Children's home run by Southern Adolescent Care Services Ltd in Crawley

Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 1 SC038522 Registered provider: Southern Adolescent Care Services 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

The staff at this home care for up to four children who have experienced adverse circumstances in their past resulting in them having a range of difficulties, particularly where this relates to attachment disorders. 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 13 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2017 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/11/2016 Full Good 15/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 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

The registered person must ensure that— (b) children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and (c) any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises— (i) is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; (ii) is necessary and proportionate; (iii) is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and (iv) allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(b)(c) (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which— (a) is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and (b) sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect. (2) The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular— (c) provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about past abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the alleged abuse or neglect occurred. (Regulation 34(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they make prompt referrals to any local authority where abuse has occurred, regardless of whether they have referred this to the local authority where the home is situated. 31/03/2019

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Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 3 registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure that children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15) In particular, the registered person should review how well the daily routines for

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Recommendations

each child and the environment support children to resume full-time education.  As with all the Quality Standards, the responsibilities and accountabilities in this standard fall on the registered person. In practice, just as with the other standards, those responsible for the day to day running of homes, including leadership teams in large homes and specialist advisers within other settings (for example, security advisers in secure homes) play a key role in enabling the registered person to fulfil the requirements of this standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.2) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the manager has a good working knowledge of the Care Standards Act 2000 and associated regulations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care that staff give helps children to reflect on issues in their past, understand how these affect them now and make progress towards creating a better future for themselves. Staff build exceptionally good relationships with children. One social worker said she was impressed by the persistence and resilience that the staff have shown in developing relationships with the child she supports. Two children gave the home eight and nine out of ten. Their reasons related to how the staff support them. Admissions to the home are thoughtfully considered. Assessments completed to decide if a child should move into the home clearly show how their needs will be met. Other children’s needs are also taken into consideration in the assessment. The strategies the staff will adopt to minimise risks are completed and are written in each child’s risk assessments after the child has been admitted to the home. The manager confirmed she

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

will make these strategies more explicit in the impact assessments completed. This will evidence more clearly how she has considered these issues prior to a child being admitted. The staff identify, understand and meet children’s health needs well. They make appropriate calls to emergency services, support children to attend health appointments, encourage children to take daily exercise, and provide a varied and balanced menu which focuses on providing home-cooked foods. Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 4 Children are helped to build positive relationships with their families. Good plans to re- engage children with their education include the use of the organisation’s tutors to help children get back into school. However, plans of how the staff will assist children with their learning when they are out of school are not always clear. In addition, staff do not consistently engage with children in the mornings to get them up, which is a missed

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

opportunity to ensure that children develop good routines that prepare them for their futures. The home’s environment is generally well maintained. However, the education room was not set up for use and was somewhat sterile and uninviting on the days of inspection. The food cupboard in the kitchen was locked. The manager said it is not locked all the time, but there is no record of why this restrictive practice was implemented or how the staff are monitoring its use. Children’s views are valued and respected. The staff use discussion and written feedback forms to gather children’s views, and they regularly ask children what they want to do and what they think of the plans being made for their care and support. The manager is trying to encourage the children to enjoy spending time together, for example by arranging short breaks away and buying an Xbox which they can play on together.

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

The police and local authority safeguarding services acknowledge that the staff’s safeguarding practice is a very positive aspect of the service. For example, staff’s actions have assisted the wider safeguarding network to find out about the risks one child is placing herself in. This has supported the network to plan more appropriately to protect her better. One lead safeguarding professional has written to the manager, saying: ‘We understand this [referencing safeguarding] can be highly pressurised and challenging work but would like to pass on that [name of home] team’s efforts are recognised and greatly appreciated.’ In one instance, staff notified a child’s social worker of a historic concern but they did not ensure that the local authority where the alleged incident took place was quickly notified as well. There is a well-used and coordinated approach to identifying, managing and reviewing risk. Clear sets of strategies support staff to understand the actions they should take in

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

response to children’s needs. Staff know the strategies in place and understand well the priorities for each child’s placement. Behaviour is managed well. The staff look out for things that children do well and praise and reward them regularly. A child said, ‘I am less angry and aggressive than before’ because of how the staff talk to and care for him. Restorative practice is used to help children learn different ways of approaching challenging issues. For example, one child helped to do maintenance in the home’s grounds after damaging the premises. This worked well; he has since stopped damaging the property. Opportunities to talk to children about difficult issues are created and used well. The discussions result in meaningful child-friendly records that are put in a book for each child to keep. Incidents of bullying and threats, including racist comments, are immediately acted on by the staff, who sensitively deal with the incident.

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 5 In the last six months, no children have been restrained. Children have gone missing, but the number of incidents has generally reduced over time. The staff reflect on why a child goes missing and thoughtfully plan to address the underlying issues, such as improving family relationships and being curious about who a child is meeting. Such practice enables staff to alert the wider network about where a child may be.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a committed and knowledgeable professional who has a detailed understanding of children’s needs and how to focus staff on meeting these needs. Practice in the home is underpinned by the regulations; however, the manager’s familiarity with all relevant aspects of regulation, for example in relation to her own training, is insufficient. Training is targeted and meaningful. Formal and informal training focuses on the right things, taking account of a member of staff’s responsibilities, stage of development and personal attributes. Staff say that training has made a difference to their practice; they particularly found the organisation’s course on developmental trauma helpful in understanding children’s needs. Staff support systems are well organised and appreciated by the team. For example, appraisals are well organised and up to date. Where a person may need additional support, this is highlighted and planned for well. Clear performance development plans

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

are made which relate to staff’s individual developmental needs. One social worker said she was impressed by the way the team work with her. They quickly let her know of any concerns, and provide good reports for meetings, which they always attend. Police officers also commented positively on how a member of staff talked to a child so that she changed her mind and discussed an issue of concern with them.

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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: SC038522 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Southern Adolescent Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Room 8, Worth Corner, Turners Hill Road, Pound Hill, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 7SL

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Shasheen Norton-Laver

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Inspector

Ruth Coler, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038522 7 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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