Children's Home run by Bayis Sheli Limited in Hackney

Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 1 SC490365 Registered provider: Bayis Sheli 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

The home is owned by a private limited company with charitable status. The home provides care that meets the needs of Orthodox Jewish children, in ways which are consistent with their culture and faith. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care to eight disabled children who may have a range of physical and/or learning disabilities and communication difficulties. The home can accommodate up to four children under short-break arrangements and up to four children permanently. At the time of the inspection, there were two children and two young adults over the age of 18 years living at the home. Care Quality Commission has registered the upper floor of the building for adult services. The two young adults are awaiting transfer to this provision.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/08/2018 Full Good 02/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/06/2017 Full Good 13/09/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at this home. Children who live in the home permanently, and those who attend for a short break, have excellent opportunities to learn and have fun in a safe environment. This is particularly important as many of the children are severely disabled. Most have communication difficulties and struggle with social interaction with other children and adults. Staff are very attentive in meeting the identity needs of children. This attention extends beyond staff’s expertise in working effectively with children living with disabilities. Staff and volunteers provide care for children and young people who practice the Orthodox Jewish faith. This is of immense benefit to children. A child’s mother said, ‘Religiously, this is the only centre for us. We kept him home longer than we should have because, until now, there was nowhere else for him to go.’ Children have trusted relationships with the staff, who are passionate and sensitive in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

their care of children and are familiar with their needs. Importantly, staff understand the nature and impact of children’s disabilities and keep them safe. As a result, children’s experiences are fun, exciting and creative. The home offers children opportunities that they often would not have otherwise. Many of the children who attend the home do not communicate through speech. Staff are skilled in communicating with children, familiarising themselves and making use of children’s preferred method of communication. Routinely, staff use communication boards and interpret body language and facial expressions of children to understand their wishes. Children’s case files are explicit in offering staff guidance in understanding how to interpret individual children’s non-verbal cues. Staff use this expertise to encourage children to take part in making choices. Children and staff work towards achieving set targets, which form the basis of children’s

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

care plans and short-break plans. Some of these plans, however, are vague and are not specific about what these targets are, and how they are to be achieved. Children make good progress in increasing their independence. Typically, this includes staff developing children’s communication skills and helping children to manage being around others. Children’s learning outcomes are good. Staff ensure that communication with schools and college professionals is effective. This ensures that care and support is provided in line with targets identified by school staff. These regularly focus on the development of children’s communication skills, social interaction and increasing their independence. The home’s sensory room, hydro-pool and adapted play garden are excellent. These facilities allow children to enjoy sensory exploration, have fun and play safely. Children lead healthy lifestyles. Staff ensure that children receive all primary and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 4 specialist healthcare services that they need. Children benefit from staff’s understanding of the impact of children’s health conditions and how to manage them. Staff receive specialist training where this is required, for example training in epilepsy. Staff’s communication with healthcare professionals is good, and their management of children’s medication is safe. Staff maintain excellent communication with the parents of children, and staff encourage them to maintain good contact while children are at the home. Staff keep parents informed of the progress and experiences of their children. Staff consult parents for advice about their children’s care if there are any issues or concerns.

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

Children are safe at the home and appeared relaxed in the company of staff. Staff protect them from harm, abuse and bullying. Managers take effective action in response to allegations made against staff. Although a vast majority of staff receive comprehensive child and adult protection induction and training, the home’s auxiliary staff such as the cleaner and maintenance person do not receive basic safeguarding training. Therefore, these staff do not have an understanding of the home’s whistleblowing procedures. In addition, not all staff have a good appreciation of the action that they must take in the event of a child making an allegation against a senior member of staff. Since the home’s last full inspection, Ofsted has completed two monitoring visits. These have been in response to a number of complaints made directly to Ofsted about the home. Managers have offered an appropriate response and complaints received by

