Children's Home run by Kattz (AH) Ltd in Enfield

Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 1 SC473460 Registered provider: Kattz (AH) 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 home provides care for up to four children and young people aged from eight to 17 years old. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children and young people who have experienced trauma and who may display a variety of difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager of the home is also the provider of the service. The manager was registered by Ofsted in 2013.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 29 November 2018

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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: SC473460 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2018 Full Good 09/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Good 03/06/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard (1) The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— (a) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; (b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (a) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff— (i) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; (iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation (6)(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet this regulation, the therapeutic model of care described in the home’s statement of purpose must be firmly embedded in care practice in order to help children reach their full potential and to enhance their experience of care. 01/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

24. (1) The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— (a) the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; (d) the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation (24)(1)(a)(d)) Specifically, this requires the provider to clearly evidence the need for CCTV and how the use of CCTV safeguards the young people living in the home. 05/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 4

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Recommendations

 Many children placed in homes may undergo a difficult transition and what should be simple aspects of their care take on a substantial significance in this context. Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, the provider must ensure that children’s bedrooms are presented and maintained in a way that feels homely, welcoming and comfortable.  Staff have been trained in the use of techniques for physical intervention that are

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Recommendations

likely to cause pain. The provider must ensure that these techniques are not used and that staff understand that physical interventions that deliberately inflict pain cannot be proportionate and should never be used on children in children’s homes. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 48, paragraph 9.51)  Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the registered provider must review the current fire risk assessment and ensure that firefighting equipment is located as advised by fire safety experts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people make excellent progress from their starting points. This is particularly true in terms of their engagement and attainment in education. Staff have been successful in helping children and young people to reduce their risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing and their challenging behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There was only one young person living in the home at the time of this inspection. He was very positive about his experience of care. He described staff as being ‘kind’. He went on to say that staff always look out for him and help him talk through difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The vast majority of children and young people who left the home since the last inspection did so in a planned and positive way. Several of them keep in touch with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have undertaken some training in understanding the presenting behaviours of young people in the context of their journey into care. This has been particularly helpful to support children and young people, and staff, in times of crisis. The members of the staff team are resilient and work hard to make sure that children and young people experience success and have a positive experience of care. Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 5 The provider has introduced a new model of care since the last inspection. This aims to provide a more therapeutic environment. The staff have regular reflective discussions with a therapeutic practitioner to inform the way they care for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a positive step forward, but this approach is not fully embedded in practice or clearly set out in written care plans. For example, the children and young people’s bedrooms were not presented in a way that would help them to feel welcome.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices. Children and young people engage in a variety of activities, trips out and gym sessions. Staff ensure that children and young people’s health needs are understood and that they receive prompt access to healthcare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide nurturing care to children and young people. They keep a good balance between the need to nurture and care with the need for children and young people to learn to be more independent. The provider plans effectively with the placing authority’s education services, which in turn prepares children and young people well to access post-16 education placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people receive the support they need to enhance, and in some cases, rebuild their relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children and young people and make use of their ideas and experiences to improve the service.

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improvement to be good

The staff team has responded well in managing incidents of children and young people’s challenging behaviour since the last inspection. They have managed these with a clear focus on learning from incidents and ensuring that the best interests of children and young people remain at the heart of decision-making.

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improvement to be good

On occasion, staff have used physical interventions to manage children and young people’s behaviours. They do this only when necessary and use the minimum level of intervention required to make a situation safe. All such incidents are closely reviewed by the registered manager of the home.

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improvement to be good

Incidents are rare and children and young people are mostly well behaved. They improve their behaviours over time as a result of the positive relationships they have with staff and because of the help and support they receive.

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improvement to be good

It is of concern that a behaviour management plan for a young person identified physical interventions that are likely to cause pain. Staff had been trained in the use of these techniques in the event of an emergency, for self-defence. Pain-inducing techniques for Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 6 physical intervention have no place in children’s homes and should never be used. In practice, staff have not used these techniques and therefore, no children or young people have suffered harm or distress.

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improvement to be good

The CCTV can be accessed remotely by the registered manager when she is away from the home. The registered manager is clear that the remote access facility is carefully protected and only she has access to it. However, the ability to remotely access the CCTV recordings is not explicit in either the home’s policy or in the consent forms.

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improvement to be good

The provider escalates concerns when necessary and works effectively in partnership with the professional safeguarding network.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake regular training in key areas of safeguarding and child protection. They know how to recognise when a child or young person is at risk of harm and they understand what action they must take to keep children and young people safe.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people know how to complain. Their concerns are acted on and the registered manager takes robust action if good standards of care are not maintained. Children and young people identified staff whom they felt that they trusted who they would be able to share their worries with.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly check fire alarms and hold fire drills to ensure that everyone knows how to respond in the event of a fire. However, some of the firefighting equipment was not located as required by the home’s fire risk assessment. This creates a risk that, if it is needed, staff cannot access it without delay.

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

Some aspects of leadership and management have not received sufficient attention. This includes the training of staff in appropriate behaviour management techniques, care planning, ensuring that children’s bedrooms are homely and comfortable, and fire safety. The description of the care provided in the home’s statement of purpose in relation to physical and therapeutic interventions is at odds with care practice

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

The management arrangements are currently in transition. The current registered manager is resigning from her role but will remain the responsible individual for the home. The new manager has been in place for five weeks and has applied to Ofsted to be the registered manager. She has an extensive background in residential care and holds the required leadership and management qualification in social care.

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

Staff reported that the new manager is supportive and provides good direction. She has identified several areas for improvement, such as the physical environment and introducing more structure and routine. This is a positive start, but the new manager has not yet had time to fully implement these changes.

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

The current registered manager has overseen a difficult period since the last inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 7 There have been unplanned changes to the staff team and a number of children and young people have displayed challenging behaviours. Despite this, the outcomes and experiences for children and young people have been and remain positive.

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

The provider is seeking to improve practice. A new model of care, using therapeutic interventions, demonstrates that the leadership team has high ambitions to produce better outcomes for children and young people with complex needs. As stated earlier in this report, this model of care is not yet fully embedded in practice.

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

The registered manager challenges poor performance and takes prompt action in response to concerns. She works effectively with the professional network and advocates strongly on behalf of children and young people to ensure effective care planning.

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

The registered manager listens to children and young people and acts on their concerns. The team is cohesive and benefits from regular reflective discussions. This helps them manage the emotional impact of the work and gain a better understanding of the lived experience of children and young people in the 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: SC473460 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 51 Station Road, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 3BQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Kofoworola Ibitoye

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Inspector

Lee Kirwin, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC473460 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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