Children's Home run by London Borough of Barnet in Barnet

Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 1 SC033805 Registered provider: London Borough of Barnet Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority owned home provides care for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose states that it is a home for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or mild learning difficulties. The registered manager has been registered since 2009.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2017 Full Good 08/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2016 Full Outstanding 22/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that effective strategies are in place, that are followed by staff, to intervene and manage concerns regarding young people having weapons in their possession. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b)) 18/12/2018*

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff 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 harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, provide a written record that full consideration has been made regarding the impact of a new placement on the existing group of children. 18/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)) 18/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 4 In particular, strategies need to be consistently applied by managers and staff to address with children incidents where children have behaved inappropriately toward staff.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (a) (b) (2)(d)) 18/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care. In particular, all children should have a care plan. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the home must devise its own care plan for each child. 18/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff develop the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) and (2)(a)(i)) 18/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 18/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 5

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, the need for the prompt recording of concerning incidents and discussions.  Ensure that for children’s homes to 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, ensure that where appropriate bedroom locks are changed if children move rooms, address the peeling paint in the shower room and remove damaged items from the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Safeguarding failures potentially place children within the home at risk of harm. In particular, staff failed to act robustly to isolated incidents involving a weapon. One child stated that they felt unsafe living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Strategies for managing inappropriate, challenging or violent behaviour are unclear. Opportunities to involve relevant partner agencies to help to reduce risk are missed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home’s approach to care planning, risk management and record-keeping is weak. The home’s care planning is poor. Not all children have a care plan that has been devised by the home. This makes it difficult for staff to gain a specific understanding of how to meet the assessed needs of all the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although children take part in activities, for example going to the cinema and go-karting, some children complain about being bored. A number of staff reported that they would like to spend more time with children individually and on more community-based activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children live in a home that is generally well-maintained, although one bathroom has peeling paint above a shower. However, a chair that was damaged by children four months ago had been left in the garden. Although the chair had been moved to the side of the building it had slash marks caused by a knife and therefore presented a negative impression of the otherwise good living environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Key-work sessions provide an opportunity for children to discuss ongoing concerns and Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 6 to reflect on their lives. Evidence was seen of some good work, which has helped with some children’s resilience and personal development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

All children are in some form of education. Some children are exceeding educational expectations. Most children said that they have positive ambitions for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children enjoy appetising meals from a range of cultures. Children learn the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. They eat a nutritious diet, which includes fruit and making healthy smoothies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff are responsive to children’s health needs and there are good links with a range of health professionals. Children can promptly receive therapeutic support if they require such intervention. This contributes to improvements in their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Older children benefit from a good independent living skills programme. The home’s maintenance person can provide practical instruction, for example with changing a plug. Older children also learn to write their curriculum vitae to help them with future employment.

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

The strategy for managing concerns regarding weapons is ineffective. Despite a knife being handed into staff by a child, managers and staff failed to take effective action to minimise the immediate and longer-term risks associated with the incident. Furthermore, managers and staff missed opportunities to intervene or involve partner agencies, such as the youth offending service, to ensure that all children living in the home were kept safe or prevented from engaging in potentially serious and highly dangerous criminal activity. Subsequently, a knife and imitation firearm were found in the child’s possession and another knife in the bedroom after staff appropriately requested police support and the child and room were searched.

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

The management of the risk to children within the home is weak. Risk assessments do not include strategies for staff to safeguard against weapons being on the premises. This is despite there being an incident four month’s earlier when one child used a knife inappropriately to cause damage to property in the home.

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

Recent admissions to the home has seen children who are known to have been involved in criminal activity placed alongside more vulnerable children. During the inspection, a child disclosed the presence of weapons in the home and his father was asked by staff to fetch him and keep him overnight as there was a fear of retaliation from the other child because of disclosure.

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

During the inspection, the inspector observed a tense atmosphere among the children. A staff member highlighted to the inspector that a particular child had ‘a lot of control over the other kids’. A parent reported to the inspector that their child was ‘scared’ of living at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 7 One child said that they do not always feel safe, as new bedroom locks are not always fitted when they change bedrooms.

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

The approach toward behaviour management is inconsistent. Although staff endeavour to use sanctions to help children to take responsibility for their actions most of the time, there are occasions when this is not applied. For example, one child had behaved in a challenging and potentially violent manner toward one member of staff the night before the inspection took place. However, there was no strategy put in place when the same member of staff came back on duty the following afternoon and no obvious plan to engage the child to address the behaviour, to seek a resolution or to implement an appropriate consequence.

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

The home does use rewards to reinforce positive behaviours such as going to school. Children additionally receive meaningful recognition for their achievements.

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

Children learn the importance of internet safety. Staff appropriately manage episodes of going missing. The times when children go missing from the home, since they moved in, are decreasing.

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

Staff receive a range of safeguarding training, which includes training around radicalisation, gangs and serious youth violence. The home has ‘champions’ in managing issues around child sexual exploitation. Some appropriate work had been done regarding sexual consent and healthy personal relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been subject to a period of instability due to changes within the staff team. The long-standing registered manager is well qualified and experienced. The home uses the local authority’s ‘as and when’ bank of temporary staff to fill in when permanent staff are not available.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, two members of permanent staff have been suspended from the home by the local authority. This followed an incident that took place four months ago involving one child who damaged property in the home with a knife. The incident is still being investigated by the local authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A number of staff reported that taking on emergency placements brings a challenge in meeting the needs of a mixture of children and that this does place pressure on the staff team. An example of this is vulnerable children living with those who have a history of violence and criminal activity. Written evidence was not seen regarding the home assessing the impact of new admissions on the existing group of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The majority of the recommendations from the last inspection have been addressed. There are improvements in the Regulation 44 reports and educational and health arrangements. However, given the shortfalls highlighted at this inspection, the recommendation concerning the matching of children has been escalated to a requirement. Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 8 Staff do not promptly record incidents, discussions with children or record important information in the handover notes. An example of this is not immediately recording that a knife had been handed into staff by a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children are looked after by an experienced, well-qualified and culturally diverse staff team. All staff have the required vocational qualification and receive ongoing training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s quality assurance process includes monthly visits from an independent visitor. The registered manager additionally completes a regular review of the quality of care. Social workers, independent reviewing officers and parents additionally provide regular feedback.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the significant shortfalls identified at the inspection, some feedback received by the inspector regarding the home was positive. A parent stated that this was the ‘best home in Barnet’ and her child was ‘thriving’. A social worker praised the ‘good communication’ and the partnership working.

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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: SC033805 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The London Borough of Barnet

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Building 4, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP

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Inspector

Sharon Payne: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 10 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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