Children's home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 1 SC484671 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‟s home provides care for up to four children who have complex needs. The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 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 good

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good

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

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2017 Full Good 06/07/2016 Full Good 09/05/2016 Full Inadequate 17/12/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(viii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the daily routine at the home encourages children‟s engagement and preparation for returning to their education provision. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand how children‟s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; and 25/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 4 are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ix)(x)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(e)(f)(h)) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff undertake the training that they need to enable them to meet the children‟s needs. 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 5

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are happy living at the home. Good interactions were observed during the inspection between children and staff. The children are positive about the care that they receive, and this was confirmed by the social workers spoken with during the inspection. The children said that they have formed closer relationships with some staff more than others, but each child could identify a member of staff who they are able to talk to. One child said, „I don‟t have any complaints or worries that I need to talk about. I‟m OK and the staff are alright.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home are planned when possible. The manager and staff established that they could not meet the needs of two children effectively. Those children moved from the home quickly. In response to this, the manager analysed and explored the reasons why this happened, and the lessons learned. The manager is using this information to improve the quality of impact assessments and the referral information that is gathered from the placing local authorities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children have made good progress during their time at the home. The children are central to their care. The staff regularly seek their views. All of the children attend regular meetings so that they can share their views. Children engage with their individual key-work sessions, and the staff spend time getting to know each child and their individual likes and dislikes. Consequently, children feel listened to and understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff, who understand the importance of family relationships, support children‟s contact with their families. The children benefit from seeing their families regularly, which helps them to maintain positive relationships even though they are living away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are sensitive to the children‟s emotional needs and are carefully supporting one child emotionally through a difficult period. Good staff support is accessible and available to the children when they need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have made good progress in their education, and one child attends school Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 6 daily. Other children who have previously not attended school are now attending. However, the daily routine at the home does not fully encourage children to attend and engage in education and to achieve their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children engage with the organisation‟s therapist, who visits the home weekly. This therapist is supported by an assistant psychologist. The staff work well with the therapists and other professionals. Monthly child-focused meetings consider in depth the children‟s needs. All of the children are helped to identify their own targets to work towards. However, not all of the children consistently engage, so some children are not yet accessing the therapeutic input that they need.

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

The children are safe living at the home. The management team deals swiftly with allegations, liaising with the designated officer and other professionals when needed. The manager ensures that clear actions are implemented to safeguard the children and that processes are transparent.

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

Children are making progress and, consequently, incidents of children going missing and risk-taking behaviour are reducing. There are few physical interventions. When these do occur, they are proportionate. The children have the opportunity to share their views after incidents have taken place. Although the staff have access to an online system, not all of the written records show that incident records have been signed and reviewed by the manager in a timely way. On one occasion, a child was spoken to by the staff member who had been involved in the incident. This does not provide an independent person for the child to talk to.

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

There are few sanctions. The manager is focused on implementing a diversion programme. This programme helps the children and the staff to explore the reasons why the children are displaying negative behaviours. There is a clear aim to ensure that the children can take part in restorative work.

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

The staff primarily focus on the wishes of the children rather than what is in the children‟s best interests. Children have too much access to their televisions and games consoles in their bedrooms. This is not consistently addressed by all staff, despite being written in the children‟s risk assessments. The staff avoid placing children on supervised spending as this may trigger challenging behaviours. While it is important to consider what is happening for the child at that time, their experience of trauma, their risk assessments and their views of how they want to be managed, these factors should not stop the staff from taking action that is best for the child. During mealtimes, there was little attempt by the staff to ask the children to stop swearing.

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

During the inspection, it was noted that one child was playing on an 18-rated computer game. The child is also able to access a forum to share games online. The staff were unaware of who the child is sharing games with and the age requirement of the games played. This demonstrates a lack of staff skills, knowledge and curiosity and does not provide sufficient online safeguards. Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 7

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

Since the last inspection, the manager has registered with Ofsted. She has a suitable level 5 qualification. The manager is passionate about her role and is child-centred. However, there are a number of areas that require improvement.

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

There have been changes to the staff team since the last inspection. Those staff who have been working with children for over two years have a relevant level 3 qualification. However, several of the staff working at the home have been recently recruited and have not worked in a children‟s home before. As a result, there is a lack of consistency and experience within the team. This does not fully provide a consistent level of care because not all of the staff are consistent in reinforcing boundaries for the children.

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

The manager has made some changes since the last inspection to ensure that when possible the children‟s views are sought and that the children are involved in all aspects of their care planning. The manager encourages the staff to advocate for the children. However, even though several children raised concerns about a member of staff‟s practice, the manager did not ensure that the concerns were appropriately and swiftly addressed. This did not promote the ongoing well-being of the children living at the home.

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

There is a lack of effective management oversight and monitoring. On some occasions, when incidents have occurred, although the initial action taken is appropriate and safeguards children, there is a lack of further follow-up action to address staff practice. Consequently, the risk of recurrence of poor practice remains.

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

Some records are not up to date. Several documents had information missing or incorrect details that were no longer relevant. This means that the information does not reflect the current needs of the children or provide an accurate point of reference for the staff.

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

The manager has not undertaken recent monitoring of the children‟s outcomes. The internal monitoring report lacks further actions to improve the quality of care. It is therefore unclear how the manager can ensure that the home is moving forward and developing.

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

The organisation has increased its training offer to staff. However, not all of the staff have completed their mandatory training or undertaken training that is part of the ethos of the home. This does not ensure that all of the staff are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills that they need to work effectively.

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

The manager is aware that there are gaps in supervision. She has not had time to make sure that all of the written records are up to date. This is an area that the manager has identified for improvement.

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

Two children, one of whom has moved from the home, have progress and outcomes Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 8 books. These books evidence the progress that those children have made. However, these books are not available yet for other children. Therefore, valuable memories are not routinely recorded for each child.

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

The manager has not ensured that all notifications are sent to Ofsted in a timely way. In addition, a recent significant event was not reported to Ofsted at all. This does not enable Ofsted to have an accurate oversight of the home and to ensure that suitable action has been taken to safeguard children.

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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: SC484671 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Benjamin UK Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Farm House, Station Road, Aldbury, Tring HP23 5RS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Deysel

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Inspectors

Natalie Burton: social care inspector Debbie Young: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC484671 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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