Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre

Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 1 Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre Care 2 Share Limited 17 Wallwood Road, Leytonstone, London E11 1DQ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is owned and managed by a private provider. The centre is based within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The organisation owns a second residential family centre that is also based in the east London area. The centre provides parental assessments for up to five families at any one time. It specialises in supporting parents who have a learning disability.

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Information about this residential family centre

Inspection dates: 26 to 27 September 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the residential family centre contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and parents.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 5 August 2015

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This residential family centre is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers and staff provide high-quality, individualised care to children and their parents. The quality of relationships between staff, parents and children is excellent.  Children’s and parents’ views and opinions are understood and taken into account in assessments. Staff make opportunities available for parents to receive and share feedback.  The quality of assessments is outstanding. Parental assessments are relevant and robust, and provide a clear analysis of how well parents are able to meet the needs of their children.  Communication and collaboration with external professionals are consistently strong. Stakeholders are appreciative of the high-quality work provided by managers and staff.  Safeguarding arrangements are highly effective. Staff are vigilant in their supervision of families and this helps to keep children and parents safe.  Risks are managed robustly and sensitively. Staff set firm boundaries that help to

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Key findings from this inspection

minimise risks to children and parents.  The leadership and management of the centre are outstanding. Managers have an ambitious vision for the service and high expectations for families. The aims and objectives of the service are fully met.  Monitoring systems are thorough and highly effective in highlighting the centre’s strengths and in identifying any shortfalls. Managers strive to continually improve services.  The support, supervision and training of the staff team are excellent.

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Key findings from this inspection

The residential family centre’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff induction programme requires review.  The residents’ guide is not easy to read and requires clearer information about how to make a complaint. Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 3

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Recommendations

 There are good-quality learning and development opportunities which staff and volunteers are supported to undertake. These may include induction, post- qualifying and in-service training to enhance individual skills and to keep staff up to date with professional and legal developments. (NMS 16.2) In particular, to ensure that staff induction arrangements meet the development needs of staff.  The registered person prepares a residents’ guide which includes a summary of the statement of purpose and provides a copy for every parent and child (of appropriate age) resident in the centre and for prospective residents. (NMS 8.6) To consider making the residents’ guide easier to read, with clearer information about making complaints. Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Families make excellent progress while staying at this service. Families consistently receive high-quality care, support and guidance. This results in increasingly positive experiences for parents and significantly improved outcomes for children. Parents receive excellent support to help them to understand their own capacity to change and the impact of their behaviour on their children. A parent said, ‘The staff here are really good at helping you get your baby into a routine. If I hadn’t come in here I would have struggled with feeding, sleeping and so on. It gets you into a routine, what is wrong and what is right. It’s what a good mum does.’ Another parent said of the centre, ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.’ Without exception, parents thought that the service was excellent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

External partners say that the quality of care and assessment skills of the staff team are excellent. A child’s guardian said, ‘Care 2 Share is one of my preferred resources. Its assessments are consistently good. Its work is thorough. Staff are particularly good at identifying parents’ strengths and weaknesses, and they [staff] are very sensitive in managing challenging situations. I have no criticisms to make of the service. I’ve had thoroughly positive experiences while working with it.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The quality of relationships between families and staff is extremely positive. A parent said, ‘The staff here are very helpful and respectful. They can be critical but we understand why. It’s as a precaution for the baby. They’re trying to help you.’ A member of staff said, ‘The best thing about my job is working with mums and watching their progress as a result of the skills they’ve developed here. It’s so rewarding.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

