Children's Home run by Curam Domi Solutions Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 1 Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions 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 privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who have social and/or emotional difficulties. The acting manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 February 2019

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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: 20 February 2018

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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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 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

Statement of purpose The registered person must— (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and (b) notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) In particular, leaders and managers must provide staff with training that meets all of the children‟s needs. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— 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”)— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and (ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35(3)(b)(i)(ii)) 31/05/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 3 Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— (a) how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and (b) the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2)) In particular, leaders and managers must agree on one model of

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Requirement Due date

restraint to be used in the home. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (d) a child protection enquiry involving a child — (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard 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— help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(ii)) In particular, staff must provide young people with key-work sessions that help address any identified risks or welfare concerns with the young people. 31/05/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 4 Other records Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date; and retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37(1)(2)(a)(b)) In particular, the register of children admitted to and discharged

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Requirement Due date

from the home must be complete and accurate. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

Children‟s case records The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) In particular, the home must maintain copies of any EHC plan or statement of special educational needs in relation to the child. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a)) In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff members are included in the home‟s training matrix, all staff training is clearly recorded, and training noted as „overdue‟ is addressed in a timely manner. 31/05/2019

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Recommendations

 The children‟s home must produce a children‟s guide. The children‟s guide should help children to understand: what the day to day routines of the home are („what happens in the home‟). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 24, paragraphs 4.21 and 4.22) In particular, the children‟s guide must be kept up to date, including details of any behaviour management consequences that the home may apply.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. („Guide to the children‟s homes Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 5 regulations including the quality standards‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, staff must ensure that young people‟s risks are identified and assessed, risk assessments are kept up to date, and systems are in place to ensure that all staff read all young people‟s risk assessments.

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of clear recording. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, and paragraph 14.4) In particular, records of restraint, sanctions and other incidents must be clear, accurate and unambiguous.  Progress can be measured and evidenced in various ways. The child‟s personal circumstances, individual needs and educational history are relevant in considering what might constitute progress. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standard‟, page 26, paragraph 5.2) In particular, staff must ensure that young people‟s targets and progress are recorded and monitored.  Children‟s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of the children. They will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, bedroom light switches must be repaired and bedroom curtains must be hung at the windows.

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improvement to be good

Some young people living in this home do not receive consistently good enough care and support. As a result, some young people in the home remain at a high risk of exploitation. Placement plans identify the young people‟s emotional and behavioural needs, but not all staff have the skills and experience to meet those needs. Young people‟s key-work sessions do not regularly address their emotional welfare. Staff do not consistently implement behaviour management approaches. A young person said that some responses by staff to any challenging behaviour „antagonise me‟. As a result, challenging behaviour can sometimes escalate in the home. Records kept in the home do not always provide clear and comprehensive evidence of young people‟s progress while living in the home. The responsible individual reported examples of young people successfully supported to return to their families, reductions in self-harming behaviours, improved personal hygiene and an increase in school

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improvement to be good

attendance, that the home captures within young people‟s monthly summaries. However, case records were not available to support this view. Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 6 The home provides suitable accommodation for two young people; however, some aspects of the physical environment require attention, such as a broken bedroom light switch, and a missing bedroom window blind that had been removed by a young person. These detract from a homely atmosphere. Staff make use of the home‟s external therapeutic resource. This includes opportunities for the young people to take part in boxing sessions and the services of a tutor to provide education for them while they await a school placement. The young people enjoy activities suited to their hobbies and preferences such as ice skating, roller blading, trampolining and visits to the local farm and museums.

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improvement to be good

Some young people‟s risk assessments are incomplete. The risks of criminal exploitation and gang affiliation are not recorded and there are no planned strategies to minimise those risks. As a result, young people living in the home remain vulnerable when out in the community. Not all the staff team read the young people‟s risk assessments. Staff have not yet received all the appropriate training that is planned which will enable them to manage and address all of the young people‟s needs and risks. In addition, some young people do not receive regular help and support in key-work sessions to address their welfare needs. Young people have been admitted to the home with psychiatric and other mental health needs. Staff do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to help meet the emotional needs of young people in the home. Since the last inspection, there have been three episodes of restraint in the home.

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improvement to be good

However, a restraint record examined during the inspection was inaccurate. The duration of the restraint, the number of restraints used, and the staff involved in the restraint episode were incorrect. Staff involved in the restraint did not receive a debrief as required by regulation. As part of the home‟s behaviour management strategy, staff successfully encourage conflict resolution between the young people. Financial reparation is a consequence for any damage young people may cause in the home. However, the young people‟s guide does not refer to this sanction.

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

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the home has declined since the last inspection. Leaders and managers are aware the home‟s current shortfalls. The responsible individual and the acting manager plan to address these. Young people‟s records examined during the inspection were either missing, inaccurate or incomplete. It is not clearly recorded that all the staff have read the young people‟s care records. This limits staff‟s up-to-date knowledge of the young people living in the Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 7 home. The home‟s training schedule does not include all the staff employed in the home. Some training is overdue, and not all staff are currently trained in the same model of restraint used in the home. As a result, not all the staff are suitably experienced or have the skills to provide care that is consistent and meets the needs of young people placed in the home. A parent said, „Not all staff are competent at meeting [X]‟s needs.‟

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

The home makes good use of a clinical supervisor in team meetings. This helps staff consider additional strategies to support themselves and the young people in the home. However, when the acting manager was unavailable, the monthly team meeting did not take place. This runs the risk that the staff team is not up to date with developments in the home. Staff described the responsible individual as „approachable with a strong work ethic‟. A parent said that „[X] is safe and protected‟, and another parent complimented staff for their „dedication and hard work‟. A social worker described the staff team as „very supportive‟.

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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: 1257182 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 86-90 Paul Street, London, Greater London EC2A 4NE

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1257182 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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