Children's home run by Sherico Care Services Limited in Westminster

Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 1 SC037543 Registered provider: Sherico Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

 The home is privately owned and provides care and accommodation for up to three children.  The home‘s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in January 2019.

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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: 22 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 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

Review of quality of care The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (―a quality of care review‖) at least once every 6 months. The registered person must— supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensuring that reports are filed on time, cover a specific six-month period and are informed by service users‘ feedback. 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

Independent person: visits and reports The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children‘s home at least once each month. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‘s report to— HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1)(7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensuring that reports are sent to HMCI in a timely way. 30/09/2019 Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 4

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. Children should be supported to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. The development of safe, stable and secure relationships with staff in the home should be central to the ethos of the home and support the development of secure attachments that, where appropriate, persist over time. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 39, paragraph 8.11) Specifically, in helping a new team to work effectively together and to maintain boundaries and respect with children in the home.  Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children‘s homes. All children‘s case records (Regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored

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Recommendations

securely whilst they remain in the home. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Specifically, in relation to ensuring that all necessary records listed in schedule 4 (1)(a)–(f) are included in the admissions and discharge register.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of care and support provided to children at this home is improving. Children now receive a better continuity of care because of the registered manager building up and training her staff team. Clearer boundaries and higher expectations are having a positive impact on children‘s development and progress. One social worker said, ‗The relationship between staff and X [a child] seems to be good. She is not going missing as much as she used to be.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. One child has taken GCSE exams this year and has significantly reduced the number of times that she goes missing from the home. Another child moved to live with foster carers, having made improvements in his behaviour and participation. Although another child has only recently moved to the home, they are settling in well and benefiting from the home‘s positive atmosphere and are developing good peer relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‘s views are reflected in their involvement in the running of the home. They have helped to choose the colours to redecorate the lounge, have made a chill out room in the spare bedroom and have designed and painted a mural in the garden. Current residents‘ pictures are up in the lounge and the environment feels warm, positive and accepting. Children‘s main complaint is that they would like a bigger home with more Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 5 space.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive day-to-day living arrangements. Children are encouraged to choose and engage in regular activities during the school holidays. The home promotes a structure and routine for children‘s time and there is an expectation that children will attend education. Children are either in full-time education or the registered manager and staff are working hard with other professionals to pursue appropriate placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In most cases, moves in and out of the home are well planned and carefully thought through. One child recently moved to a foster home after living at the home for over a year. Occasionally, placements have broken down despite the registered manager working collaboratively to support these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to gain independence and there are many examples and photographs of children‘s engagement in everyday living skills, such as cooking, shopping and opening a bank account.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where it is appropriate to do so, the staff form positive relationships with parents and carers. The registered manager is working closely with the staff team to try and ensure that clear boundaries are maintained with children. One social worker said, ‗Although they are working well with X [a child], staff must be aware young people need boundaries and more preparation for the reality of adulthood.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has looked after several children whose home areas are outside of London. The registered manager and staff have supported children to return to their home area for family contact and church attendance at weekends. This has helped to maintain children‘s sense of identity and has supported reunification within families.

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

All necessary safeguarding arrangements are in place for the protection of children. Children benefit from staff who have attended safeguarding training and who receive yearly updates to keep their knowledge up-to-date. Training includes areas of child protection such as the risks of sexual and criminal exploitation and radicalisation and the prevention of terrorism. All staff spoken to during the inspection were confident about how they would report any child protection concerns.

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

The registered manager appropriately assesses the compatibility of new children. By using a matching risk assessment process, the registered manager is able to consider the needs of any new children alongside the needs of the children already living at the home.

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

The registered manager ensures that she has enough good-quality referral information available to her before she makes decisions and formulates a risk assessment of needs. Records of key-work sessions undertaken by staff with children show that staff understand the risks and identify how they are trying to address these in their work with children. Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 6 One child living at the home has a history of going missing from care and has spent long periods of time missing since moving into the home. The registered manager‘s and staff‘s response to these episodes of going missing is persistent. The registered manager and staff have attended strategy meetings, followed local protocols and guidance and worked hard calling the missing child‘s mobile number and looking in known areas for the child concerned.

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

The placing authority of the child said, ‗We are happy with the home‘s response, they [the staff] are regularly looking for him and calling his phones.‘ All the children at the home have a pre-made up grab pack, which is ready to share with the police in case any of the children go missing from the home.

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

The registered manager promotes a relationship-based and positive approach to managing the children and their challenging behaviours. This has seen a reduction in the number of incidents reported at the home. However, it is an ongoing challenge for staff to ensure that they maintain clear boundaries and respect with children alongside the preferred relationship-based approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has demonstrated a clear vision of how she wants to run the home and support the children who live there. She promotes an environment of acceptance and wants children to achieve, make progress and be happy. The registered manager is currently undertaking the required level 5 diploma in leadership and management qualification and will have completed this within the relevant timeframe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is working towards ensuring that her team maintains professional boundaries and promotes positive parenting. There have been changes to the staff team and some new, younger workers have started. Younger staff are aware of the advantages and the challenges of working with teenagers who are not much younger than themselves. One social worker‘s feedback indicated a concern around professional boundaries, which she said had been listened to and addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they felt supported. Staff records showed that they receive regular supervision of their practice and personal development through yearly appraisals. Staff spoken to said that they have good access to training, which makes them feel more confident to manage challenges in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows the home well and is committed to making improvements. She completes quality of care reports at regular intervals. However, these do not yet incorporate the feedback from children, parents and carers and other professionals and the reports have not been sent to Ofsted within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The admission and discharge register kept at the home is not always consistent and does not yet include all the details required under schedule 4 of the regulation. Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 7 An independent visitor visits the home once a month and provides a report, which is helping the registered manager to improve the home. The quality and frequency of these reports is greatly improved. Despite this, the reports are not always sent to Ofsted as required, which means that it is difficult for the regulator to know what is happening in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has worked hard with her staff team to promote and enhance working relationships with the wider professional network. There are positive networks building as a result, which are supportive to children‘s welfare. For example, staff from the local drug and alcohol services and the police have visited the home and talked to the children about their roles and services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children were extremely positive about the home. They said that they feel included and noted that they had a say in how the home is decorated. Children also said that they are listened to and feel like this is a real home.

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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: SC037543 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sherico Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2–4 Balmoral Road, London E10 5ND

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Inspector

Christine Kennet: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC037543 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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