Children's home run by London Borough of Barnet

Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 1 SC034134 Registered provider: London Borough of Barnet

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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 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 behavioural difficulties. It further states that the home specialises in caring for young people who have suffered some sort of trauma in their early years, such as sexual, physical or emotional abuse, or neglect.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2013.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 16 October 2017

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2017 Full Good 17/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Good 07/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 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 all staff implement effective strategies to intervene regarding substance misuse. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(b)) 31/03/2019

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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, the registered person should provide a written record that full consideration has been made regarding the impact of a new placement on the existing group of young people. 31/03/2019

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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)) 31/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 4 In particular, strategies need to be consistently applied by managers and staff to follow up with young people regarding incidents where young people have behaved inappropriately toward staff. The leadership and management standard

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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)) 31/03/2019

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 31/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 5 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Recommendations

 Children‟s homes must comply with the relevant health and safety legislation. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 13.9). In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the home‟s fire risk assessment is kept up to date.

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Recommendations

 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, the registered manager must ensure that the home is well maintained, including replacing the broken toilet seat, removing ivy growing through a bathroom window, repairing wall damage in the computer room and replacing chipped floor covering.

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Inspection judgements

Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 6

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improvement to be good

The home has gone through a difficult time recently. The behaviour of the young people has been very challenging. A care professional described the home as „very unsettled over the last few months‟. A young person said, „The home is worse now than when I first came here.‟

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, the registered manager had recently returned from annual leave. Her absence coincided with an increase in challenging behaviour. A young person said, „When she [the registered manager] was away the whole house fell apart, things changed drastically, and we had a big war with the staff.‟ A member of staff said that during the registered manager‟s annual leave, „Things went wrong, and we didn‟t get any support.‟

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improvement to be good

Young people raised concerns about the home during a recent young people‟s meeting that was also attended by their independent advocate. As a result, the registered manager held an „emergency‟ young people‟s meeting and staff meeting to address these concerns with the young people, the staff team and the independent advocate.

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improvement to be good

Young people are encouraged to choose their preferred activities and hobbies. Staff work hard to plan activities and engage young people in them. Young people can enjoy meals out with the staff, trips to the cinema, the local leisure centre and bowling. However, young people do not consistently take up these opportunities.

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improvement to be good

The home provides suitable accommodation for the young people who live there. A chill- out room, lounge and computer room provide young people with appropriate communal spaces. However, maintenance of the home is not always timely. Ivy is growing through a bathroom window, and there are chipped floor coverings, a broken toilet seat and a large hole in the computer room wall. These all detract from a homely atmosphere.

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improvement to be good

Not all young people make progress while living in the home. Some young people do not engage with the support offered. However, other young people achieve a reduction in episodes of missing from the home, improve their relationships with their families and have increased engagement with therapeutic and health support services.

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improvement to be good

Staff support all of the young people to attend school or college, and provide financial incentives and rewards to help improve their punctuality and attendance in education. One young person has successfully engaged in a work placement, a college placement, and a part-time job while also completing the home‟s independence training programme, which the placing social worker said has helped him „make significant improvement in his presentation and emotional well-being‟.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 7 Detailed pre-admission risk assessments consider any risks and potential impact on young people already living in the home. However, risk assessments that are completed for emergency placements do not always consider the stability and welfare of the other young people in the home. This resulted in increased risks to the young people already living in the home at the time.

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improvement to be good

It was noted that on one occasion two young people were found smoking cannabis in a bedroom. This was addressed with them and the home is currently revising its policy on substance misuse to ensure young people receive the necessary support to reduce their drug misuse.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always clear where young people are when they are missing from the home. However, when young people are missing from the home, staff always follow the missing-from-home agreed policies and procedures. The local authority missing person‟s coordinator said that staff always provide missing-from-home notifications in a timely manner, and young people are always offered return home interviews.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is encouraged in the home. Since the last inspection, there have been three episodes of physical restraint in the home. However, not all incident records show that young people have had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the incident in question. For example, although incident logs are completed, they are not always signed by the young person concerned to confirm that they have received a debrief from staff.

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improvement to be good

Young people are offered „link work‟ sessions with their „link‟ member of staff. However, these are not held regularly for all young people which limits staff‟s up-to-date knowledge and understanding of young people‟s needs and welfare. Young people can receive rewards and incentives for positive behaviour and other agreed targets. However, not all young people engage with this programme.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures that all statutory certificates for health and safety checks are both current and reviewed in line with regulations. However, the home‟s 2017 fire safety risk assessment recommendations were not actioned in a timely manner. This potentially placed young people‟s safety at risk.

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

Agency and bank staff are used to ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each young person. However, the home has several staff vacancies, including a deputy manager and a team leader. When this is combined with maternity leave, some staff sickness and staff arriving late for their shifts, it has resulted in some of the staff team working longer shift patterns.

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

Staff team meetings are held regularly, which enables staff to share relevant information and updates about the young people living in the home. However, not all management feedback to staff is clearly recorded in the meeting minutes. Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 8 Staff receive comprehensive training that helps meet the needs of the young people. However, during the inspection some staff‟s appropriate level 3 qualification and online training could not be verified by the inspector. The registered manager relies on the registered provider‟s recruitment and online training systems, which she does not access, and this limits the registered manager‟s understanding of all staff‟s knowledge, experience and training.

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

„One member of staff said that during the period when the registered manager was on annual leave, that they had, „felt targeted‟ [by a young person] and „fearful‟.‟

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

Placing social workers compliment the registered manager and staff team. They described the staff as „supportive‟ and that they „always keep in touch and provide young people‟s updates daily‟. A young person described the staff as „caring like a family‟.

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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: SC034134 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

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC034134 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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