Children's Home run by Heartwood RSW Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 1 SC461865 Registered provider: Heartwood RSW 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

This privately owned children‟s home provides care for up to five children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides person-centred care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It aims to help children achieve their goals, while offering holistic support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was appointed to the role in February 2019 and she has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: A monitoring visit was undertaken on 18 December 2018. Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/07/2018 Full Good 08/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/06/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 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 person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

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)(2)(a)(b)(c)(5)) 01/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 01/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 01/11/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 4 Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(c)) 01/11/2019

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‟s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)) 01/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

Monitoring and surveillance 01/11/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 5 The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child‟s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the closed-circuit television should be for the protection of children only, and not staff, and must be subject to regular review.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.2) In particular, focus in more detail on the specific risks in the neighbourhood, including gangs and other youth-related concerns.  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph

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Recommendations

14.4). In particular, this refers to the recording of children‟s heritage.  Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11) In particular, this refers to a child‟s wish for a holiday.

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Inspection judgements

Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 6

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improvement to be good

Outcomes for children in this home are variable. However, all of the children have formed respectful and positive relationships with staff. There are issues with the levels of engagement in key-work sessions and education. The group dynamics have additionally had an impact on children‟s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Staff endeavour to work meaningfully with children through key-work sessions. However, there is an issue with some children not participating in these meetings. The manager also recognises that staff do not always record the work undertaken with each child.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles, though diet, exercise and personal choices. Children enjoy boxing, riding their bikes and going to the gym. Staff also continually address some children‟s cannabis use.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to develop a positive self-identity. Children‟s birthdays are celebrated and their relationships with family and friends are supported. However, for two children, their ethnicity was not clearly defined on their file.

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improvement to be good

Children‟s interests and talents are nurtured. There are good examples of children being enrolled on a mechanics course and also expressing their creativity in a music studio. Children increase their independence skills, including managing their own food budgets and making a group meal.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped with their personal development. Staff refer them to external professionals for additional mentoring and advocacy. Children are also educated on topical issues, for example the violent lyrics in some drill music.

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improvement to be good

Children praised the numerous activities available to them. They enjoy physical pursuits, such as go-karting, paintballing and going to theme parks. A child also stated that they would like the opportunity to go away on a holiday.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a home which is being continually redecorated. They can relax in the main lounge, games room or the dining area in the kitchen. The garden is an additional source of fun, where they can play basketball and enjoy barbecues.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they feel safe in the home. However, they have not always felt comfortable in the home, due to the dynamics with other children. The impact of new admissions is not always carefully considered. There have been missed opportunities to strategically tackle issues.

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improvement to be good

There have been issues regarding bullying and intimidation, which have not been Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 7 effectively addressed. This culminated in a child being stabbed. Fortunately, this was a superficial wound. In another example, a child reporting bullying to staff and this was not recorded as a complaint.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home episodes have reduced for some children. There is an issue with suspected child criminal exploitation. However, work with children on this issue is inconsistent. Children‟s risk assessments do not contain all the risks associated with each child or fully detail how risks will be managed.

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improvement to be good

The home‟s location risk assessment details general concerns. However, this document does not contain all the known risks in the neighbourhood. For example, there are no details in relation to gangs, youth violence or the local prostitution problem.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy opportunities to earn negotiated rewards for positive behaviour. Behaviour management focuses on de-escalation and incidents are generally managed well. Although restraints have significantly reduced, there is a need for staff debriefs to be consistently recorded.

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improvement to be good

An additional source of support for staff is the organisation‟s behaviour support lead. Due to concerns regarding weapons, staff undertake regular room searches. Staff benefit from a wide range of safeguarding training and they know where to report child protection concerns.

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improvement to be good

Children work in partnership with staff to produce their own behaviour management plans. This is an example of good practice, as children identify their triggers and what help they need during their difficult times. Children are learning to apologise and they are proud of the fact that they are learning to manage their anger.

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improvement to be good

The entrance areas are monitored by closed-circuit television. The cameras additionally monitor the staff office, the kitchen, the garden and hallways. The manager acknowledged the need to review the surveillance methods, as they do not comply with the new Ofsted guidance.

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

It has been a challenging time for the home, due to the departure of the registered manager and several staff members. The deputy manager had been promoted into the management role. However, her previous post remained vacant. The culmination of these factors has resulted in a difficult management transition.

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

For the past eight months, there has been a lack of senior staff to assist with the day-to- day management and leadership of the home. This has resulted in an inability to delegate and strategically look at the service, monitor, review and implement changes. The recent promotion of staff into the deputy and senior roles positively strengthens the management structure.

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

The manager has worked extremely hard to provide a stable environment for children. Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 8 Staff praised the new manager‟s approachability and her invaluable support. The manager is aware of the service‟s strengths and areas for development and there is a plan of action and a good capacity to further improve.

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

Children receive care from a competent, culturally diverse staff team which has a wide range of skills and expertise. A social worker described staff as „child focused‟. Another social worker praised the positive black male role models in the home.

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

Staff benefit from ongoing training, team meetings and appropriate appraisals and inductions. The required vocational training is also in progress for the necessary staff. The lack of senior staff, however, has had an impact on the frequency of the individual supervision of staff.

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

The service benefits from constructive monthly monitoring visits which are completed by an independent person. The manager has also completed a quality of care review. Quality of care reports do not include the feedback from children, parents, local authorities and staff, as required by regulation.

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

The requirements and recommendation from the monitoring visit have been met. All staff are trained to safely carry out physical interventions, a manager has been appointed and a lone-working risk assessment is in place for staff.

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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: SC461865 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Inspector

Sharon Payne, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC461865 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 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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