Children's Home run by Care Focus Limited in Essex

Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 1 SC477900 Registered provider: Care Focus Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home is one of a small group. This home is registered to provide care for up to four young women aged 11 to 17 who cannot live within a family setting. The experienced manager has been registered to manage this home since October 2017.

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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 outstanding

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children‟s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2017

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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: SC477900 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2017 Full Good 19/01/2017 Full Outstanding 16/08/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/02/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 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

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b) and (6)(a)(b)) 17/12/2018

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Recommendations

 The information set out in the statement of purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child‟s assessed needs. („Guide to the children‟s Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 4 homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.6) In particular, make clear the therapeutic qualifications attained by staff.  Ensure that the annual staff appraisal takes into account, when reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home‟s care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Under regulation 46, the registered provider should review the appropriateness

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Recommendations

and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and the opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process: Children‟s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children‟s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came into effect in January and April 2014. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective and highly personalised planning ensures that children make excellent progress from their starting points. At their starting points, the children who come to live at this home are frequently considered by their placing local authority to be at risk of harm or exploitation in the community. The majority of children learn how to make better decisions and learn to place value on their own safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home, which is in a semi-rural area, has a large garden. The nurturing and homely environment helps children to participate in their placement, to be comfortable and to have fun. Children are cared for on a one-to-one basis and form very good relationships with staff. Children help with the running of the home, and, for example, are rewarded for taking part in household chores. The embedded routine and structure mean that children are active and busy and making positive contributions. Children go on holiday, with staff supporting them. The children take part in activities that reflect their individual character and interests, such as playing tennis, attending Scouts and going horse riding. One child volunteers at a local nursing home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides an opportunity for children to recuperate, and to reflect on previous experiences. Consequently, children‟s emotional well-being improves. Access to direct one-to-one therapeutic support provided away from the home helps children to explore previous trauma at their own pace and in a safe environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication with other agencies is very good. Following local authority plans, staff and managers work effectively to build meaningful relationships with every child‟s family. This ensures that children have regular contact and, for some, family contact increases significantly. As a result, children maintain their identity and their self-esteem improves. Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 5 Education is provided on-site; the classroom is situated inside the home. Teachers come into the home during term time to educate children. Residential staff provide classroom support and take part in lessons with children. Staff understand that children experience barriers to learning and may struggle to engage with education consistently. In these circumstances, and working as a team, staff provide dependable support that encourages children to return to learning. This approach ensures that children are

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

Staff follow a highly effective model of practice that is closely overseen and supported by managers and senior leaders, who regularly visit the home. Senior leaders also develop relationships with children. This helps children to experience belonging to the extended community of support.

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

The established structure of team meetings, discussions with children, internal reviews, organised handovers and routinely reviewed risk assessments ensures that staff hold in mind the main behavioural risk factors associated with individual children. Children are the primary focus of staff time and attention, and so each member of staff comes to know each child‟s character. This helps the whole team to anticipate risk and prepare for challenges as they arise. As a result, children quickly learn that staff are highly effective and that the adults who work with them know how to keep children safe.

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

Children do not routinely have access to mobile phones or social media. Access to the internet is supervised. Staff and managers talk openly with children about this arrangement, which significantly eliminates immediate risks for these children.

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

Staff manage challenging behaviour extremely effectively. A points reward system is at the heart of practice. Staff consistently give children verbal and written feedback about their progress. This helps children to invest in the home and ensures that every child really knows what goals they are working towards and why.

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

Physical intervention has decreased. The local police drop in to the home and are formally notified of each child‟s arrival. Staff know that children are most likely to want to leave shortly after their placements start and so are prepared to expect this. As a result, incidents of children going missing are rare, which represents significant progress for these children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager is respected by staff and children, who describe her as approachable and supportive. The manager is nurturing. She is aspirational for children and is empathetic to their social circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The location risk assessment has not been reviewed by the registered provider within the required timescale. However, this shortfall has minimal impact on the current Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 6 children because there is one-to-one staffing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider favours a head, heart and hands approach to working with the children. The statement of purpose makes this clear and states that staff are therapeutically trained. However, the statement of purpose does not provide a specific overview of the therapeutic qualifications held by all staff working at the home. This fails to ensure that placing authorities are clear about the depth of service available to support children therapeutically.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some new members of staff to the home are new to working in childcare. The provider‟s induction programme helps to ensure that all staff have good support to understand the roles. Some members of staff are experienced and have worked at the home for over two years. This means that they understand the company ethos and have confidence in delivering the successful model. Two staff have not completed a relevant level 3 diploma within the required timeframe. The registered manager is aware and is taking steps to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. Nonetheless, this does not ensure that every member of the team is appropriately qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and an annual appraisal, which helps staff to identify areas for development. Senior managers said that, since the last inspection, the company has implemented a new system to ensure that feedback in the annual appraisal considers the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year. However, this was not evident during this inspection and so this quality standard is repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager, working alongside senior managers, deals promptly with any safeguarding matters, ensuring a robust and proportionate response to any allegations made about staff. The registered manager has strengthened the home‟s external relationships with the wider community and this ensures that children benefit from a wider network of support from partner agencies such as the police, health services and the host local authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Robust and effective internal and external quality monitoring ensures that the registered manager has an effective overview of the home. A development plan helps the registered manager to record her ideas about how to improve the service for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has an excellent ability to form relationships with children and is very understanding of children‟s emotional needs. She works consistently with staff and senior leaders to ensure that children develop and reach their potential. One member of staff said, „I think that we all show children that there are people out there who genuinely care and think that children are important.‟ Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 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 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: SC477900 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Care Focus Limited, 3rd Floor, 24 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4YX

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Inspector

Rosie Davie: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC477900 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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