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

Ofsted have not been substantiated. Records of all complaints are clear and outline what action has been taken and the response given to those who have made complaints. Risk assessments identify known and anticipated risks to children. Staff keep these under review and up to date. Assessments include plans that help to reduce risks. Staff’s supervision of children is effective, and they manage children’s behaviour well. Since the last inspection, there have been few critical incidents. Where staff have restrained children, this has been appropriate, and used to protect children and others from harm. Staff set appropriate boundaries which offer children structure that helps to keep them safe. Staff understand children’s disabilities and how these may impact on their behaviour. As a result, staff are careful and sensitive in the way that they work with children. Children benefit from positive handling plans that are clearly written to provide staff with

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

guidance to help curb unacceptable behaviour. Staff use verbal praise with children to encourage positive behaviour. The home ensures that the recruitment of staff is safe. The home is an excellent purpose-built building, which is designed to meet the needs of children who have disabilities. Staff maintain specialist adapted equipment safely and Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 5 there are effective fire precautions in place. The building is physically safe and secure; there are no health and safety concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff do not always work well together, and some staff say that there is low staff morale. This is a long-standing issue at this home. The provider stated that it is exploring providing independent team-building workshops for the entire staff team. This is to encourage staff to be open with managers about their concerns for the home’s working patterns and issues with the home’s work culture. The quality of record-keeping is inconsistent. Some records such as children’s placement goals and care plans are vague. These are not explicit in outlining children’s placement and short-break goals, and how these are to be achieved. The induction of new staff does not always prepare them for working there. Some staff say that their induction was not comprehensive. Leaders and managers said that they accepted that there is a need for prospective staff and newly appointed staff to have a better understanding, early on, of their duties, particularly those duties related to the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

home’s weekly religious activities, other religious holidays and Jewish celebrations. Some staff indicate that it is this lack of clarity which has led to ongoing team issues and unhappiness. Not all staff receive supervision as they should. Some auxiliary staff do not receive regular supervision or annual appraisals. Care staff receive good support and supervision from their line managers. They have excellent training opportunities that help them to develop further their skills and knowledge in caring for children who have disabilities. All staff have either achieved or are working towards obtaining the appropriate care qualification. The registered manager is qualified and experienced to manage the home. Leaders are ambitious for the home and display a clear vision for the improvement of the overall service. 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

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

are positive. A parent said, ‘He’s happy when I see him. He’s attached to his carers. He’s loved here, and he feels it.’ Staff are passionate and sensitive in their care of children, and they are familiar with children’s complex needs. A staff member said, ‘It’s a great place to work. Children and families are wonderful to work with and we try to offer a good service.’ The staff ensure that there is good communication between themselves and placing authority social workers. A social worker commented, ‘I think the service is effective in caring for my young person and children with disabilities in general. He was displaying significant self-injurious behaviours before he moved to the placement and this behaviour has greatly reduced during his time there.’ The shortfalls identified during this inspection do not impact negatively on children’s Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 6 experiences, safety or progress.

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(a)(b)) In particular, for the provider to facilitate team-building exercises with the entire staff team to promote staff cohesiveness. 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The placement plan must set out, in particular— how, on a day-to-day basis, the child will be cared for, and the child’s welfare safeguarded and promoted by the home; the arrangements made for the child’s care, education and health; and any arrangements made for contact with the child’s parents, relatives and friends. (Regulation 18(5)(a)(b)(c)) In particular, records must be explicit in highlighting placement plan objectives. 01/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 7 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— 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)) This relates to staff’s understanding of action to take in the

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Requirement Due date

event of a child’s allegation against senior staff. 01/08/2019

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(vii) This relates to auxiliary staff’s understanding of the home’s whistleblowing policy. 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33(1)(a)) In particular, that staff inductions include clear information about the nature of duties expected during religious activities at the home. 01/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)(c)) 01/08/2019

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 8 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: SC490365 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bayis Sheli Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: New Burlington House, 1075 Finchley Road, London NW11 0PU

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC490365 10 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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