Children's home run by ABC Care Solutions

Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 1 SC460740 Registered provider: ABC Care Solutions

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A limited company runs this and one other children‘s home. The home provides care for up to four boys. In its statement of purpose, the provider states that the home provides care for children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered .

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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 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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2017 Full Good 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/10/2016 Full Good 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 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 independent person must produce a report about a visit (―the independent person‘s report‖) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‘s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children‘s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children‘s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider— is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of— the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) 30/11/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Specifically, ensure that staff have access to policies which are clearly related to children‘s homes and not other services.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 4 20). The plan should: - detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home‘s Statement of Purpose - detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications) - detail the process for managing and improving poor performance - detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.

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Recommendations

The registered person should update the plan to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and use this to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home‘s manager. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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improvement to be good

Leadership and management are judged to be inadequate at this home. This is due to the fact that the home has been without a registered manager for over 26 weeks. This a affects the overall judgement which is, as a result requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

Children make good progress from their starting points. They benefit from ongoing therapeutic support to improve their emotional well-being. Those children who have previously refused mental health services now benefit by engaging with them. The children start to want better lives for themselves.

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improvement to be good

Staff give children the opportunity to have the positive experiences that they may have missed out on in early childhood. A child said, ‗[The staff] find different ways to help me.‘ A social worker said that a child is ‗happy in the placement and progressing‘.

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improvement to be good

Children experience positive, nurturing relationships with staff. They enjoyed a variety of fun activities over the summer holidays. Staff support children‘s individual interests, for example with visits to places of interest in London and school trips abroad. Hobbies and activities are usual in the home, such as reading, learning to play a musical instrument or playing board games. Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 5 Children‘s health improves. Staff help children to establish good bedtime routines to improve their sleep. As a result, children are up and ready for school the next day. Children eat a healthy breakfast. This supports their readiness for learning.

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improvement to be good

Children attend their education provision regularly and punctually. Although some children are not in full-time education, their part-time engagement is a significant improvement. Others attend school full time, making significant achievements in relation to their peers. They are encouraged to have aspirations for their futures, for example by visiting top universities.

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

Staff are very protective of children and keep them safe. The home is a happy, positive place where children can settle and experience a family-like setting. Staff describe the children as ‗our boys‘ and are mindful of protecting them from any prejudice because of their looked-after status.

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

Behaviour improves. Children begin to self-regulate their behaviour. Those who test the boundaries experience a consistent response from the staff team, which helps children to feel secure.

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

Staff are creative in finding the best ways to help children. For example, they request reviews of medication, or challenge arrangements for children to see relatives if this has a negative impact on them.

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

Staff are proactive if children do not return home when they are expected. They make sure children do not routinely go missing from the home. Children learn about risks in the local area and how to manage these. Children learn to be responsible for their own safety when using social media.

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

Staff work well with other professionals involved in the children‘s lives. A social worker said, ‗Communication has been very good.‘ An outreach worker said they experience ‗really good joint working‘ with the staff to improve children‘s outcomes.

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

The home has been without a registered manager for over 26 weeks. Consequently, the effectiveness of leaders and managers must be judged inadequate. This leads to a judgement of requires improvement to be good for ‗overall experiences and progress‘.

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

The team has experienced change in the management of the home. An interim manager has been in post since the departure of a previous interim manager. She is supported by the previous registered manager, which has provided continuity to the team and the children.

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

The requirements made at the last inspection have been met, indicating the management‘s capacity to improve the service. One recommendation to develop a Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 6 workforce development plan has not yet been fully addressed, but the interim manager is working towards this.

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

Monitoring is reasonable and helps the manager improve the service. However, the independent visitors‘ reports do not include their opinion on children‘s safety and well- being and so do not entirely meet regulations.

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

Children benefit from being looked after by a stable staff team, with some staff having worked at the home for many years. Staff feel well supported by management in terms of supervision, meetings and training. Most staff members have achieved the minimum qualification, and some are working towards achieving the level 5 qualification.

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

Some policies contain information which is not specific to children‘s homes and so could be confusing for staff.

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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: SC460740 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: ABC Care Solutions, 249 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 4TG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Ms Saheena Saeed

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Inspector

Jacqueline Graves, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC460740 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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