Children's home run by Area Camden Limited in Haringey

Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 1 SC473639 Registered provider: Area Camden 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 owned children’s home provides care for up to 10 children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is situated on two separate sites in close proximity to one another. The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in April 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2017 Full Outstanding 19/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Outstanding 25/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff understand action to take in the event of a child making an allegation against a senior member of the staff team. 01/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

Fitness of workers The registered person may permit an individual to start work at the home despite the fact that the requirements in paragraph (3)(d) has not been met if—

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Requirement Due date

Full and satisfactory information in respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that two written references, including a reference from the individual’s most recent employer, are obtained. Ensure that there is a full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment in writing. 01/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 01/04/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 3 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44(1)(7)(a)) 01/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the staff team routinely receives training in self-harm, criminal exploitation and mental health issues. 01/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 01/07/2019

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Recommendations

 No more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night at the home Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 4 should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17)  As the home will have a day to day understanding of young people’s capabilities and needs, children’s homes staff will have a valuable contribution to make to the pathway planning process. They should seek to make the fullest contribution working with other relevant persons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 18, paragraph 3.28) This relates to staff evaluating and recording explicitly children’s progress in completing daily living tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress from their starting points and have very positive experiences. They receive individualised care. Staff devise relevant placement plans, which highlight children’s identified needs and how these will be met by staff. Placement plans are written in accordance with local authority care plans and take account of children’s views. Most children said that they are extremely happy living in the home and feel that staff are supportive and meet their needs well. Children participate in key-work and one-to- one sessions that are relevant to their placement goals. Relationships with staff are mostly good and children share their views openly. One child said, ‘Staff are like family; they’re like parents. They get on your nerves sometimes, but other times, they’re like your best support system. Staff are very sensitive; they made me feel comfortable about talking about my issues. I rate the home

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

nine out of ten.’ Another child said, ‘Staff? I think sometimes they are unprofessional. They pretend they are your friend and then tell other people what you have said. Managers make excuses for staff. Rate the home? I give it four out of ten.’ Children understand how to make complaints, but do not do so. Some children say they do not make complaints because they have little faith that their concerns would be acted upon. The home has received no complaints since its last inspection over a year ago. Children live healthy lifestyles and most of them take responsibility for their healthcare, with staff support. All children are registered with primary care services and most regularly attend scheduled appointments. Some children, however, refuse to attend key medical appointments. Staff continue to work with these children to help them to curb this approach to their healthcare. Children enjoy healthy, nutritious diets and participate in meal planning. This ensures

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

that meals are to their liking. Children speak openly about their mental health support needs and they understand the importance of maintaining a healthy emotional state. Many children access services such as child and adolescent mental health services and are fully engaged in counselling services. This helps them to develop emotional resilience and regulate their often complex feelings. Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 5 Children make good educational progress from their starting points. Historically, most have very low attendance at school and their educational attainment has been poor. Staff are aware of the learning needs of children and ensure that there are clear strategies in place to help children achieve, for example by securing new college placements and facilitating home tuition when children are excluded from school. As a result, children’s learning outcomes are very good. Staff treat children with dignity and respect and pay attention to their identity needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered meals that meet their religious obligations. Staff promote children’s cultural heritage, and provide care that meets the needs of children with learning disabilities. For children who are exploring their sexual identity, staff provide sensitive support and advice. Children have access to appropriate resources that support this aspect of their development. A young person said, ‘I had a girlfriend; most staff were really open. Another girl was bisexual – again staff were open about it, you could always talk with staff about your issues.’ Children have excellent opportunities to develop their practical living skills. Staff support them to complete the home’s semi-independence programme. This helps children develop important skills in preparation for adulthood. Each child owns and completes a practical skills booklet which illustrates and charts their participation and achievement in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the programme. However, the programme does not explicitly evaluate children’s progress. This makes it difficult to gauge children’s actual skill levels. The programme is accredited with an educational body and children achieve a recognised, formal award upon completion. Leaders, managers, staff and children celebrate children achieving these and other awards.

