Children's Home run by Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy in Kent

Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 1 SC454294 Registered provider: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a charitable organisation. It is registered to accommodate up to four children. The statement of purpose says that the home is a specialist residential therapeutic community providing therapeutic care and treatment along with family support to psychologically traumatised children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in December 2015.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/11/2016 Full Outstanding 29/12/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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 an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(d)(iii)) 15/02/2019

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Recommendations

 Sufficient staff means a home having enough suitably trained staff (including someone in a management role) on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home, and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements, where accepted. The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1) This is with specific reference to ensuring that there is always a sufficient number Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 4 of trained staff on duty to implement the strategies identified in behaviour management plans.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) This is with specific reference to ensuring that staff receive training related to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have the skills and knowledge to enable them to build strong, trusting relationships with vulnerable and traumatised children. As a result, children experience increased levels of stability and they feel more secure. The home provides an environment where children can begin to overcome the impact of negative experiences and manage the intensity of their emotions more effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home’s therapeutic model is embedded in practice and consequently children experience consistency in the care that they receive. Children have access to, and engage positively in, specialist counselling and therapeutic interventions. As a consequence of the care and specialist support that they receive, children make good and often excellent progress across all aspects of their lives. This includes education, social interaction, the ability to make informed choices and independent living skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff consistently treat children with dignity and respect. The staff support and encourage children to develop their own identities and remain in touch with their cultural heritage. There is a strong ethos of respect for one another. Consequently, children form positive relationships with each other and become more able to empathise with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff encourage children to develop new interests, activities and hobbies. Children’s individual achievements are recognised and celebrated by everyone at the home. Detailed planning was undertaken to ensure that a holiday abroad last summer was a great success and provided the children with new and exciting experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The standard of work undertaken with children who are preparing to move into foster placements, or other permanent settings, is exceptional. Staff recognise the intense emotional turmoil this can engender for a child and they employ their skills to help the child express their anxieties, fears and renewed sense of loss in a way that is safe and manageable. The preparation work undertaken with children prior to them moving increases the potential for them to settle well when they move to their next placement. Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 5 Although children have adequate opportunities to express their views internally on how the home is run and the care they receive, the process for ensuring that children can easily access independent support and advice is under-developed. Some of the children raised with the inspector some things that they would like to change. When asked, the children did not understand the role of an independent advocate or how they could

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

access an advocacy service independently.

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

The safety and well-being of children is consistently prioritised. The staff have a thorough understanding of each child’s vulnerabilities and potential to behave in ways that could result in them coming to harm. Children’s individual risk assessments are kept updated and provide very clear strategies for keeping the child safe.

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

The positive relationships between the staff and children results in children having the confidence to share their worries and concerns. This is a strong protective factor because when safeguarding concerns emerge, the children are willing to speak to the staff about what has happened. Staff have a thorough understanding of the actions they must take whenever they have concerns about the safety and well-being of a child.

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

There is a strong and effective response from leaders and managers to any child protection incidents. Prompt action is taken to identify where practice can be improved whenever there are indications that a child may have placed themselves at risk. For example, highly effective measures were taken when it became apparent that children could circumnavigate the internet security systems in place. There is a strong emphasis on educating children about the potential risks they face when accessing the internet and social media sites.

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

Children’s individual behaviour management plans contain personalised strategies, which reflect the therapeutic approach and culture of the home. A restorative approach is used by staff to promote positive behaviour. Children engage well in restorative meetings with those who may have been adversely affected by their negative behaviour.

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

Practice relating to the physical restraint of children is excellent. Each incident provides an opportunity for a meaningful debriefing with the child and a detailed analysis by senior staff of whether the child’s needs could be more effectively met. Despite this excellent practice, there was one occasion when there were not enough trained staff on duty to implement agreed strategies for holding a child, if the need had arisen.

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

The support for children who may be involved in child protection investigations is exceptional. Skilled staff have insight into the anxieties and conflict a child is likely to be experiencing, and they plan in advance how they will care for, and support, the child at critical points during the investigation process. Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is a highly effective leader who has created a culture where the children are valued and the staff are motivated to provide the highest standards of care. The registered manager holds the level 4 diploma in leadership and management for care services and health and social care. He has also obtained qualifications relating to the therapeutic model of care provided at the home. He is supported by a skilled and committed team of deputy management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are well-established systems for monitoring the quality of care. These have ensured that emerging concerns for children’s safety and well-being are identified promptly. Leaders and managers consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the monitoring systems, and where weaknesses are identified a concerted effort is made to strengthen processes. This approach has resulted in the recent overhaul of the policy and practice relating to children’s access and use of mobile phones.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A strength of the home is the standard of care planning. Children’s plans are highly individualised and focused on how the child’s specific needs will be met. All aspects of children’s progress are monitored and recorded. Staff are enabled and supported to reflect on whether the strategies in place for caring for the children are having a positive impact. The staff team works collaboratively to identify alternative strategies if the child is not making expected progress. Excellent care planning has resulted in children moving successfully to more permanent care placements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff are exceptionally well supported. They have a number of forums where good practice is shared and where they receive support to manage the personal impact of the work. Staff receive regular, very good-quality supervision. The quality of supervision is particularly high for new members of staff. The organisation provides a comprehensive training programme, primarily focused on delivering the home’s model of therapeutic care. In one case, training relating to the specific behaviour of one child has not yet been provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

An application had been made to Ofsted to increase the numbers of children accommodated at the home. Meticulous planning has been undertaken to ensure that this change will be managed with the least disruption to the children currently living in the home. Leaders and managers have ensured that the children are informed and consulted regarding some aspects of the changes that will take place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leadership team demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility for ensuring that children at the home have the best possible outcomes. They have created a culture where the staff have high aspirations for the children. Over time, children begin to thrive and are well prepared for the next stage in their lives. Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 7

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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: SC454294 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 210 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JX

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Inspector

Stephen Collett, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454294 9 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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