Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 1 Registered provider: Jamores 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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to three children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have a registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/09/2018 Full Good 18/12/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 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

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 01/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 4 registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the revision and accuracy of risk assessments.

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for leading a team which promotes high quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through the care resources and opportunities offered to children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4) In particular, to consider the appointment of senior staff to work in the home and updating the home’s development plan.

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of 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 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) This relates to replacing fire extinguishers in the kitchen area.

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improvement to be good

Children do not make steady progress. While some children make progress, this is not consistent and other children do not have positive experiences and fail to engage in their placement.

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improvement to be good

Children make variable progress in terms of their education and health. Children do not attend school regularly. This does not help them to achieve at school.

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improvement to be good

Similarly, some children do not pay good attention to their healthcare needs. For example, they refuse to attend healthcare appointments, do not agree to receive counselling and continue to smoke cigarettes or misuse substances. This is despite staff trying to support them to stop.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, staff have made improvements to the independence Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 5 programme. Some children take part in sessions and improve their practical skills, such as cooking, taking care of their personal hygiene and budgeting. Other children fail to engage with the programme at all, and so they do not improve upon important life skills .

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improvement to be good

Children take part in creative leisure activities. Recently, children have been go-karting and paint-balling, which they said that they enjoyed.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to complain, but generally do not. Staff managed well the one complaint received since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote children’s cultural heritage. Staff treat children with dignity and respect and pay attention to their identity needs. They provide traditional national dishes that children like and encourage children’s worship if they wish. Staff tailor the care that they provide to make sure it meets the needs of children who have learning disabilities.

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improvement to be good

Staff devise support plans, which highlight children’s needs and how these will be met. These plans take into consideration any concerns that the placing authorities have and what other professionals say, and incorporate the views of children.

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improvement to be good

On the first day of the inspection there were no children living at the home. On the second day, a new child moved in.

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

Staff protect children from harm, abuse and bullying. The staff team members are familiar with child protection procedures, while safeguarding features in staff training and induction. Staff have a good understanding of how to manage allegations made by children.

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

Staff draw up risk assessments that highlight risks to children. These include plans that help reduce risky behaviour. However, some risk assessments are not regularly updated, and, therefore, the level of risk is inaccurate. This is particularly the case following incidents where children’s behaviour is of serious concern.

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

Since the last inspection, children have been absent or gone missing from the home regularly. For some, this is for long periods of time. Staff manage these incidents well and take appropriate action to encourage children’s safe return home. In one instance, staff worked closely with a police team in Wales. This was to help keep a missing child safe. Children mainly stay in contact with staff when they are away from the home.

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

Children generally adhere to the house rules. This helps to keep them safe. Staff’s supervision of children is good, and they manage children’s behaviour well. Since the last inspection, there have been few critical incidents.

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

There has been one incident where staff restrained one child to protect the child and others from harm. Records of this incident explained exactly what had happened and why the restraint was needed. Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 6 Managers vet new staff well. Staff personnel files contain full information as required about staff wanting to work at the home. This ensures that potential new staff have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience of working with vulnerable children. Staff training has improved and there is a strong focus on child protection and exploring childhood trauma.

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

Staff work closely with other professionals to keep children safe. Communication between social workers, designated safeguarding officers, youth offending teams and the police is effective.

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

The home’s premises are safe and secure, although fire extinguishers in the kitchen that were previously removed, because of their misuse by children who no longer live in the home, have yet to be reinstalled.

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

Staff conduct frequent health and safety checks. On the first day of the inspection staff conducted a fire drill to help a new staff member become familiar with fire procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has failed to appoint a permanent manager. The previous registered manager resigned from the service several months ago and the day-to-day management of the home is now the responsibility of the ‘interim’ manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The departure of the former registered manager and other staff has resulted in the current team members being new to working together. They are yet to establish themselves as a cohesive staff group. This is compounded by the lack of senior staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Although leaders have an ambitious vision for the service, the home’s development plan is mainly focused on developing the workforce. The development plan fails to focus on the work required with children that would improve their experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s monitoring systems are adequate, and managers monitor most aspects of the home. However, staff’s goals for children are not as ambitious as they could be and lack more inspirational targets, which in turn would improve children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are passionate about their work at the home. A staff member said, ‘I was a child in care myself. Here, I’m able to empathise with, and support children because I understand them. I like to find out what their passions are and then zone in on them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team receives good support from its line managers. Staff said that they feel appreciated and that their views and opinions are taken seriously. A member of staff said, ‘Managers have open minds. They’re open to suggestions. It’s all about the young people here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive useful, regular supervision. The appointment of two new art/drama therapists has supported staff’s reflective practice and a better understanding of the Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 7 meaning behind children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff training opportunities show improvement. There is a strong focus on safeguarding and working within a therapeutic framework. There is a move away from online learning and towards more face-to-face team learning. Team meetings are held regularly, and this is another opportunity for staff learning.

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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: 1234166 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1234166 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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