Children's Home run by Tulip Care One Limited t/as TulipCare in Kent

Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 1 SC361090 Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited trading as Tulip Care 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 five girls who have experienced trauma. The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 1 August 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2018 Full Good 09/08/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with staff. Children are comfortable in the home and are able to relax with or without staff attention. High staffing ratios and thoughtful shift planning mean that all children are able to spend time with the staff they have stronger relationships with, but they also have the opportunity to develop further those relationships with staff they do not know as well. Children are all positive about their experiences of living in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress is clear through the observations of children, including clear and positive relationships with staff, who are genuinely caring for children. A child with multiple placement breakdowns has formed attachments with staff and she now knows how to hold a conversation with others. Her social worker commented, ‗The staff have shown unwavering commitment and patience.‘ Parents said of their daughters, ‗It is the best placement she has been in. They understand her and genuinely care for her,‘ and ‗It is her second family and I know that she is safe.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‘s physical and emotional well-being is central to the care that they receive. Children are supported to understand healthy lifestyles and what this means to them, be it healthy eating through learning how to make fresh meals to considering smoking and the health impacts that this has. Staff are fully aware of their roles in the therapeutic process and are supported by the therapies team. When they are not with children doing direct work, the therapists are visible and available for staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children all engage in education, with the home offering a dedicated space for tutors funded by the local authority to use to give a genuine feel of a classroom setting. Through this, one child has been able to move on to being educated away from the home, which is something that she never thought would be possible. However, the placing authority for one child is not seeking suitable education away from the home and this issue is being addressed. Close liaison with children‘s schools is deemed key in ensuring that they progress to the best of their abilities. Staff will guide teachers and support staff in how best to manage behaviours that may be unacceptable in the wider school environment, including supporting children in the classroom if deemed appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have made a concerted effort to improve the quality of children‘s plans. They clearly identify the goals and targets that children are working on and monthly reviews of the plans help to monitor children‘s progress towards these. The child‘s voice is evident throughout the plan. Children score themselves on how well they can complete certain tasks or manage situations. This leads to insightful discussion and an understanding of how something which may seem simple or insignificant to the staff is impacting on a child. When children struggle to engage, key staff use their considerable knowledge to express what they feel the child would like to be included in their plans. Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 4

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

Children‘s actions and demeanour in the home show that they feel safe in their environment. They are confident in approaching staff when upset or anxious, or just to engage in conversation or an activity. Staff are skilled in recognising changes in children‘s behaviour that may indicate they are anxious or upset. They are acutely aware of all children‘s vulnerabilities and do all they can to safeguard and protect them. Children say that when arguments or bullying happen, staff will always intervene and make the situation safe.

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

The management team liaises effectively with partner agencies to ensure that all child protection or safeguarding concerns are reported as necessary. Joint working with specialist police officers, youth offending teams and the organisation‘s therapist is a particular strength when children are missing from the home. Plans are explicit on how staff should respond when a child is missing, and staff follow children, sometimes for hours, encouraging them to return home. