Children's Home run by Kent County Council in Kent

Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 1 SC403850 Registered provider: Kent County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority-managed, short-beak service for children and young people. The home caters for up to six children and young people who have complex needs and/or learning disabilities and/or associated difficulties. There has been no registered manager since 2015. The current manager’s application to register is in progress.

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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 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 September 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: SC403850 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/03/2017 Full Requires improvement 20/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 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. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (d) 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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that: any actions required following a health and safety check, for example fire and environmental health, are completed within appropriate timescales and recorded as being completed. 30/10/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43 paragraph 9.12) In particular, ensure that all staff receive training on female genital mutilation so that they are able to recognise any concerns.

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improvement to be good

This judgment arises because the leadership and management judgment is inadequate and can be no higher than requires improvement. However, the experiences of children, Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 4 and the progress that they make, is generally good. The children receive a good standard of care that is focused on their well-being and safety. Specially trained staff care for children who may have complex health and/or communication needs. Specialist in-house and external health professionals provide training and support for the staff to ensure that care is delivered safely. The staff maintain good relationships with a range of professionals to ensure consistent care and effective implementation of strategies. The children are given individual targets that are continually assessed. Achievements are celebrated. The current setting and recording of targets is an area the manager is developing further.

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improvement to be good

The children enjoy a range of activities in the home, in the local community and sometimes further afield. The staff know the children’s likes and dislikes and support the friendships formed. Relationships with staff are a strength and staff’s ability to care for children in a non-discriminatory way means that children integrate in the local and wider community successfully. During this inspection, all children were seen to be treated with dignity and respect. The plans made for children to arrive at the service and return home at the end of their stay are carefully considered and well implemented. Short breaks are matched so that children can form friendships. The participation and consultation aspect of the children’s stays at the service has been increased significantly since the new manager has commenced. She has introduced innovative ideas to gain feedback from the children and to ensure that their views,

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improvement to be good

wishes and opinions are heard in respect of all aspects of the service. The service is benefiting from new play equipment, including musical instruments which arrived during this inspection. In addition, the manager has identified areas that need improving, specifically in relation to obtaining more sensory equipment and the upgrading of the garden.

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

The children are protected by a staff team that has a good understanding and knowledge of safeguarding practices. Safety plans are comprehensive and regularly updated. The identification, reporting and management of safeguarding is good. All the staff are suitably trained and receive refresher training twice a year. The training provided covers a wide range of appropriate safeguarding areas, although some of the staff have not received training on female genital mutilation. For those children who have complex medical needs, all safety aspects are in place. Medical information is clearly recorded and accessible to all staff to ensure children’s safe care. Emergency protocols are in place and written by appropriately qualified health professionals. Any errors in the administration of medicines, which are very low in number, are thoroughly investigated with actions are put in place as a result of any Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 5

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

lessons learned. The children are supervised according to their needs, abilities and cognitive understanding. They do not have the chance to go missing due to the close supervision of staff. However, the staff are aware of the missing from home policy and the procedures to follow. The children do not have unsupervised access to the internet. The staff undertake regular health and safety checks supported by external service checks. However, records do not show whether requirements and recommendations made as a result of these checks have been actioned. The inspector was assured that they had been and it was the recording that needed improving. Recruitment procedures are robust and meet the required standard. This means that children are cared for by adults who have been checked and deemed safe to care for them. During this inspection, the children appeared happy and very comfortable with the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This judgement arises because, although there is a new manager in post, she is not yet registered. The service has not had a registered manager for more than 26 weeks. The new manager’s application to register is in progress. She has suitable experience and qualifications to fulfil her role. She has a good understanding of the children’s needs, with a clear focus on the voice of the child and developing the service. The manager has had a positive impact on the service since she commenced. She has the skills to lead and develop the service. She has already made changes and continues to review all aspects of the home’s practices. She has been able to focus on areas and prioritise action needed. The manager is focused on ensuring that the staff team can offer the best care and service to the children and their families. Biannual training offers good-quality training and the manager demonstrates a continued commitment to the development of the staff

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

team. Monitoring of the service is an area the manager is improving. She is keen to develop systems that improve practice and that are evaluative. Monitoring informs the strengths and weaknesses of the home. The organisation has completed a development plan to improve the experiences of children in its care, and the manager is creating her own action plan to ensure that progress is closely monitored. Recruitment of staff has proven to be successful, with five new members of staff commencing since the last inspection. The manager continues to work on the workforce development plan taking all new developments into account. Since the last inspection, supervision sessions for the staff team have not been consistently arranged. Since the arrival of the manager, she has put in place a plan that ensures that all staff receive regular supervision and she is monitoring this area closely. Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Policies and procedures are currently being rewritten, with some being overdue their review date. The manager is aware of this and is working with senior managers to address this. However, those policies that are very out of date need to be reviewed as a priority.

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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: SC403850 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kent County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC403850 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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