Children's home run by Parkview Care (Broadstairs) Limited in Epping Forest

Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 1 SC457639 Registered provider: Parkview Care (Broadstairs) 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 a privately owned children‘s home which provides care for children who may have experienced exploitation, loss and trauma or may self-harm. The manager has been registered since 19 April 2018.

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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 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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2017 Full Good 23/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/07/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 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

(1) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iii) encourage each child to take responsibility for the child‘s behaviour, in accordance with the child‘s age and understanding; (iv) help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; (v) communicate to each child expectations about the child‘s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child‘s age and understanding; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c) 2(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(xi)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must compile in relation to the children‘s home a statement (―the statement of purpose‖) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (3) The registered person must— (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; (Regulation 16(1)(3)(a)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 31/08/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 4 registered person to— (a) 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; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— (b) children can access all appropriate areas of the children‘s home‘s premises; and (c) any limitation placed on a child‘s privacy or access to any area of the home‘s premises— (i) is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; (ii) is necessary and proportionate; (iii) is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and (iv) allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that any decisions to lock doors, preventing children‘s access to communal areas, are assessed and reviewed as stated in this regulation. 31/08/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home‘s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The

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Recommendations

whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 65, paragraph 15.4) Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 5 In particular, the registered person should ensure that they increase their use of analysis and evaluation when undertaking the six-monthly assessment.  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home‘s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home‘s care. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 65, paragraph 15.) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the independent visitor consults with a range of external professionals and families to support the rigour of their assessment.

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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 children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the garden is developed so that it is more inviting and appealing for children.  Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will

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Recommendations

be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 6

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improvement to be good

Children who come to live here make some progress. The staff help them to settle in and spend time getting to know them. Staff build positive relationships with the children, who mostly say that they like the home and the staff who look after them. However, staff‘s management of behaviour does not consistently support children to behave well. It was noted that the sanctions used are not sufficiently restorative; feedback about expectations and how well a child has done to achieve their goals is not embedded into daily practice; and children could not say what their current goals are. When the children are together, their behaviours can escalate negatively and result in conflict between themselves. No clear plan to co-ordinate children‘s activities for the summer holidays was in place at the beginning of the holiday. This lack of planning gave staff no clear direction about how to support children to have fun together or reduce the

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improvement to be good

potential for conflict. The staff have tried to encourage children to take part in activities after school, both as a group and individually, but this has had varied success. The interior of the home is now homelier, and it is maintained to a good standard. Any damage is quickly repaired. Some communal areas of the home are, however, locked at certain times, for example overnight or when children‘s behaviours are difficult to manage. This is a restrictive practice which detracts from the homely environment. Records of why areas are locked, how these decisions are made, and the reasons why it is necessary to continue locking these areas, were not available and the necessity of the practice could not be determined, or its value reviewed. The staff team effectively helps children to see and speak with their family and friends. Given the range of diverse arrangements in place and the numbers of people this

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improvement to be good

involves, this is a positive aspect of staff practice which is well co-ordinated and given appropriate priority. Children are supported to be healthy and develop responsibility for their own health. Children who previously would not attend health appointments now do so. The staff encourage children to take part in physical activities and develop life skills successfully. Children are also encouraged to stop smoking and to stop their misuse of illegal substances, with varied success. The staff help children to engage in education quickly and well when previously their attendance was poor. Most children now attend education 100% of the time. One young person has developed aspirations for his future which the staff are encouraging and supporting. Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 7

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

The staff‘s understanding of how to safeguard children is good. They know how to make safeguarding referrals and can think through how to manage safeguarding scenarios effectively. One child said: ‗I feel safe because of the staff and I know they will deal with things.‘ External professionals are equally positive about the staff‘s abilities to safeguard children. Their views are reinforced by the reduction in the number of times children go missing or are subject to restraint. If a child self-harms, the staff manage this appropriately and help children to find better ways of managing their emotions. The staff have regular conversations with children about issues of concern, which they record well. The impact of these discussions varies, but importantly the staff persevere in having appropriate discussions and finding different ways to talk to children about these issues. Risk assessments are clear and regularly updated. Staff know the individual

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

risks for each child and take these into consideration in their care. There has been one complaint from a child in this inspection period, which was taken seriously and investigated appropriately. The child was involved in the decision about what steps to take to resolve his complaint and he confirmed he was happy with the outcome. Leaders and managers document recruitment practice well. However, the detail of what is reported by the referee when a reference is verified is not consistently recorded well.

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

Leadership and management is not underpinned by a statement of purpose which fully reflects the operation of the home. For example, details of the qualification levels and experience of staff and correct information about the types of restraint used are absent. There is confusion about the level of therapeutic support provided. The statement indicates that the staff are trained to work therapeutically, but this is not the case. The home is registered for seven children, but there are not seven bedrooms for their use as one bedroom has been converted into an office. The managers confirmed that they would only accommodate six children since this change. Nevertheless, the statement of purpose does not, therefore, accurately reflect the number of children who can be accommodated at any one time. Leaders and managers are working to improve all areas of practice, but this has yet to show sufficient positive change. Managers have improved the quality of records and risk

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

assessments and are developing other areas, such as equality, diversity and tolerance. One social worker was very positive about how the staff kept her informed of a child‘s progress and any concerns that arose. Leaders and managers have not made enough difference to how the staff work as a team. In particular, they have not ensured that shift leaders understand and manage their responsibilities well. As a result, the oversight of how to manage children‘s Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 8 behaviours at any given time is not given sufficient consideration. There are sufficient numbers of staff to care for children daily. There have been several changes to the team, which is made up of a variety of experienced and non-experienced staff who are working towards gaining an appropriate qualification. However, the organisation of daily routines is unsatisfactory. Children have only limited opportunity to

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

develop their understanding of their goals, and staff seldom find out enough about what triggers difficult behaviour, nor do they make sure that children know their achievements. The quality of staff supervision and appraisal is good. These meetings provide the staff with opportunities to discuss and reflect on a wide range of practice and issues relating to their role and responsibilities. Procedures for disciplinary matters follow good practice guidelines. The staff are appropriately trained. Their training is linked to children‘s needs as well as required training such as safeguarding. Where, on a few occasions, training was out of date, reasons for this were known and a date when this training would occur is recorded.

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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: SC457639 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Parkview Care (Broadstairs) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 56 The Brentano Suite, Solar House, 915 High Road, London N12 8QJ

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Inspector

Ruth Coler, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC457639 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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