Children's home run by Sherico Care Services Limited in Westminster

Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 1 SC037543 Registered provider: Sherico Care 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

The home is privately owned and operated by Sherico Care Services. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people.

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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 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: 6 November 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2017 Interim Not judged 22/11/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 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

28: Fitness of manager 28.—(1) A person may only manage a children’s home if— (i) the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and (ii) the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and (c) full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet this regulation, the provider must ensure that their recruitment process ensures that all reasonable efforts are made to obtain references from an applicant’s most recent relevant employer. All references must be rigorously verified and any gaps in employment must be explored.

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Requirement Due date

The home has not had a registered manager in place for more than 26 weeks. It is essential that the current acting manager successfully completes the application process to register with Ofsted as manager of the home. This will demonstrate his fitness and suitability for the role. 03/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

12.—(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 03/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 4 In order to meet this regulation, the provider must improve practice in relation to assessing risks and devising safety plans. In particular, risk assessments must show a clear evidence base for the level of risk and identify interventions to reduce risk that are realistic and clear. In addition, the provider must ensure

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Requirement Due date

that their interventions achieve a correct balance between keeping young people safe and ensuring that levels of supervision are not overly restrictive or intrusive. The provider must also understand and assess risks in relation to young people using games consoles.

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Recommendations

 Homes should develop and maintain effective working relationships with local youth justice and police services where children in their care have targets to achieve in reducing offending or socially unacceptable behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.5). In particular, the provider must work more closely with the local safer neighbourhood police to consult with them in relation to involving the police and assessing any risks relating to the location of the home.

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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 home should remove unnecessary signs in communal areas and ensure that the bedrooms for young people are prepared with thought and care to create a welcoming, warm space when they come into the home and throughout their stay.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Recommendations

 Care must be taken to ensure prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 5

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improvement to be good

The judgements for leadership and management and help and protection have a significant impact on this judgement area.

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, only one young person was living in the home. He spoke positively about his experiences and the relationships he has with staff. He said, ‘When it’s good, it’s good.’ He felt that staff genuinely care for him and that they were ‘nice’. A small, core staff team knows him well and provides a consistent experience of care.

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improvement to be good

The home has taken steps to improve the physical environment to make it more homely. However, more work is required to achieve this. There are some aspects of the home, such as the many notices in communal areas, that project an institutional rather than a homely feel.

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improvement to be good

The process for matching young people when making new admissions to the home does not fully take into account how the staff can meet the needs of a group of young people who may present with similar risks and vulnerabilities. Only one other young person has stayed at the home since the last inspection. He was admitted as a short-term emergency placement and moved on in a planned way. The two-week period when two young people were placed was a difficult period with a number of behavioural incidents that affected both young people in placement.

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improvement to be good

Young people make significant progress from their starting points in some areas. For one young person, his behaviour has improved significantly, he has healthier routines and is engaging more in constructive activities. Progress for this young person in relation to education has been limited. This is, in part, because there is no suitable education placement identified. The young person does engage in limited home education. This is provided by staff, but is not sufficient to help him make the progress he needs to prepare for a more formal education setting.

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improvement to be good

Staff help young people to develop practical skills in order to prepare for independence. The young person regularly prepares meals, undertakes household chores and enjoys planting and nurturing vegetable crops in the garden. He benefits from positive relationships and strong role models from a culturally diverse staff team. This has had a positive impact on helping him challenge and change discriminatory behaviours that were a significant barrier to success in terms of him integrating and making a positive contribution to society.

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improvement to be good

Young people attend health appointments and take exercise to promote good health. They receive help and support in relation to their physical health, when this is required. Staff are not always clear about how to administer prescribed medications. For example, in one case medication was routinely given without question, when it was in fact Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 6 prescribed for ‘as and when needed’. The young person did not suffer any adverse effects because of this.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practice in relation to the appointment of the current manager was poor. The provider did not fully explore gaps in employment. They did not obtain references from his most recent relevant employer, and they did not take sufficient care to verify references thoroughly. This is a significant failing and means that the provider cannot be sure that a key senior member of staff is suitable for the role of leading a team to care for vulnerable young people.

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improvement to be good

The individual risk assessments undertaken by staff do not evidence how levels of risk are identified. Safety plans are not always coherent or realistic to and fail to deliver in practice. Risk assessments are not always reviewed in the light of new information. For example, staff were routinely entering a young person’s room at night to ‘monitor them’. The young person’s risk assessment and behaviours did not support the need for such a high level of intervention. The young person said that this practice is ‘annoying’. It also means that staff intrude on his privacy without justification.

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improvement to be good

Risks in relation to the use of games consoles are poorly understood by staff. They do not consider risks in relation to online gaming, and some games provided by the home were not age appropriate.

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improvement to be good

When concerns arise, the home works effectively in partnership with the professional safeguarding network. Recording in relation to incidents of concern is clear and well organised. Practice in this area would be strengthened by stronger links with the local police. For example, the location risk assessment for the home and the home’s policy in relation to involving the police have been devised without reference to or input from the local safer neighbourhood police.

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improvement to be good

Despite these shortfalls, the young person in placement reported as feeling safe in the home and the local community. He has high levels of support and supervision from a trusted group of staff who care about him and care for him well.

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improvement to be good

Staff make good use of their positive relationships to help young people make positive choices and manage behaviour. Good behaviour is recognised and rewarded, and sanctions are seldom used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This home has been without a registered manager since June 2017. This lack of consistent leadership has meant that the home has not sufficiently developed the quality of care it offers to young people. However, there have been recent improvements in that Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 7 an acting manager is now in place who has submitted his application to be registered with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This improvement is demonstrated by the leadership team meeting the vast majority of the requirements made at the last inspection. This shows that the home now has clear potential for continuing improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager has an effective and warm relationship with the young person in placement and has been instrumental in bringing about some positive changes, particularly to his health, and social and emotional well-being. The young person’s views are regularly sought, and he has had appropriate influence on his day-to-day care experience. Generally, his experience of living in this home is a positive one.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Relationships between the local authority and the home have tensions, but are usually satisfactory. More could be done to involve organisations such as the local police in key aspects of the home’s running.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager has advocated strongly for the young person to have appropriate education input, but without success. He has, however, made satisfactory attempts to give the young person a level of home education.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision at a frequency and level that appropriately reflect their experience. They feel well supported by the acting manager and are positive about the future. Appropriate training is regularly delivered, and staff are therefore well prepared to offer an appropriate level of care to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

External monitoring of the service is now firmly in place and offers a detailed account of progress made, and appropriately identifies shortfalls in the service. The acting manager has satisfactory oversight of key events in the home such as incidents and consequences. This ensures that he has a good understanding of the quality of care being delivered in his home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 8 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: SC037543 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sherico Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sherico Care Homes Ltd, 2-4 Balmoral Road, London E10 5ND

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Inspector(s)

Lee Kirwin, social care inspector Bridget Goddard, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037543 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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