OneOneCoCo

Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 1 OneOneCoCo Oasis Places Limited Address withheld Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is owned and managed by a private provider and accommodates up to three families. The centre offers residential parental assessments exclusively to women and their children. Many of these women have experienced domestic abuse, forced marriages and honour-based violence. It is for this reason that men do not participate in residential assessments at the centre. The centre’s address is kept strictly confidential.

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

The centre is expanding. Premises within very close proximity to the centre are due imminently to be registered with Ofsted as a ‘satellite’ service to this service. The provider owns two other residential family centres, and both are based in the Redbridge area of London.

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 December 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: This is the centre’s first inspection following its registration with Ofsted in September 2017.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This residential family centre is good because:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The service is unique in offering a safe, nurturing environment to women who have been subjected to domestic abuse, forced marriage and honour-based violence.  Families are protected from harm and abuse and feel safe while staying at the centre.  Families build trusting relationships with the staff team. Staff help mothers to understand the concerns that professionals have about their care of children.  Staff make use of a range of assessment tools and programmes that help with the comprehensive assessment of parents’ parenting skills. Final assessment reports are analytical and of high quality.  Mothers feel they are able to provide safer care to their children as a result of their stay at the centre.  The management and leadership of the centre are effective.  Staff receive good support and supervision which enables them to work effectively with vulnerable families.  Staff’s communication with other professionals is consistent and effective.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

The residential family centre’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Staff should receive comprehensive training in the use of the centre’s closed- circuit television (CCTV) system.  Staff should consistently receive regular, formal supervision.  Ensure that all staff have a good understanding of actions to be taken if an allegation is made against another member of the staff team.  Ensure that case records are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are complete.  Ensure that there are contingency plans in place, should the placing authority or courts request the inclusion of a father in a continuing residential assessment.  Managers should consider relocating the storage area for buggies. Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.3

Statutory requirements

Requirement Due date The registered person shall make arrangements, by training persons working at the residential family centre or by other measures, to prevent residents being harmed or suffering abuse or being placed at risk of harm or abuse. (Regulation 11(5)). In particular, ensure that staff understand what action to take in the event that an allegation is made against another member of staff. 01/04/2019

p.3

Statutory requirements

The registered person must ensure that staff at the residential family centre are appropriately trained and understand the requirements imposed by this regulation before they use any such devices. (Regulation 21(A)(4)) 01/04/2019

p.3

Statutory requirements

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him— (a) receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (Regulation 17(5)(a)) 01/04/2019

p.3

Recommendations

 Ensure that staff understand the nature of records maintained and follow the centre’s policy for the keeping and retention of files, managing confidential information, and access to files (including files removed from the premises). There is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed. (Residential family centre NMS 20.2)  Ensure that the individual programme for each resident family is based on the placing authority’s assessment of their needs which identifies the purpose and scope of the residential assessment of parenting skill and capacity and any support which will be provided. This programme is set out in the family placement plan. (Residential family centre NMS 7.4) In particular, ensure that there are contingency plans in place in the event that the placing authority or courts request the inclusion of a father in a continuing residential assessment.

p.3

Recommendations

 The centre provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 4 and decorated. Avoidable hazards are removed as is consistent with a domestic setting. Risk reduction does not lead to an institutional feel. (Residential family centre NMS 11.2). In particular, ensure that alternative storage space is identified for buggies. Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 5