A local authority team manager commented, ‘I was regularly impressed by the quality of relationships the families had with the staff team. It was a more relaxed, structured and calm environment, compared with other family assessment centres I have had experience of.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Parents know how to make a complaint, although complaints are infrequent. Staff management of complaints is sensitive, appropriate and in accordance with the centre’s complaints procedures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Children and parents have access to an impressive range of social, educational and recreational activities. Families frequently access the local community for an array of events. These include church charity projects, volunteering opportunities and leisure pursuits. Staff also facilitate a varied range of planned activities, which families very much enjoy. Children have good opportunities to experience play and stimulation, which help with their general development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Families are encouraged to live very healthy lifestyles. Staff manage the Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 5 administration of medication safely and they and parents receive training in first aid. All families are promptly registered with local primary care services. The service has excellent links with midwifery and health visiting services. A visiting health visitor told the inspector, ‘My experience of the centre has only been positive. Communication is consistent, and I am always alerted to new admissions, so I can quickly arrange an initial visit. If there are any queries, staff call to verify any ambiguities, especially if there are worries.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Staff work in close collaboration with mental health professionals to ensure that parents’ mental health support needs are met effectively. Parents and children now benefit from the recent recruitment of a staff member who is a breastfeeding specialist. Her expertise supports parents who wish to breastfeed, and she provides advice and information to those parents who wish to consider breastfeeding their babies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Children and parents who are new to the centre are welcomed sensitively. New families receive the centre’s residents’ guide, which outlines the purpose, facilities and expectations of the service. A resident father said, ‘You have to respect it, it’s a different environment, but I feel like I’m home. There’s a purpose.’ Another mother said, ‘The hardest thing is being escorted everywhere. But it needs to happen. It’s not nice for you or your baby, but if anything, your kids will love you more for it.’ Staff promote positive endings. They sensitively manage any unplanned endings. In such instances, staff take action that is in the best interests of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Families feel involved and listened to. The centre has highly effective systems in place to support families to share their views, and staff actively encourage families to do so. Parents receive very regular feedback of progress made during assessments and staff encourage them to share their views about the centre. This helps to shape the development and improvement of the centre’s services. Children and parents are treated with dignity and respect. Parents understand the assessment process and are very much engaged at every stage of the work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Staff conduct assessments in line with the instructions of the courts and placing authorities. Final assessment reports are comprehensive, evaluative and analytical. They describe parents’ strengths and weaknesses, their capacity for change and the extent to which they understand the impact of their actions on their children. Final reports expertly address the placement objectives of all accepted referrals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Feedback from external professionals is extremely positive. A local authority team manager commented, ‘The quality of assessments and reports, from placement planning through to interim and final reports, was of a consistently outstanding quality. The assessments were fair, evidence-informed and stood up to robust cross- examination in court. I observed S giving oral evidence and was impressed at her balanced approach, which clearly articulated the risks to the child and the challenges the parents faced in adequately meeting their baby’s needs.’ Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 6

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and adults are protected from harm and abuse. Children’s protection and welfare are central to the centre’s work. The staff team has a very strong commitment to working diligently with parents to help to keep their children safe. A child’s guardian said, ‘I have a good relationship with staff here. There’s no secrets, nothing’s hidden. Managers and staff have strong safeguarding practices.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and parents benefit from the centre’s comprehensive child and adult protection policies. Regular staff training supports strong safeguarding practice. A senior social worker commented, ‘This is a note of appreciation of the professional support, efficacy and diligent work you put into the above case to ensure long-term safety and protection of the baby.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff devise relevant and comprehensive risk assessments. These are regularly updated in accordance with the assessment of parents’ capacity to protect their children and provide safe care. Staff ensure that they obtain comprehensive background information from the local authority at the point of referral. This ensures that staff have a clear understanding of family history and risks. Staff then tailor effective assessment methods for individual children and parents. This helps to promote their safety.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff’s supervision of children and parents is rigorous. As a result, critical incidents are rare. In the last 12 months, there have been no allegations made against staff, no restraint incidents and no adult protection referrals to the local authority. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of appropriate action to take in the event of such incidents. This helps to keep children and adults safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents receive support that helps them to take responsibility for their own personal safety. For example, work with families often has a focus on healthy relationships and exploration of the parents’ experience of domestic violence. Staff receive training around extremism, honour-based violence and female genital mutilation. This heightens staff’s awareness of other, less common, risks to families.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff set clear and realistic boundaries with parents that help to keep them and their children safe. A local authority team manager said of a family at the centre, ‘There were concerns about how the father was managing his anger and I found that staff managed these situations in a timely and effective way, giving clear and consistent boundaries to the father, which helped to create a sense of security for the baby, mother and other families in the centre.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff promote positive behaviour with families. Verbal praise and positive reinforcement and modelling are frequent methods used by staff to encourage positive behaviour and to curb any poor behaviour. Staff receive training in de- escalation techniques and are skilled in defusing potentially volatile situations. Staff use both group and individual key-work sessions to encourage parents to develop strategies that help them to manage conflict. Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 7 Staff understand the risks posed by internet use. They work hard with families to help them to take responsibility for appropriate use of devices that pose risks to themselves, their children and others. In one case, this work resulted in a young mother handing her mobile phone to staff, unprompted. She was able to acknowledge the serious risk posed to herself and her child if she continued to

