management team regularly monitors the service provided within the home. However, some gaps have not been identified, such as: children’s progress not being linked to care plans; language in reports not being child friendly or nurturing; and a lack of consistency throughout records. There is a lack of understanding for the senior managers and the responsible individual regarding the role of the independent visitor and of reports in line with regulation 44. In addition, reports produced by the manager for regulation 45 are not sufficiently evaluative.

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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: 1234163 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, social care inspector Sophie Wood, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children's home: 1234163 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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