Children's home run by Moonreach LTD in Dover

Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 1 SC1226977 Registered provider: Moonreach 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 children’s home is one of several owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home shares a manager with a nearby solo- placement sister home. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2017.

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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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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

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

Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 2 17/08/2017

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 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

10. —( 1) The health and well-being standard is that— (a) the health and well-being needs of children are met; (b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff help each child to— (i) achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; (iv) understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being . 18/04/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) This is in relation to

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 4 supervision sessions ensuring that current safeguarding matters are reflected upon.  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) In particular, children should be consulted about the process of recruiting staff.  Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) In particular, this refers to the need for staff to use restorative sanctions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff have developed a safe and comfortable environment. Children settle quickly and develop very positive attachments with staff, and clearly feel at home. Detailed and appropriate assessments of the needs of children carefully consider how the decision for them to live here might affect both them and the other children who live at the home. The management’s ability to match children well, along with the environment created by the staff, has resulted in stable placements. One child who had recently arrived spoke highly of her introductory visits and sleepover at the home prior to her arrival. She said, ‘I chose this home as it was the friendlier of the two I was offered, and it is way more homely for me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s individual needs, likes and dislikes. Together they develop plans for structured social time and activities. Through these positive experiences, the children are developing greater levels of self-esteem and resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to be healthy. Staff help them to understand the importance of a balanced diet, through exploring recipes, shopping for produce and cooking nutritious, balanced meals. Routine health checks are regular. However, one child’s health report included recommendations regarding providing equipment and these have yet to be addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Medication monitoring and review are well organised and effective. Since the last inspection managers have quickly eliminated errors in recording. Staff are well able to demonstrate safe administration and storage practices of all current medications. Children received their medication appropriately on the inspection days.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff’s open and honest communication has enabled the children to develop trusting Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 5 relationships with them. The children enjoy good experiences on a day-to-day basis. Staff support them to engage in hobbies and activities that they like, as well as trying new activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education and this supports children’s learning. Staff create an environment which highlights the value of education, by keeping good daily routines and supporting the children at school and with college applications and preparation. This supports their learning and development. Staff also help young people develop the skills and confidence to manage their lives as adults. A fully documented independence programme helps young people to prepare to look after themselves.

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

The arrangements to protect and safeguard the children are effective. Children said that they feel safe living here and think that the staff have their best interests at heart. The safeguarding culture at the home is well embedded. The staff know what to report, to whom and when. Allegations are reported in a timely manner. Concerns are shared effectively to enable wider agency working. Consequently, the children live in a safe environment.

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

Staff, in discussion with the inspector, demonstrate good understanding of the actions that they need to take to safeguard the children on a day-to-day basis. Age-appropriate risks are known and understood; plans help reduce the risk and are reviewed. Staff understand and follow strategies very well. They attentively ensure that concerns are appropriately and quickly referred to the necessary agencies.

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

Promoting good behaviour is central to staff’s practice. Restraint is only used to keep the child safe. There are, on average, one or two physical restraints used per month, which afterwards are carefully explored with both the child and the staff concerned. All staff are trained in the home’s general behaviour management approach. On some occasions, staff have used non-restorative sanctions and there are some inconsistences in staff practice which require greater review and challenge. Overall, sanctions are rare.

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

The organisation takes stringent measures to make sure that only the right people are employed to work with children. However, children’s views are not yet fully embedded into the recruitment process. The environment and location are safe and suitable. These well-thought-out arrangements help maintain well-being and security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about their work with children, teamwork with colleagues and support from managers. Staff benefit from regular supervision and the opportunity to reflect on practice due to the system of debriefing, introduced since the last inspection. The newly introduced reflective space at shift handovers is also helpful to the team. Team meetings are productive and include the children, as a family meeting would. These meetings are regular and cover a range of subjects. Staff support is well organised, and its flexibility meets staff’s needs. Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 6 Leaders and managers continually assess, review and plan how they can best meet children’s needs. This includes thinking constructively and appropriately whether this home is the best placement possible for each child at the home. They have a strong vision, which the staff share, for the home. Staff have a strong, positive commitment to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the children and to each other. They understand that their working relationships need to be open, supportive and challenging. This creates a good culture in the home which the staff are proud of.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the staff are appropriately qualified. Professional supervision is inconsistent depending on the supervisor. Some records do not demonstrate a strong focus on safeguarding or staff development needs. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on staff’s skills and areas for development and on the quality of the care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates a good understanding of the strengths of the home and is able to identify areas for improvement. However, a more effective use of internal monitoring processes would help to ensure that shortfalls are remedied in a timely manner, for example they have failed to reveal that not all significant health provisions were in place. Additionally, the behaviour management plans have not been scrutinised effectively through this process. These areas for improvement are recognised by the registered manager. She is a highly effective, down-to-earth person, with the ability to build effective relationships with social workers, schools, the staff at the home, and, most importantly, the children.

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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: 1226977 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Dane John Works, Gordon Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3PP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Gillian Hilton-Amzaleg

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Inspector

Helen Lee, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1226977 8 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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