Children's home run by Compass Children’s Homes Kent Limited in Dover

Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 1 SC023637 Registered provider: Ferndearle Child Care Services 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 run home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children who may have behavioural or other difficulties. Therapy is available to all children if required. There is a registered school on site. The manager was registered with Ofsted on 13 September 2018. He is undertaking the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential care.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/09/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 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

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are completed when moving staff to another home in the organisation following an allegation, and devise a written agreement regarding a befriender’s role. 21/12/2018

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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 requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive monthly supervision. 21/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Regulation 5 (a) requires the registered person to ‘seek to involve’ the placing authority that places a looked-after child in the home, which in practice means working primarily with the social worker. (’Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.5) Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 4 In particular, ensure that social workers sign confirmation of risk assessments for holidays.  Children’s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, improve the bathroom decor when needed.  All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely while they remain in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Thorough initial assessments inform care plans, which equip the staff with the knowledge they need to look after the children. The impact of children moving into the home on those already living here is given due consideration. Any potential difficulties are highlighted, and staff are given the necessary guidance to address any issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prepare children effectively when they move in. The use of personalised induction booklets enables children to learn the rules and expectations of the home. Staff test the children’s knowledge to ensure that they are aware of any gaps in their understanding. These documents are ‘live’ documents for children to refer to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to the children and encourage them to express their views. Regular children’s meetings are used to discuss a wide range of topics. Children value spending time talking to staff. One child said, ‘You can talk to the staff about anything and they won’t judge you.’ Another child when asked what she would tell new children moving into the home answered simply, ‘You will flourish.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise the educational needs of the children. The children attend the organisation’s schools. Staff work closely with teaching staff to ensure that there is a consistent approach. They access specialist support for children, such as occupational therapy, when necessary. They implement any programmes arising from this to maximise the benefits of the intervention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the home is the use of therapy, which enables children to understand how their behaviours affect them. Therapists and staff work with the children’s families or future foster carers to ensure that they too have the skills to care for them. The therapy team continues to support children and their carers after they have moved on from the home. This increases the chance of a successful move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have decorated the home with children’s photographs and positive messages. There are plans for the kitchen to be refurbished, and new furniture has been requested. Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 5 However, one of the bathrooms has broken tiles and the flooring needs to be replaced.

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

Leaders and managers responded to the failures in safeguarding identified at the last inspection. Staff attended refresher training and discussed safeguarding issues in supervisions and team meetings. Their knowledge of safeguarding was reviewed, and additional training was provided if any gaps were identified.

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

Managers respond appropriately to allegations made by children and consult with external professionals to agree actions to safeguard children. However, a risk assessment is not completed when staff work at another home within the organisation. This does not evidence the safety measures taken.

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

All children are taught about fire safety and have practice fire drills to ensure that they know what to do in case of a fire; this includes having night-time fire drills and workshops. The fire service visited the children to reinforce fire safety messages following an incident.

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

One-to-one meetings between the staff and children are an effective way for children to explore their feelings. Staff use these meetings to teach the children important messages such as internet safety, stranger danger and how to keep themselves safe when they are out in the community. Clearly recorded rules and boundaries are agreed before children can use electronic devices to access the cyber world.

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

Staff discuss children’s behaviour at team and group therapy meetings. The strategies agreed inform behaviour plans and risk assessments. Physical intervention log entries are evaluated by the manager. Children are given the opportunity to discuss the incident with someone who is impartial. This ensures that staff gain insight to inform future interventions.

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

An ethos of restorative justice and appropriate consequences helps children to manage their behaviours. Sanctions are appropriate and help children to learn to take responsibility for their own actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses monitoring systems effectively, to identify trends in children’s progress and behaviour, and to review the strategies used. The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and uses quality assurance isystems to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of care plans ensures that these accurately reflect the needs of the children and are reviewed to reflect any changes. Care plans clearly identify the goals that the children are working towards and provide staff with detailed guidelines. Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 6 Children make good progress here.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Risk assessments are completed prior to holidays and activities to ensure that all potential risks are considered, and staff are aware of any protective actions to take. However, not all risk assessments had been signed by a child’s social worker prior to the child going on the holiday. Leaders and managers maintain good communication with placing authorities. Staff inform social workers regarding untoward incidents immediately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Appropriate induction programmes and relevant training and development opportunities prepare staff effectively to meet children’s complex needs. New staff are mentored and only work directly with children when they are confident in how to do so. This means that staff are competent from the start. A befriender employed to spend time with a child and act as a role model is a positive initiative. However, a formal agreement is not in place to ensure that all parties understand their roles and responsibilities should a safeguarding situation occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions, team meetings and therapeutic support provide opportunities for staff to review and reflect on children’s progress. Managers also review staff performance and development. However, staff supervision has not always occurred monthly in line with the statement of purpose. The registered manager is addressing this shortfall and arrangements have been made for a senior staff member to be trained to supervise staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are stored in locked offices to ensure that they are not accessible to visitors to the home. However, some children’s information, which should have been kept in a locked cabinet, was left in the office. This risked these records being viewed or stolen if unauthorised persons had obtained access to the office.

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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: SC023637 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ferndearle Child Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 77 Biggin Street, Dover, Kent CT16 1BB

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Inspectors

Suzy Lemmy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC023637 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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