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff recruitment and vetting practices are robust. They help to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children and parents.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The home’s premises are physically safe and appropriately secure. Staff routinely conduct health and safety checks and there are good fire precautions in place. Staff use of surveillance and electronic monitoring is appropriate and provides children and parents with an additional level of scrutiny and security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leadership and management of the centre are outstanding. The centre’s former deputy manager is now the service’s registered manager. She has excellent experience, skills and qualifications to manage the residential family centre. The centre’s former registered manager is now responsible for the organisation’s quality assurance. The combined experience and expertise of these two managers result in a highly efficient service that offers expert parental assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The centre’s monitoring systems are robust. Managers undertake regular, highly effective monitoring exercises. These explore most aspects of the centre’s functioning and offer insight into the quality of the service. Monthly independent monitoring visits help to highlight the home’s strengths and weaknesses and include action points, which help to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The centre employs a sufficient number of multi-disciplinary staff to meet the assessment needs of families. Staff qualifications include social work, psychology, psychiatry, youth work and criminology. The experience and skills of the staff team mean that the centre takes a multi-disciplinary approach to working effectively with families who present with very complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have good training opportunities that help them to develop skills to work with vulnerable families. All new staff undergo induction, although some staff indicated that their induction was not sufficiently comprehensive. The support and supervision of the staff team are excellent. This ensures that staff’s performance and development are carefully monitored and enable them to provide high-quality care. A child’s guardian said, ‘The centre works because the staff are happy, friendly and supportive, but they do their jobs. Managers’ strong safeguarding practice is trickled down to the staff team.’ Managers conduct staff appraisals annually.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff and the provider work positively with other agencies and continue to build upon Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 8 effective working relationships. For example, the provider’s partnership arrangement with a local church provides families with practical activities for themselves and their children. The partnership also offers parents the opportunity to develop skills and self-confidence. This is achieved through volunteering and participating in charity events. In addition, the church clergy offers parents a safe space, where families can go for support beyond the centre’s assessment. This is available to them during and after their stay at the residential family centre. Families very much appreciate this continued support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The centre is financially viable and appropriately resourced. The development plan outlines strategies to further improve the service. The statement of purpose describes the services available, its facilities and how the centre operates. The residents’ guide requires revision to ensure that it is user friendly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Collaborative working with other professionals, such as local authority social workers, children’s guardians and health and education professionals, is consistent and effective. A local authority team manager said, ‘Compared with other family assessment centres, I found the quality of the communication with managers to be of a high standard. Relevant information was promptly shared with the local authority.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The efforts of the staff team and managers are held in high esteem by external partners. A child’s guardian said of the service, ‘The only difficulty I have with this centre is that they never have a vacancy when I need one!’

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 9

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Care 2 Share Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 46 The Ridgeway, North Harrow, Harrow HA2 7QN

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Residential family centre details

Responsible individual: Mehnaaz Chaudhary

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls: social care inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Care 2 Share Residential Family Assessment Centre 1 to 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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