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families are warmly welcomed into the centre and staff manage endings sensitively. Staff place the well-being of children at the heart of their practice, and their day-to- day needs are well met. The centre is flexible and adaptable in its approach to assessment. This is illustrated by the case of one mother who moved to another of the organisation’s assessment centres in order to be assessed with her male partner. To maintain consistency, the family were allocated the same keyworker across both settings.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents said that, generally, they have mutual trusting relationships with the staff team. A parent said, ‘The first two weeks were intense, and supervision was high, but staff were good with us. I think I’m a better parent now. I didn’t know anything about raising children. I raised my other children with what I thought I knew. I feel I have improved. I have learnt so many more things with this child, while here.’ Staff listen to families and take what they say seriously.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre pays close attention to the healthcare needs of mothers and their children. This ensures that families receive advice and treatment as required. Families are promptly registered with primary care services soon after admission to the centre. Staff encourage parents to make and attend medical appointments for their children. For example, children’s immunizations are kept up to date and staff ensure that medication regimes are carefully monitored.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre has very effective working relationships with healthcare professionals. These include GPs, midwives and health visitors. Families are encouraged to attend community-based programmes that support children’s healthy development. For example, toddlers attend nursery to assist their overall healthy development. Parents regularly attend external parenting classes, and baby play and stimulation sessions.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Some parents also attend community-based resources that address drug and alcohol misuse and mental health support services. Final assessment reports routinely make reference to independent psychological assessments. For parents who have learning difficulties, staff incorporate Parent Assessment Manual Software (PAMS) as an assessment tool. Wednesdays are known as ‘Healthy Wednesdays’ at the centre, with a particular focus on healthy eating with families.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Contact arrangements between resident mothers and other adults require safe and carefully considered arrangements. This is particularly the case for contact between children and their fathers. Staff are sensitive of the need for children to spend time with both parents and they ensure that arrangements for contact are appropriate and safe. Staff facilitate and monitor supervised contact. This sometimes takes place in another setting owned by the provider. Children benefit from the careful coordination of contact, in a safe, nurturing environment. Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 6 Qualified staff undertake assessments that meet the specific needs of families. Assessments include a wide range of methods and programmes that effectively evaluate mothers’ capacity to provide sustained, safe care of their children. Work with families focuses on the concerns of the court and/or placing local authority.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff work well to address concerns about, and known risks to, children.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Assessment reports are of a high standard. Staff ensure that the assessment process is thorough and utilises varying assessment tools that meet the needs of children and their parents. Written reports are evaluative, analytical and clearly based on comprehensive evidence. Reports expertly outline parents’ strengths and weaknesses and highlight their capacity for change.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Local authority social workers find final reports to be balanced and written in a style that makes it easy for parents to understand. Staff are good at giving evidence in court and are able to present their findings in a fair and balanced manner.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff work well with external partners. This supports the effective coordination of families’ assessments. Staff maintain consistent communication with other professionals and regularly provide them with written case summaries. A social worker said, ‘I was pleased with the communication. I was pleased that in respect of each family I only seemed to deal with a maximum of two staff members. This meant that there was better communication and more focused intervention.’

p.6

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and their mothers are well protected from harm, neglect and abuse. Staff’s sensitivity of women’s experiences of domestic violence means that the centre has implemented highly effective strategies to keep mothers and their children safe from harm. For example, residents and professionals must agree to keep the centre’s address confidential. In addition, women are required to disable tracking systems on their communication devices. This level of protection is a clear strength of the centre; mothers acknowledge and appreciate the centre as a safe environment and haven.

p.6

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents know how complaints are made and occasionally make low level complaints. Staff and managers handle complaints promptly and sensitively. Clear records are maintained of all complaints.

p.6

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Managers’ recruitment of staff is in line with safe recruitment guidelines. This ensures that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children and parents.

p.6

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff supervision and monitoring of families is consistent and effective. There have been no allegations made against staff or any episodes of families going missing from the centre. Risks associated with offending behaviour, drug or alcohol misuse, and domestic violence are well understood by the staff team. Mothers participate in relevant programmes that help address these issues. Staff have successful links with community-based organisations that help women to explore the impact their Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 7 behaviour has had on their children. Risk assessments accurately identify the level of risk posed and strategies help reduce or eliminate such behaviour. Staff regularly review risk assessments and update these as appropriate.

p.6

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families benefit from the centre’s detailed child and adult protection policies and procedures. Most staff are familiar with essential safeguarding protocols. However, some staff do not demonstrate strong knowledge of action to be taken in the event of an allegation against a senior member of staff.

p.7

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff make appropriate use of the centre’s surveillance and electronic monitoring systems to help protect children and their parents. Parents are advised of the use of CCTV and audio monitoring devices prior to agreeing to being placed at the centre. This surveillance ensures the safety of families, while protecting their right to privacy. However, not all staff receive comprehensive training in the use of CCTV. This means that staff are unable to fully control and navigate the CCTV system while monitoring families.

