Children's Home run by Stellakis Miltiadous in Haringey

Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 1 SC039213

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care for up to six young people. The provider’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care for young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since 2014.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: following the last inspection, Ofsted issued two compliance notices relating to Regulations 6 and 12. A monitoring visit on 5 June 2018 concluded that the home had met these notices.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/04/2018 Full Inadequate 15/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 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—

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child.

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to the absence of restraint training for the staff team. 01/09/2018

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 4 9.30)

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Recommendations

 Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36 (schedule 3 (14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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improvement to be good

The sole young person in the home has been in placement for three weeks. Prior to this, the home did not accommodate young people for approximately eight weeks. The young person concerned is benefiting from high levels of staff support and beginning to build positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Despite the limited period of time since the home has started readmitting young people, there are some positive signs of progress for the young person concerned. They have improved their behaviours, personal hygiene and ability to stick to their curfew times. The allocated social worker for the young person confirms that such progress is being made and comments on ‘the benefits of being the only young person and the consistency of staff in helping to establish good routines’.

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improvement to be good

The young person has enjoyed 100% attendance at school since they arrived at the home. The home assists the young person by providing a taxi each morning and staff liaising with teachers to ensure the provision of a travel card to assist the young person to return home at the end of the school day. Before moving to the home, the young person’s attendance at school had been very low. The young person’s teacher refers to this achievement as ‘great’. The young person is now working towards moving on to mainstream education in the new academic year.

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improvement to be good

There is improvement in both key-work and case recordings. Key-work sessions occur regularly and illustrate the young person beginning to discuss difficult issues with staff, such as cannabis use. Recordings are now more analytical and offer a clearer picture of the young person’s needs. A new reporting process allows for key information to be used to inform risk assessments and care plans on a daily basis, thus ensuring that no information is lost. Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 5 The home environment has been improved. All bedrooms are decorated and tidy. Managers now ensure that staff carry out daily checks on bedrooms. These improvements offer young people a more homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Managers realise that the new young person’s placement is in its infancy and that the forthcoming summer holidays will bring additional challenges. This includes the possibility of more young people arriving at the home and the removal of the structure and routine offered by school attendance. At present, staff are working with the young person’s allocated mentor to devise a programme of activities and day trips that they hope will engage him.

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improvement to be good

The home has improved its approach to multi-agency work. Care professionals report a good exchange of information and regular updates regarding the progress of young people. The young person’s allocated social worker said they had ‘cautious optimism’ regarding the progress achieved since the young person’s arrival in the home. She reports that the young person has established a good relationship with his allocated key worker and that this has supported the progress that the young person has made.

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improvement to be good

There are no reports of missing behaviour. Care professionals comment that the young person adheres to his curfew times, despite travelling long distances back to the home from school and his local area on his own. The two recommendations regarding missing behaviour remain repeated for this inspection.

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improvement to be good

The young person arrived in the home prior to the staff receiving training in physical intervention. A training course is scheduled for the end of August 2018, and it is anticipated that newly recruited staff will attend. The current situation potentially places the young person at risk, as some staff are not fully trained to adhere to the behavioural management policy of the home.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are now of a better quality. New monitoring procedures mean that managers record the quality of the assessments and how well they are reviewed. Assessments now accurately reflect the wishes and feelings of young people on key areas, such as the response of the staff team when young people feel angry or upset. This approach improves the effectiveness of risk assessments.

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

The registered manager has the required management qualification and over eight years of experience working within children’s homes. He has acknowledged the shortfalls outlined during the last full inspection and has implemented a service improvement plan.

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

Of the five requirements and three recommendations resulting from the last monitoring visit, the home has succeeded in addressing four of the requirements and one of the recommendations. Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 6 The quality of independent visitor reports has improved. The most recent report offered a more effective evaluation of safeguarding in the home. The home continues to work in partnership with the placing authority to implement a programme of ongoing recommendations. Recently this involved amending the placement planning paperwork to make it more young-person-centred.

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

Internal monitoring systems have been improved. Managers now implement a structured programme of monitoring on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. However, the monitoring reports still lack direct feedback from young people and instead rely on quotes taken from formal documentation.

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

Staff report that team morale is positive. Staff benefit from improved levels of supervision and are engaged and excited by the home’s development plan. Former staff remain employed as ‘bank’ staff; this arrangement supports the four full-time members of staff. One staff member commented that ‘everyone wants to be here now’.

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

Managers understand the need for further staff, and a programme of recruitment has begun. Staff turnover since the last full inspection has resulted in the loss of a great deal of staff experience and expertise. Managers recognise that the progress currently being made must be sustained. One manager said that the progress to date was ‘a small step on the way to recovery’.

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

The appointment of a quality assurance manager has helped to support a new culture of learning. He has redrafted and updated key policies. The new quality assurance manager has also produced new guidance for staff on key areas, such as the risk of young people dealing drugs or running county lines from the home. Managers said that they will review these policies, assess their effectiveness and highlight any learning for staff during staff meetings.

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

The admissions process is stronger. Managers now gather information and evidence from key professionals and the last placement prior to making decisions on whether to accept young people into the home. Such improvements better inform the matching process and the home’s approach to behavioural management.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 7 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: SC039213 8

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stellakis Miltiadous

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Inspector

Barnaby Dowell, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC039213 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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Inspector

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