Children's Home run by Aspire House Ltd in Brent

Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 1 Registered provider: Aspire House Ltd

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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 home is provided by a limited company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children.  The responsible individual is also the registered manager of this home.  The registered manager has been in post since the home opened in May 2018.  In their statement of purpose, the provider states that they provide care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 November 2018

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: this is the first inspection of this service

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 2

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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 compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, include more information on making a complaint, the home’s approach to restraint, how staff are trained in physical intervention and staff experience and relevant qualifications. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child); serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children’s access to and from the home is not restricted unless this is part of their care plan. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

Full and satisfactory information in respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(8))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ascertain why employment ended wherever possible, explore all gaps in employment, provide proof of relevant qualifications and provide evidence of checks on agency staff in addition to DBS checks. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Where there is a possibility that a child will run away or go missing from a children’s home placement, their placement plan should include a strategy to Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 3 minimise this risk. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.24) Specifically, review risk assessments and strategies to reduce risk when the risk to children increases.  The children’s guide should help children to understand how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints procedure. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The ethos of the home should support each child to learn, emphasising the value of independent study and reading for enjoyment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18) Specifically, consider increasing the books and games available to children to

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Recommendations

encourage their interest.  Children’s homes should work closely with the placing authority to understand the child’s relationship history and the impact that the child’s arrival may have on the group living in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3) Specifically, consider remand arrangements to ensure compliance when considering the admission of a child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in this home. They receive a ‘family-like’ experience. Children get on well with the staff and feel that staff strongly advocate for them. One member of staff said, ‘I like that children openly express they don’t want to leave and have good things to say about the home.’ Children who have previously experienced multiple placement moves appreciate being happy and settled in this home. Some children greatly appreciate that staff meet their cultural needs. One child said, ‘This has never happened in other residential homes and I love the cooking here.’ Staff are positive role models for children. They take time to get to know children as individuals and adapt their care accordingly. A parent said, ‘Staff did a good job and met my son’s needs.’ Most children engage in education. For some, this is a considerable improvement from their starting points. Although some children struggle, others achieve excellent

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

attendance and punctuality. Children learn valuable skills to help them become more independent. For example, they manage their own laundry and take responsibility for making their own medical appointments. However, staff carefully balance children’s need for nurturing with their need to become more independent, for example by providing meals when children struggle with preparing their own food. Some children’s behaviour improves considerably. This has resulted in less frequent incidents of challenging behaviour. A placing officer said that staff ‘are firm in boundaries’. Staff act if one child’s behaviour impacts on another’s, in one case ending a placement to protect a child and staff. One social worker reported ‘clear and consistent boundaries combined with incentives and rewards’. However, another social worker Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 4 suggested ‘firmer boundaries and more key work’ would help the child they placed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared well for transitions. For example, some enjoy parties and receive lovely books full of memorabilia of their time in the home. Staff provide strong support to children experiencing high levels of uncertainty about their next placement move. Staff help those children moving in to feel ‘at home’ and help them understand the children’s guide. However, this document does not include sufficient information on how to make a complaint.

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improvement to be good

Going missing is not an issue for most children. However, in one case, the length of time a child went missing increased, as did the risks to their health and safety. The home’s risk assessment did not indicate a high risk, nor include more intense strategies to reduce risk. Most children who went missing have not received return home interviews, despite staff asking local authorities to arrange these. Therefore, opportunities to explore the reasons for their absence and to learn from these are lost. Impact risk assessments help ensure that newly placed children are suitable for the home. However, one child’s (short-term) placement was not a good match as the location of the home did not comply with the court’s remand conditions. Nevertheless, the child had a positive experience during their stay. Staff recruitment is mostly sound, helping to ensure that adults working in the home are suitable. However, some further checks, such as on gaps in employment, are required to

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improvement to be good

meet regulation. Children feel safe in the home and the local area. Most have settled well and have formed positive attachments to the staff. A social worker said, ‘Staff provide a safe and nurturing environment for the child.’ The building is maintained well to keep children safe. Without intending to contain children, staff routinely lock front doors which restricts children’s liberty. However, staff acted to rectify this during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe the manager as ‘respectful and supportive’ of them. Regularly used agency staff help the permanent staff to provide children with consistency of care. A staff member said, ‘We work collaboratively and have a genuine interest in promoting the best outcomes for the children.’ The registered manager has an appropriate qualification. He encourages others to achieve the minimum qualification for staff in children’s homes; just over half have achieved this and others are working towards this qualification. Staff value their training, which helps them meet children’s individual needs. Staff advocate on behalf of children. They listen to children’s views, recognising that some find it hard to express their feelings. Staff then speak ‘as the voice of the child’ to make sure their views are listened to, for example about their anxieties when moving to a new place to live. The independent person’s visits have been instrumental in helping this new service

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

develop. The registered manager has reviewed policies since registration to improve Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 5 some of these. The statement of purpose does not include all information that people need about the service. Staff work effectively with other people involved in children’s lives. Describing what they like about the home, a social worker said, ‘Staff are good at sharing information and have good working relationships with other professionals.’ The well-maintained building provides a comfortable home. There is potential to improve the homeliness of communal areas, for example by displaying photographs of the children and pictures. Staff would like more games and books to reflect children’s diversity and encourage their learning, and would like to use the garden to teach children to grow and nurture plants.

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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: 1278959 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 37 Headstone Lane, Harrow, Middlesex HA2 6JJ

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Inspector

Jacqueline Graves, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1278959 7 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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