Children's Home run by McRae Residential Care Services Limited in Croydon

Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 1 SC025813 Registered provider: McRae Residential Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‘s home provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people (boys) who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2007.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2017

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2017 Full Good 27/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/11/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 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, 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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records

p.3

Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (―the behaviour management policy‖) which sets out—

p.3

Requirement Due date

(b) the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(3) The registered person must ensure that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

(b) 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‖)—

p.3

Requirement Due date

(i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

(ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(b)(3)(b)(i)(ii)) 30/06/2019

p.3

Recommendations

 Children‘s homes must comply with the relevant health and safety legislation (food hygiene). (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, staff must ensure that previously cooked food is appropriately labelled.  Children‘s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that the meet the needs of children, they will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that maintenance in the home is ongoing. Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 4  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 regulations including the quality standards‘, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, staff must ensure that young people‘s risks are accurately recorded.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive good individualised care and support from managers and carers who understand their needs very well. As a result, young people have positive experiences in the home and make good progress from their challenging starting points.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people‘s progress includes improved relationships with their families, increased engagement in education, reduced supervision in the community and a decrease in episodes of going missing from the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and carers are strong advocates for the young people. Close working relationships with the virtual school head help to ensure that all the young people have school or college placements. Staff successfully support the young people to contribute to and attend their professional reviews and other appointments.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular teen talk meetings in the home provide young people with a voice. Upgraded bathrooms, regular window cleaning and improved Wi-Fi have all resulted from young people‘s requests in these meetings. This increases young people‘s sense of belonging in the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A large garden provides the young people with opportunities to take part in basketball and to make use of the kick-boxing and trampolining equipment. Young people also take up regular opportunities to go to the cinema, the gym, go-karting, paintballing and to go on the home‘s annual European summer holiday.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people leave the home as a planned transition. Staff help to prepare young people for a return to their families or alternative care. The home‘s independence training also helps to support young people to move on to semi-independent living.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy living in their large home. It provides very comfortable and spacious accommodation. Young people are able to personalise their bedrooms. There is an ongoing programme of maintenance to walls, doors and paintwork.

p.4

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

Staff use a positive behavioural support approach in the home. Young people‘s individualised, targeted behaviour reward charts provide details of financial incentives for: attending school, tidying their bedrooms, returning home on time and settling into bed at night-time. Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 5 Staff‘s successful use of de-escalation techniques helps to limit episodes of challenging behaviour in the home. Where possible, staff avoid criminalising young people in their care, and offer second chances where appropriate. Episodes of physical restraint in the home are rare. However, restraint records do not always record that the required staff debrief has taken place.

p.4

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

Managers and staff do not shy away from difficult conversations with the young people in the home. A professional consultancy has delivered training to the young people in relation to their sexual health and well-being. A young person said, ‗I feel safe living here. I can talk to my carers at any time.‘

p.5

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

Young people‘s risk assessments are comprehensive. The home‘s manager has identified the young people‘s vulnerability in the community in relation to their age and gender. They have started an open dialogue with the young people during their teen talk sessions and staff continue this support with regular key-work sessions.

p.5

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

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have introduced an external therapeutic resource to the home. Where appropriate, staff refer young people and their families to this support. This helps young people and their families to rebuild relationships and to develop strategies that can support their return home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is effectively managed by a suitably qualified registered manager, who is supported by a home manager. Staff describe the registered manager as ‗calm‘ and someone who ‗models great leadership‘, while the home manager is described as ‗approachable‘ and ‗friendly, with firm boundaries‘.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Members of the staff team are employed as and addressed as carers. This title reminds employees of their essential role as adults who care for and support young people in the home as any good parent would. This reinforces the home‘s inclusive care approach.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people build trusting relationships with their carers. They can come and go into the home‘s office and enjoy everyday-type interactions, such as catching up after school, chatting while putting on their shoes and collecting their lunch money. A young person wrote, ‗The home is calm and has a really relaxed feel to it.‘

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff take pride in creating a positive atmosphere in the home. The home‘s open office door policy significantly enhances the young people‘s access to their carers, day and night, which minimises any institutional feel to the home. A social worker said, ‗The nurturing environment provided by the home is perhaps the most outstanding feature of the home.‘

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers value young people‘s involvement in the home‘s development. They actively encourage young people to take part in carer recruitment. Young people plan their questions in advance and score applicants against targets such as likeability or Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 6 had interesting things to say. This increases young people‘s sense of ownership in the home.

p.5

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.

p.6

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: SC025813 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: McRae Residential Care Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 57–61 Lodge Road, Croydon CR0 2PH

p.7

Inspector

Victoria Jones: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC025813 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8