Children's home run by The National Autistic Society

Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 1 SC485659 Registered provider: National Autistic Society

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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 provides both long-term placements and short breaks to autistic children.  The home is operated by a national charity.  An interim manager is in post who has made an application to be registered with Ofsted. The registered manager has not yet resigned.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 1 August 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 requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/09/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 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 registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

placement plans for children who are not looked after (see regulation 18);

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Requirement Due date

the policy for safeguarding children (see regulation 34);

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Requirement Due date

the policy for preventing bullying (see regulation 34);

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Requirement Due date

the missing child policy (see regulation 34);

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Requirement Due date

the behaviour management policy (see regulation 35);

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Requirement Due date

records of the use of measures of control, discipline or restraint (see regulation 35);

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36);

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Requirement Due date

the procedure for considering complaints (see regulation 39);

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Requirement Due date

records of complaints (see regulation 39);

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Requirement Due date

the independent person’s reports (see regulation 44);

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Requirement Due date

quality of care reviews (see regulation 45);

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Requirement Due date

annual reviews of the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the home’s premises (see regulation 46). (Regulation 30/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 4 38 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)(m)(n)(o)) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no child is subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI’s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)) 30/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the years and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Ensure that staff offer the children a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5). Specifically, review whether there is sufficient shade, and play and sensory equipment in the garden.  The policy for the protection of children from abuse of neglect should be available and explained to children and their families as well as to all staff,

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Recommendations

whatever their role. The registered person must make sure that all staff are familiar with this policy and act in accordance with it, in particular how to use it to report a concern. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.21) Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 5

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improvement to be good

The home is in a state of change, making it difficult to assess children’s outcomes. Plans are in place to implement a new system for recording children’s progress and experiences from September. There are plans to change some records, which will be a better fit to the school setting, such as the children’s records, which do not have space to record the outcome of a complaint.

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improvement to be good

Parents and relatives have mixed views regarding their children’s experiences in the home, their progress and the outcomes they achieve. Some families appreciate the supportive relationships their children experience with staff. A few feel that the quality of some staff and the care provided has not been the best. Some parents feel that communication from staff has improved recently, while a few said that they would like to know more about their child’s stay.

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improvement to be good

Children have experienced significant change in the staff team with the departure of seven staff and the appointment of 11 new staff. However, this was necessary to decrease the high number of agency staff used and to improve the stability of the staff team. It is evident that children enjoy some positive relationships with staff. A staff member described a ‘much more positive feeling to the home and a sense of direction’.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements for admitting children to the home have improved. Referrals now come directly to the home’s management team rather than the school’s psychology department. This has a positive effect, as managers can consider the impact that one child’s admission may have on another, and this helps to ensure that staff can meet children’s needs and that they are likely to make progress.

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improvement to be good

Most children participate in a reasonable range of activities. These include trips out to a temple, shops and parks. Children are encouraged to help prepare meals with staff or do art and craft activities. During such activities, children learn valuable skills to help them become more independent, such as cleaning up mess afterwards. Individual interests are encouraged, such as a session in a recording studio for a child with an interest in music. Due to their needs, some children choose not to participate in activities and prefer to be alone. At times, children’s enjoyment of activities has been curtailed when there have been insufficient staff on some shifts.

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improvement to be good

Some children improve communication with their families. This may be by increasing contact through social media or by visiting their families more regularly. Staff encourage families to visit their children. One relative said that they are ‘happy with communication’ and feel that staff keep them informed of their children’s well-being. However, a few parents feel that staff have not kept them informed with current information about their child. Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 6

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improvement to be good

Staff have had access to some online safeguarding training but not all are familiar with how to report a concern. There are plans in place to improve children’s safety and protection by providing training specific to children’s homes rather than schools. Extensive training is planned from September onwards to provide staff with all the skills and knowledge they need, such as how to deal with the risks of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation.

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improvement to be good

A review and audit of medication administration and the planning of further training in September are helping to improve the administration of medication and reduce the likelihood of staff errors. Clear guidance about the procedures to follow in the event that children receive an injury has improved staff actions in response to incidents.

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improvement to be good

Following an audit, some improvements to the premises are starting to make the home feel less institutional. There are plans for further improvements. The removal of the noisy alarm on the door helps those children sensitive to noise. Painting some communal areas has made these areas more homely. Some parents would like more activities, shade and plants in the garden. After replacing fencing, the interim manager has plans to further develop the garden. Staff suggested that more recreational activities around the house would benefit the children.

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improvement to be good

During the recent heatwave, the lack of ventilation in the children’s kitchen, some bedrooms and other areas made the heat intolerable. The management team is considering options to improve this and thereby children’s well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children’s safety is promoted. No children have gone missing from the home or on outings. There is a low number of complaints. The use of physical intervention remains low.

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improvement to be good

The process of recruiting staff is very thorough and helps to ensure that only suitable people work in the home. The interim manager has introduced a new rota to reduce the likelihood of shortages on some shifts. However, the rota does not include sufficient detail to record who has been working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced interim manager has been in post for four months. In this short time, he has made remarkable progress in raising standards and developing the service as a children’s home rather than a residential special school, which it was formerly. His priority has been to strengthen the management team and establish a staff team that shares his vision for the service. There has been a cultural shift in the home where staff now better understand their roles and are keen to provide an improved service to children and their families. Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 7 Staff recruitment is ongoing and has resulted in considerable improvement in the establishment of a permanent team. By establishing regular supervision, team meetings, hand-overs, mentoring and coaching, most of the team members feel well supported and able to contribute to the positive changes in the home. The interim manager will

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

commence staff appraisals in the autumn. Improved staff morale has resulted in staff who are positive about their work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager monitors the service very well, clearly defining the home’s strengths and weaknesses and identifying the priority areas for improvement. The independent person’s regular visits and their suggestions for improvement also help the service to improve. The independent visitor now supplies reports of their visits regularly to Ofsted as required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff regard the interim manager as ‘open and honest’ with them about what he wants to achieve. Staff said that management now shares with them Ofsted reports and the independent visitor’s useful findings. This helps staff to be a part of bringing a positive change to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a diverse team of staff who have varied qualifications. About half of the staff have the level 3 qualification. The workforce development plan is progressing, and plans are in place to support staff to achieve level 3 qualifications within required timescales.

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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: SC485659 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: National Autistic Society

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: National Autistic Society, 391−393 City Road, London EC1V 1NG

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Inspectors

Jacqueline Graves, social care regulatory inspector Patrick Sullivan, regulatory inspection manager, London Inspection report children’s home: SC485659 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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