Children's Home run by Children and Family Services Limited in Luton

Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 1 SC028599 Registered provider: Children and Family Services Limited

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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 home offers care, in two houses, for up to seven children who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. A private company owns and operates this provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 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: 29 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2018 Full Good 18/12/2017 Full Good 24/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress. Social workers, education staff and parents said that they have seen positive changes for the children since the children have lived at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built good, trusting relationships with children and understand their individual communication needs. Staff use the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to communicate with children effectively. This was observed throughout the inspection. Staff ensured that a child who has specific sensory needs was able to take part in activities that he enjoyed and were meaningful to him. Staff adapt their style of communication to suit each child, so as to ensure that the children benefit from having individualised and positive interactions’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have successfully moved on after well-planned transitions. One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. The social worker said that this was a well-planned and managed move that has led to the child successfully settling into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide variety of activities at the home and in the community. One child attends the local air cadets club and a youth club, which helps them to develop their social interaction and build friendships. Staff take photos of the children during their activities to provide them with positive memories of their time at the home, and to help children make choices when planning future activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the local school. Staff attend parents’ evenings and school events to support the children and share information on progress. Staff from the school said that communication with the home is good. Home-to-school diaries provide a means of effective daily communication so that all staff involved have current information about the children’s needs.

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

Staff reinforce positive behaviour. This helps children to understand what is acceptable. Children can pick a gift from a reward box when they have done something well. Children know that staff recognise and celebrate their achievements.

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

Staff provide routines and structures that help children feel safe and secure. One child has a PECS schedule that staff use to show him what he will be doing next. This gives the child time to understand expectations and helps him to manage transitions.

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

Children’s comprehensive placement plans guide the staff to meet children’s individual needs. Risk assessments are informative, and are reviewed and updated when needed. These assessments provide clarity for staff on the risks that children face and how to Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 4 keep the children safe.

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

Staff have undertaken training in safeguarding. They have a good understanding of who to report concerns to. However, the manager has only undertaken level 2 training in safeguarding. Therefore, in the absence of the designated safeguarding officer, there is no one trained to undertake the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working between the manager and professionals is effective. As a result, the professionals involved with the children’s care share information that enables them to work in the best interests of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring systems drive improvement. The manager uses the recommendations from the independent person’s reports to develop practice and improve the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision that enables them to work effectively with children and helps them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the two requirements and one recommendation from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are up to date with the organisation’s mandatory training. Some staff have qualifications other than a level 3 national vocational qualification or a level 3 diploma. However, the manager has not mapped the alternative qualifications of some staff against the relevant level 3 qualifications, and therefore cannot demonstrate equivalence between them. Consequently, it is not clear whether the staff all have suitable qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has recently updated the statement of purpose. However, it does not contain details about the registered manager or information on the staff’s experience and qualifications. Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 5

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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

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager has safeguarding training that is relevant to her role. 20/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matter listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the statement of purpose should include—

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Requirement Due date

the name and work address of the registered manager; and

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Requirement Due date

details of the experience and qualifications of staff, including any staff commissioned to provide education or healthcare. (Regulation 16 (1)) (Schedule 1 (18)(c)(19)) 04/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the Level 3 Diploma’); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in 10/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 6 a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home;

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Requirement Due date

or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, 1 April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 7

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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: SC028599 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children and Family Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Prospero House, 46–48 Rothesay Road, Luton LU1 1QZ

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Inspectors

Trish Palmer: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC028599 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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