Children's Home run by Creating Care Choices Limited in Lewisham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 1 SC025657 Registered provider: Creating Care Choices Limited

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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 privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to 11 young people. The home‟s statement of purpose states that the home looks after young people who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2015.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 September 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 requires improvement to be 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the previous inspection and the overall judgement of inadequate, two statutory compliance notices were issued. These concerned shortfalls in young people‟s case records and other written information that the home is required to keep. A subsequent monitoring visit took place in July 2018. Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2018 Full Inadequate 01/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 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 maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that young people‟s written profile information, health plans, key-work sessions, risk assessments and progress targets are up to date and are signed and dated. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 4 After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(5)) Employment of staff

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child‟s education and training targets, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that young people are offered constructive educational activities when they are not in school or receiving tuition in the home. 31/12/2018

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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— 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 5 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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff understand the home‟s lone-working policy and the young people‟s reward and incentive scheme. The leadership and management standard

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive training that is bespoke to all of the young people‟s needs. 31/12/2018

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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 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 6 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. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 7

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Recommendations

 The children‟s guide should help children to understand: how to contact the Office of the Children‟s Commissioner. („Guide to the children‟s home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  Children‟s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that the meet the needs of the children. They will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

In particular, leaders and managers must continue to refurbish all of the home‟s interiors so that they are all of a similar standard.  The registered person should ensure that children are offered 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 home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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Recommendations

In particular, staff should facilitate young people‟s activities timetabled in their activity planners. Staff should record any change to the planned activities and the reasons why.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the young people very well and plan their favourite activities, such as swimming, bowling, trips to the cinema and walks in the park. However, young people‟s activity planners do not always reflect their routines. For example, during the summer holidays, some young people remained at home for significant amounts of time, watching television or listening to music. This limits young people‟s opportunities to socialise and broaden their experiences.

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improvement to be good

Where young people are not in education, staff fail to occupy them consistently with informal learning opportunities. During the inspection, some young people‟s educational worksheets were evident. However, as activity planners outlining formal and informal learning opportunities are not consistently followed by staff, young people do not develop their knowledge and skills on a regular basis.

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improvement to be good

Young people make progress from their starting points. Examples include eating more healthily, gaining a healthier weight and increased engagement in structured activities. Despite this, staff do not consistently review progress targets. As a result, young people‟s targets may become out of date, which limits young people‟s further development.

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improvement to be good

The children‟s home occupies three buildings. Since the last inspection, the environment Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 8 in two buildings is much improved. There are ongoing plans to continue to refurbish these two buildings to provide a more homely domestic environment. This includes the removal of the intrusive and noisy front door bell.

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improvement to be good

Where possible, young people receive encouragement to develop their independence skills. Several young people are able to manage their personal care, tidy their bedrooms and take their personal items to the laundry. Staff also support young people to develop the confidence to use public transport and go on shopping trips.

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improvement to be good

Young people contribute to decision-making in the home. Young people‟s views influence menus and activity planning. Staff respond to young people‟s wishes, such as changing the lunchtime menu or choosing a different activity, which helps to ensure that care is dynamic and meets the young people‟s changing needs. A parent said, „[X] is getting on very well.‟

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improvement to be good

Staff use praise and rewards to encourage young people‟s positive behaviour in the home. A newly developed reward and incentive scheme encourages young people to, for example, „play nicely‟, or „complete a puzzle‟, earning rewards such as a favourite film or meal. However, during the inspection, the reward charts were out of date and staff were not utilising the scheme. This limits the effectiveness of the reward system.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage young people to engage in key-work sessions. Appropriate subjects such as staying healthy and staying safe, alongside young people‟s wishes and feelings, are discussed. Although useful when they occur, key-work sessions are irregular and some key-work recordings are of a poor quality.

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improvement to be good

Episodes of restraint are rare. However, when physical intervention is used, staff do not record incidents correctly. As a result, after any physical restraint, young people are not routinely offered the opportunity to talk about their feelings. This subsequently limits the registered manager‟s ability to monitor patterns or trends in the home.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, the inspector found a member of staff working alone, caring for two young people while waiting for additional staff cover. Leaders and managers were not aware of the lack of staff cover. A young person‟s request to play in the garden could not be facilitated due to the insufficient staffing levels. Insufficient staff cover raises the risk of unsafe care.

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improvement to be good

Young people‟s files are inconsistently maintained. There are examples of good-quality, detailed and up-to-date risk assessments; however, other documents sampled contained incomplete information such as essential medical advice or the names of the young people were incorrect. This means that young people‟s information is not always accurate or up to date. Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 9

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

Quality assurance includes detailed independent scrutiny. However, internal monitoring is inconsistent. The home‟s quality of care review does not contain feedback from young people, parents or involved professionals. This is a lost opportunity for leaders and managers to gain valuable feedback that would help to inform the home‟s working practices.

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

Leaders and managers have been working hard to meet the requirements and recommendations set at the previous inspections. Despite such efforts, not all of the requirements have been fully met and further requirements and recommendations have been set as a result of this inspection.

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

Communication between the staff and leaders and managers is not always effective. A member of staff said that she did not get full feedback on the previous inadequate inspection and all of the actions necessary to improve the home, adding that „communication could be better‟. This limits the effectiveness of teamwork.

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

Staff receive training in child protection, safeguarding vulnerable young people and appropriate restraint techniques. However, leaders and managers have not sourced training that is bespoke to enable staff to meet all of the young people‟s individual needs. As a result, staff‟s knowledge is limited in some key areas of care and support for young people.

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

Staff do not receive regular supervision. This limits leaders and managers‟ overview of the staff team‟s welfare, skills and their areas for professional development. All staff are either qualified or are undertaking the appropriate level 3 qualification. However, one member of staff has not completed the course within the regulatory timescales.

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

A professional praised the home, saying: „[X] is very well cared for. Staff always provide regular updates and support [X] in meetings, visits and transition plans.‟

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 10 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: SC025657 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Creating Care Choices Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Castle Drive, Ilford, Essex IG4 5AE

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Inspectors

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Barnaby Dowell, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC025657 12 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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