Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Milton Keynes

Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 1 SC391379 Registered provider: Benjamin UK 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

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children. The organisation also has a registered school and teachers provide education in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since December 2017.

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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

Date of last inspection: 22 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/12/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 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 care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (2)(a)) In particular, to ensure that impact assessments are completed prior to the start of children’s placements, and that these provide a detailed assessment of the impact which children may have on each other, including clear guidance to staff about how to minimise any negative impact. 01/07/2019

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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 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— the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b) 01/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 4 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a

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Requirement Due date

child which the registered person considers to be serious; or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 01/07/2019

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Recommendations

 When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process: Children’s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children’s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came in to effect in January and April 2014. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a home that is set up to meet their needs. Staff and managers have created a warm, homely atmosphere. This includes hanging photos of the children in the shared living spaces. Staff also encourage the children to personalise their own bedrooms. Children spoken to during the inspection say that they are fully involved in decisions about how their bedrooms should be decorated. This results in an improved ownership of the home by the children and an improved sense of belonging. Children enjoy good relationships with staff, who know them well. Children share positive interactions and experiences with staff. Staff recognise the importance of the small but significant steps taken by each child, which is reinforced and communicated to them. Children’s successes are routinely celebrated. This helps increase their confidence and self-esteem. Staff and managers consult with children at every opportunity. They meet as a group on

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

a weekly basis and are provided with space to discuss some of the intricacies of group living. Children contribute their ideas about food, activities, staff’s approach to managing behaviour, their individual behaviour management strategies and their own care plans. Children say that they feel listened to because staff take actions in response to the Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 5 children’s input and ideas. Staff are very focused on helping children to develop and build on their strengths. They actively encourage the children to engage with the on-site education provision. Because of this, children are motivated and have high aspirations for their own futures. When children are not accessing education, the manager takes appropriate steps to address this.

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

Staff try to strike a balance between keeping children safe and preparing them for independence. High staff ratios and one-to-one time with children are used effectively to help children to learn strategies to keep themselves safe. Staff are vigilant in supervising and monitoring children when they are together as a group or on their own in the home. This minimises opportunities for bullying and children leaving the home without permission. Staff have a good understanding of risk. Training in this area has contributed to a consistent approach. Staff know the individual risks for each child and are familiar with the individual strategies used to lessen these risks. Staff use this approach as part of their overall work in supporting children to develop resilience and independence skills. Staff approach negative behaviour constructively. They understand behaviour as a means of communication and use focused meetings with children effectively. This time

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

gives children the opportunity to think about their actions and feelings and find different ways of coping. Children are now beginning to regulate their own behaviour and express the things which worry or distress them. This has resulted in children having an increased value of themselves and a reduction in incidents. Partnership working is of a good standard and is characterised by clear and regular communications between the staff and the important people in children’s lives. Parents are kept informed of their child’s progress and are consulted appropriately. One social worker spoken to gave very positive feedback about the staff, the quality of care given to the child and the general progress that this child has made.

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

The home has been without a registered manager since 1 December 2017. A new manager appointed in November 2018 is currently in the process of applying to Ofsted to undertake this role. Since her appointment, the manager has made significant improvements in the home. However, not all the requirements set at the last inspection have been addressed. For example, Ofsted has not been told or kept updated about all significant incidents. On the occasions that notifications have been made, the records do not provide a summary and analysis of the event. Neither do these reports contain outcomes or strategies for reducing and/or preventing the risk of further harm. Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 6 Impact risk assessments carried out by managers as part of the preplacement process identify the risks to each child. However, these do not clearly outline the strategies to be used to reduce or prevent the risks of harm to individual children. Neither are they

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

sufficient to demonstrate the thinking about the potential impact that children in the home may have on each other. The location review does not sufficiently address the potential risks to children from the local area. This is a missed opportunity to evidence how the service intends to reduce or prevent children from being exploited or harmed. Feedback received from other professional agencies at the time of this inspection suggests that staff and managers are not always clear about the home’s statement of purpose. This has led to some misunderstandings about how children are looked after. The manager is aware of this and has plans in place to improve the situation. Since the appointment of the new manager, there has been significant turnover in the staff team. This has been managed well and the new staff are already working well together. Staff describe working in a supportive environment where they are confident

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

to challenge each other and to have differences of opinion and debate. All staff have regular supervision and say that they find this helpful. This time allows them to focus on their relationships with the children and to reflect on their developmental needs and the impact of their own practice. Records of these meetings are, however, insufficiently detailed, and the manager is taking steps to address this. Wider organisation recruitment processes do not always follow safer recruitment guidance. In some instances, there is insufficient attention and examination of the employment histories of applicants, their experiences and abilities. While this does not present immediate risks to children’s safety, it does not demonstrate avoidable gaps in determining that those who are employed to work with children are suitable to do so. Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 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: SC391379 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Farm House, Station Road, Aldbury, Tring HP23 5RS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Deysel

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Inspectors

Jacqueline Georghiou, social care inspector Amanda Harvey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC391379 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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