p.7

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre’s environment is safe and secure, and the premises are comfortable. However, the provider should consider the removal of buggies from the dining room, as this does not create a homely environment. Staff resolve maintenance and repair issues promptly. There are no significant health and safety concerns.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the centre is effective. The registered manager is a qualified social worker with good experience of managing residential family centres and working successfully with complex families. The registered manager is in the process of completing the required management award.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The centre is well staffed and meets the needs of children and their parents. The centre is staffed by a core team, and additional skilled staff are available, if required, as the organisation owns other residential family centres.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Assessments and placement plans comprehensively address families’ needs. For example, the assessment of one family included relevant references to the use of orphanages in the European country that the parent originated from. Interesting links were made between the parent’s childhood upbringing in an orphanage and the impact this has had on their parenting style. Placement plans are regularly reviewed, taking into account the changing assessment needs of families.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that good efforts are made to help families settle into the centre. Where possible, families are given the opportunity to visit the centre prior to them moving in. Parents said that this helps them to understand the centre, its facilities and operation. Parents confirmed that they receive the centre’s residents’ guide. This is a useful, easy-to-read document that summarises well what families can expect from the centre and the expectations of them. Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 8 The home’s statement of purpose is a comprehensive document that outlines accurately the aims, objectives and operation of the centre. Managers appropriately notify Ofsted and other relevant agencies of any significant events.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that placement planning is effective. They and the staff team work in close partnership with external professionals to ensure placement objectives are achieved.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are very well supported by their line managers. Managers have an ‘open door’ policy and offer staff formal and informal supervision. Staff also receive clinical supervision from a consultant. However, some staff indicate that this level of support would be further improved if they received more frequent formal supervision. The review of staff records noted gaps in the frequency of some staff’s supervision sessions.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training opportunities are good and cover a range of relevant subject matters, pertinent to working within a residential family centre, and, in particular, working with vulnerable women. Managers ensure that they and the staff team review current research and materials to inform their practice. However, some staff commented that they feel that they would benefit from increased formal training and workshops. It is noted that not all staff receive training in the operation of the home’s CCTV cameras. This is essential, as the service relies significantly on the use of CCTV as a monitoring tool with families.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team works collaboratively to meet the needs of families. Advice, guidance and support to families are consistent. Staff understand the lines of accountability and there is a sense of shared ownership of the centre’s work.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff’s recording of information is largely good. Key records are detailed, analytical and sensitively written. Information is consistently based on evidence gathered through discussion and observations of families. However, some records are incomplete, as there is sometimes a delay in staff uploading important information onto the centre’s electronic recording system. This was the case for some key-work sessions, feedback forms and team meeting minutes. Managers complete file audits, but these do not consistently highlight and address missing information.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers make child-centred decisions about families coming to stay at the centre. The centre has a unique brief to offer parenting assessments primarily to women who have been subjected to domestic violence, forced marriages and honour-based violence. There are clear restrictions about sharing the centre’s address with others. Families and professionals are required to agree to this stringent level of confidentiality to protect women and their children. This has serious implications for women at the centre who later choose to have their male partners participate in the assessment. Managers have thus far worked creatively and used other resources to ensure that, where appropriate, this can happen. For example, in a recent case a mother moved to one of the organisation’s other residential family centres. This Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 9 sister service permitted the assessment of both mothers and fathers, and so the

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

mother’s residential assessment was able to continue with the father also on site. This is a unique position held by the centre. Should this scenario become a more common occurrence, leaders and managers will need to consider contingency planning to allow for the inclusion of fathers in residential assessments off site.

p.9

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and leaders have a clear vision for the service’s development and they demonstrate a strong commitment to ensuring positive futures for children. Assessment recommendations are appropriate and in the best interest of children. The provider is financially viable.

p.9

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The service has ambitious yet realistic plans in place to support its efforts to offer high-quality care, ensuring that staff complete comprehensive parental assessments. A local authority social worker said of the service, ‘I would be happy to use the services of OneOneCoCo again in the future and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the service to my colleagues.’

p.9

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.9

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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 1

p.9

Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Oasis Places Limited

p.10

Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 46 Britannia Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 2EQ

p.10

Residential family centre details

Registered manager: Fatemeh Habib Pourian

p.10

Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Oneonecoco 1 to 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 4234 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11