Children's home run by Rubicon Children and Family Services Ltd in Lewes

Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 1 SC403905 Registered provider: Rubicon Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children. Within the home there is an annex to support children who may struggle to live within the group or to prepare for independence. The home has a registered manager who is in the home at least three days per week and available to staff five days a week.

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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 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: 23 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Good 15/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

The standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the home is cleaned thoroughly and that food stored in the fridge is within date. 28/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32(1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular ensure the recruitment process for those who have lived and/or worked outside the United Kingdom is clear. 28/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, when a child takes up a new high-risk activity.  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home’s staff; each child’s family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child including their social worker, Independent Reviewing Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 4 Officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals etc. (Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards, page 54, paragraph 10.23) In particular, review the information held in children’s files to ensure it remains relevant and provides clear instruction to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living in the home supported by the strong relationships they make with staff. Observations showed staff taking the time to listen to children, about their anxiety for their upcoming move to foster care, their reluctance to try a new activity or fears over attending therapy. Staff are balanced in their approach to children and encourage them without being forceful or overbearing. Social workers and independent reviewing officers comment positively about the home and progress children have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are actively sought on all aspects of their care and future plans. They produce their own individualised care plans, agreed with staff, identifying areas they would like support with. In addition, children have been involved in choosing the purpose of the hub (a summer house in the garden), including furnishings and sensory lighting. Children are listened to and staff ensure partner professionals are aware of children’s views. The registered manager is actively seeking independent advocacy for children to access on an ad hoc basis to ensure they have someone independent to share their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children mostly attend education however, staff seek support from partners in school or college, to seek ways to overcome issues preventing children from attending. Staff work closely with teaching and pastoral staff to ensure consistency across settings. The virtual school is actively involved with children in the home. The manager is confident in challenging professional’s decisions where they are not in children’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make noticeable progress with regards to their physical and emotional health while living in the home. For example, some children previously reluctant to take medication prescribed by child and adolescent mental health services, have been supported to begin taking it. The registered manager is also a registered occupational therapist and is currently implementing sensory programmes and diets for children to aid with their emotional and physical wellbeing.

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

Children say they feel safe in the home, and that they have staff they can go to discuss any worries or problems. Issues they raise regarding friendships and relationships within the group are dealt with effectively, and children did not identify bullying as a concern. Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 5 Children’s risk taking behaviour has significantly reduced since living in the home. In particular, missing episodes have drastically reduced for three children. Staff follow robust plans should a child go missing, such as contacting friends and relatives and travelling to last known locations to search for them, which on occasion, has been a significant distance away from the home. Liaison with local police has increased staff knowledge of the risks of child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation in the local community and wider area.

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

Staff are confident about their responsibilities to protect children and demonstrated sound knowledge of how to respond should they be concerned for a child’s welfare. Incidents of concern are effectively shared with partner agencies and safety plans are implemented as needed.

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

Staff have a strong understanding of what children may be communicating through their behaviour. Staff benefit from sessions with the clinical lead that help them consider how to respond to challenging behaviour and how to redirect children into positive activities. For example, one child engaging in parkour and others enjoying the beach over the summer including using diving areas into the sea for age-appropriate risk taking. In this instance, risk assessments have yet to be updated regarding these newly agreed, but high-risk, activities.

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

Children are protected through robust recruitment practices. Staff who have lived or worked overseas for long periods are subject to extra checks. However, the home’s policy is not clear on seeking additional checks for those who have travelled abroad for extended periods, meaning that extra checks have not been sought for one member of staff.

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

The building is welcoming and homely. There is an ongoing programme of redecoration and maintenance. However, it was noted that the stair carpet had a build-up of dirt and hair and that several items of food were beyond their best-before date in one of the children’s fridges. Staff were disappointed by this and rectified the concerns immediately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team is constantly striving to improve the service provided for children. Since the last inspection the senior managers have restructured their team in order to streamline responsibilities and tailor them to individual skills. Staff say they can contact any of the senior managers at any time and they will always offer their advice and support. Staff also said that the responsible individual is like an ‘encyclopaedia’ for childcare knowledge and that the other managers genuinely care about staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a good working knowledge of the aims and ethos of the home as detailed in the statement of purpose. This includes the use of the clinical lead and therapeutic support for children in the home. Staff say they have the training they need to meet all Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 6 children’s needs, such as managing self-injury and self-harm and autism awareness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and senior staff monitor children’s plans and file contents. Staff are persistent in requesting any missing documents from placing authority social workers, escalating their requests to team managers if necessary. Children’s in-house plans are combined with risk assessments making the information easier to read and understand. They set out clear links to expectations and goals. There are some records and plans that are out- of-date or not agreed for the current placement. These could cause confusion for staff caring for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the strengths of the home and areas that require further development. The responsible individual and registered manager make good use of analysis in the reports produced by the visitor in line with regulation 44, including requesting layout changes in the reports to ensure they can monitor development more effectively. Evaluation by the registered manger, in line with regulation 45, informs the development plan which staff are keen to involve children with.

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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: SC403905 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rubicon Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 St. Andrews Place, Southover Road, LEWES, East Sussex, BN7 1UP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Louise Whichelow-Ellis

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC403905 8 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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