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

Children said that they feel safe at the home and with the staff team. Staff protect them from harm, abuse and bullying and have access to comprehensive child protection procedures. Safeguarding features in staff training and induction. Despite this, however, not all staff have a good understanding of the action they need to take in the event of a child making an allegation against a senior member of staff. There have been no allegations made by children against staff of the home. Some children have a prolific history of being absent or going missing from care. The frequency of these incidents has declined significantly in recent months. Staff take effective and appropriate action when children are missing from the home or are absent. Records of these instances are clear and comprehensive. Children regularly have return home interviews upon their return from being missing. An independent reviewing officer

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

(IRO) said, ‘Some progress has been made for my young person. The placement has enabled her to move back to London safely. She has not gone missing and has been respectful of the house rules.’ Risk assessments identify known and anticipated risks. Staff keep these under review and up to date. Assessments include strategies that help to reduce risks. Children adhere to house rules and the boundaries which keep them safe. Staff’s supervision of children is effective, and they manage children’s behaviour well. Since the last inspection, there have been few critical incidents. There have been no instances of Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 6 staff restraining children. Bullying does not happen at the home. Staff understand the risks posed to children by their use of the internet, and appropriate safeguards are in place that promote internet safety. Children regularly receive safeguarding training as a feature of residents’

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

meetings. Recent topics include female genital mutilation, cyber bullying and self-harm. This training supports children to keep themselves safe. The home’s staff vetting practices require improvement. Some staff personnel files fail to evidence references from staff members’ most recent previous employer. Additionally, some application forms do not include explanations for gaps in the applicant’s employment history and there is no information available to demonstrate that managers enquired about these gaps. These practices do not confirm that newly appointed staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children. Staff work in effective collaboration with other professionals. This promotes the protection of children and enhances their overall progress. This is particularly the case with local authority social workers, local police teams, youth offending services, educational professionals and mental health specialists.

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

Case records detail regular information sharing with external partners. An IRO said, ‘Overall the management team have worked well with the LA, and in my role as IRO they have taken part in actioning the recommendations and decisions of the reviews that were their responsibility.’ The home’s premises are safe and secure and there are no health and safety concerns. The security of the building is enhanced by CCTV. Children comment that this additional level of security makes them feel safe

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers prioritise the needs of children. The home’s care planning process is effective. Children’s outcomes improve from their starting points and their experiences are positive. Leaders and managers have insight into the home’s strengths and weaknesses. The previous full inspection raised no requirements or recommendations. However, managers do not consistently notify Ofsted of key events as outlined in the regulations. This denies the regulatory body an opportunity to review and confirm that staff and managers take appropriate action in response to critical incidents. The registered manager is well qualified and experienced to manage the team and he offers staff strong leadership. He is an effective leader and is supported by a strong and involved senior management team. The home’s monitoring systems are robust. Managers undertake regular monitoring exercises that review most aspects of the home’s functioning and offer insight into the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

quality of the service and include case-file auditing. This ensures that the quality of staff records is good. Monthly independent monitoring visits help to highlight the home’s strengths and weaknesses and provide action points. This helps managers to improve the service. However, the independent person’s reports are not promptly forwarded to Ofsted for Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 7 review as required. The staff are skilled, experienced practitioners who work collaboratively to meet the needs of children effectively. The home employs enough staff to work with children. However, a review is required of the number of long-standing agency staff who work overnight. These agency staff numbers exceed the recommended ratio to permanent staff as outlined in the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Staff have access to training opportunities that help them develop their skills to care for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

children. However, staff do not routinely receive training in key issues that may enhance their safe care practices. For example, the home’s staff training matrix does not include training about self-harm, criminal exploitation or mental health. Team meetings are held regularly, and this is another forum for staff learning. The staff team receives excellent support and supervision from the registered manager and other leaders within the organisation. Staff said that they appreciate managers’ open-door policy and feel that their views and opinions are taken seriously. A member of staff said, ‘Support and supervision here is good. I spend a lot of time with the manager. He’s always approachable and willing to discuss issues openly.’ Formal staff supervision takes place regularly; however, not all staff appraisals are being conducted annually. The management and leadership of the home are strong. Identified shortfalls do not

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

impact negatively on children’s experiences, safety and progress, as these are very positive.

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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: SC473639 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Turnpike Lane, London N8 0EP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nuala Harrington

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Inspector(s)

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Patrick Sullivan, regulation inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: SC473639 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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