Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Milton Keynes

Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 1 SC414738 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Ltd 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 provides 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 2018.

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: SC414738 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/08/2017 Full Good 02/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 31/08/2016 Full Good 18/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 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— ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, to ensure that there is a consistent staff team to care for children with minimum disruption, and that monitoring is used by all leaders and managers to ensure that plans and records are positive in their language and approach and are up to date. 31/08/2018

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff to have training to meet the needs of those they care for, specifically training in autism spectrum disorder. 31/08/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living in the home. The relationships between staff and children are positive and support children to make better choices in their friendships and relationships. Children are positive about the home, their only concern being the recent changes in staff and, sometimes, their relationships with those they live with. Staff are aware of conflict within the group and are changing routines to reduce times of potential conflict. The atmosphere in the home is warm, and children are happy to spend time with each other and staff, sharing mealtimes and engaging in appropriate conversation and chit-chat.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education as programmed, with the exception of those times when they are extremely anxious or struggling to engage. Staff are working more constructively with schools in these instances to ensure that children return to education and that barriers to their engagement are removed. Some aspects of children’s education plans are not always clear in terms of who is to take responsibility for implementing them. The manager is in the process of reviewing all plans to ensure that the home is doing all that it should to support children. Children are involved in various rewarding activities that enhance their social and emotional skills, including football and horse riding as well as socialising with friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home have been welcomed, and good-quality plans have been produced to enable staff to care for them effectively. Older plans, for those children who have not come to stay in the home recently, are still under review. These plans are not always of a good quality, with loose guidance and assumptions about the knowledge and understanding of staff. In some instances, these plans include negative wording. Joint working with the therapies team is improving the consistency of care that children receive. The manager meets regularly with the assistant psychologist to review how best to support each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the opportunity to spend time with members of the therapies team, and children actively seek them out. Staff are supported to develop their insight into children’s ability to understand, process and communicate clearly. Staff recognise where some of children’s actions stem from and the messages that they are trying to convey through their behaviour.

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

Children’s actions and demeanour show that they feel comfortable in the home and with staff. Children say that they feel safe and they can identify staff whom they can go to if they feel worried or upset. Recent changes in staff have affected the stability of these relationships.

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

Staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities for child protection and Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 5 safeguarding. They recognise changes in behaviour and presentation, and are able to consider what these may mean. Staff are able to articulate their responsibilities to identify and respond to child sexual and criminal exploitation and radicalisation. Concerns are reported to partner agencies as needed, and records of responses are clear.

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

Children who have moved to the home with behaviours and circumstances that have placed them at risk have reduced these significantly. This includes a significant reduction of being missing, for one child, and a virtual cessation of self-injury for another. Close working with partner agencies, including the therapies team, police and the child and adolescent mental health services, has resulted in children receiving the support that they need to reduce the risks that they face. A child said that staff always contact her when she is late or missing and will also contact her friends and family. Staff support her to return home safely.

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

Behaviour management and support within the home are effective. Children know what is expected of them, and staff are consistent in their approach. The home manager is reviewing specific plans and approaches with the assistant psychologist. They plan to make rewards and consequences more personalised to each child to promote better engagement by children in incentive schemes. The manager and assistant psychologist recognise that some of the language used within behaviour support plans and policies is negative and overly focused on what children might do wrong, rather than considering their strengths. The use of restorative approaches is increasing, helping children to make things right and to take responsibility for their actions.

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

The acting manager has been in post since May 2018 and is in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted. He has a clear vision of how he would like the home to develop to improve the experiences and quality of care for children. He is aware of many of the shortfalls that were identified during the inspection and is in the process of reviewing the home, including children’s plans, records and overall practice.

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

The manager makes good use of the quality reports produced by the independent visitor in line with regulation 44. He has used these reports to inform his evaluation of the service and development plan. The deputy manager is new to the role and is in the process of supporting the home’s manager to review plans and processes in order to make sure that they are clear and consistent.

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

There has been a restructure and change of staff within the home over the last few months. This has led to some instability. Children say that they have felt unsettled by the changes and that they miss some of the staff. New staff are seeking to form positive bonds with children, and existing staff have been supporting new staff to do this well. New staff work with more experienced staff until they are confident to lead shifts. A suitable staffing ratio is in place, although there is still a high number of different staff working in the home from elsewhere in the organisation. The home manager is seeking Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 6 to reduce this.

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

New staff say that they have been welcomed and have had a wide range of training. The induction training package is extensive, and existing staff also access refresher training. However, staff have not received training in autism spectrum and associated disorders, although at least one child has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Staff say that they are well supported and have regular supervision. They report that they feel that they can approach the manager and seniors at any time. Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 7

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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 difference 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: SC414738 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Farm House, Station Road, Aldbury, Tring HP23 5RS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Deysel

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC414738 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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