Children's home run by Serenity Care Homes Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 1 Registered provider: Serenity Care Homes Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The staff at this home care for children who have specific attachment, behavioural, emotional and social needs because of their childhood experiences.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted on 14 December 2016.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 30 April to 1 May 2019

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/05/2018 Full Good 15/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 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

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 the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(b))

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the organisation implements the findings of their review of policy on the staff’s phone use. The registered person must provide suitable means for staff to remain in contact with each other, and children, when they are in the community. The agreed procedures must ensure children cannot access the staff’s personal data. 07/06/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

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— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i))

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are quickly reviewed after an incident occurs and, where necessary, update the assessment. 07/06/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the 07/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 4 individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2: a full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment, in writing. (Schedule 2(6) Regulation 32(2)(3)(d))

p.3

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; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 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)) 07/06/2019

p.4

Recommendations

 Children’s homes should work closely with the placing authority to understand the child’s relationship history and the impact that the child’s arrival may have on the group living in the home. Staff should understand, for each child, what the placing authority has recorded in the relevant plan as an appropriate level of contact with family and friends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3) In particular, the registered person should ensure that all the information obtained prior to deciding the home can or cannot meet a child’s needs is clearly recorded in the impact assessment.  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek

p.4

Recommendations

as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 5 In particular, the registered person should ensure that the staff consistently adhere to fire precaution procedures.  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) In particular, the registered person should review their monitoring systems to

p.4

Recommendations

ensure these adequately cover all aspects of the service. Where any gaps are identified, plans should be put in place to rectify these omissions. Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 6

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are thoughtfully helped to move into the home. Staff use a variety of ways to involve children in the move prior to them arriving. The result is that children generally settle quickly. The impact assessments completed prior to a child’s admission do not contain all the actions managers and staff take to understand how they could look after the child. This is a missed opportunity to record all the good work undertaken.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build warm relationships with children. One young person described the staff as being her ‘family’ because of the way they care for her. Staff spend time with children doing things that matter to them. One member of staff was a model for a young person at their make-up class at college. He came back with striking Ziggy Stardust type make- up, which everyone praised the child for. A social worker said that staff continue to support a young person, and commented: ‘Even when she is very challenging, they stick with the her.’

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children’s care is sensitive and supportive of their needs and wishes. Behaviour management plans provide staff with good guidance on how to care for the child.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought frequently and are used to consider how staff can best support them. One social worker said that the staff act as strong advocates and make sure that children’s opinions are included in decisions made about them.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Healthy lifestyles are promoted. Staff support children to attend medical appointments, and assist them in learning to cook healthy meals and maintain a balanced diet. Regular meetings between staff and a clinical psychologist have been introduced. Staff said that these meetings have helped them to respond more effectively to children needs. They said the meetings have helped them to develop a better understanding of the underlying causes of a child’s behaviours, and to learn new ways to respond to these.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage children to attend school and achieve. Managers support local authorities to find an appropriate school for each child and ensure that the home has positive contact with the schools the children attend When a child is not in school, appropriate action is taken to support the child’s education, and to help and challenge the local authority to find a school placement as soon as possible.

p.6

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

Staff follow safety plans and share concerns with relevant agencies appropriately. One social worker commented positively on the relationship that the staff have with the British Transport Police. Working quickly together, the two agencies stopped a vulnerable young person from going missing. The staff diligently ensure that any Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 7 additional information is passed on to relevant professionals, especially in relation to information about inappropriate people who the children may have contact with. One social worker praised the staff for helping a young person to develop a better understanding of internet safety.

p.6

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

Staff carefully work to agreed plans for preventing children from going missing. However, the staff often use their own telephones to communicate with each other when looking for a child who has gone missing. One child texted a member of staff’s mobile phone number. While it is not clear how the child obtained this number, if staff use their own phones for work purposes, this poses the unnecessary risk that children could gain access to the staff’s personal data.

p.7

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

Staff collaboratively risk-assess situations. Their decisions are based on children’s needs and, while mindful of risks, the staff are not risk averse. Nevertheless, changes to risk assessment records are not timely. This prevents clear guidance from being available for staff regarding any changes or additional concerns that they should consider.

p.7

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

Staff create many opportunities, and make sure that they talk to and spend quality time with the children. The staff quickly and thoughtfully support children who are upset or distressed.

p.7

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

The recruitment procedures have improved. However, any gaps in an applicant’s work history are not adequately explored.

p.7

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

Health and safety checks have improved. Maintenance issues are now dealt with more promptly. However, during the inspection, information was not available for visitors about the home’s fire procedures, a fire door was propped open and two visitors who left the building did not sign out. Action was taken immediately to rectify these issues. However, these concerns indicate that the staff do not consistently ensure that fire precautions are adhered to.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of what they do well, and areas for improvement.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is regular and helpful, and staff feel well supported. Staff said that supervision helps them to improve their practice, and identifies their good practice. Staff feel that they can speak to managers if they need to and are able to raise concerns openly.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers reported good working relationships with the staff. They said that the staff contribute well to decision-making, come prepared to meetings and provide regular updates on children’s progress. One social worker said that when she raised a concern, the staff responded well to this and sorted the problem out. Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 8 Staff complete all of the necessary core training to equip them for their role. A new organisational training lead has been appointed. He will shortly take up his post, with the aim of increasing the range and breadth of training provided and enhancing the staff’s understanding of new and emerging safeguarding issues.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems have improved. Monitoring tools provide clear monthly reviews of practice and identify what needs to improve. For example, staff were not holding regular meetings with children, and actions taken by managers have improved this aspect of work. However, leaders and managers did not ensure that one notification was sent to Ofsted. The home’s record-keeping is not always sufficiently detailed and clear, and does not reflect the quality of the work undertaken. Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 9

p.8

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.9

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: 1249111 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Care Homes Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Greenacres, Silver Street, Hordle, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 0FN

p.10

Inspector

Ruth Coler: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1249111 11 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.

p.10

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.11

Inspector

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

p.11

Inspector

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

p.11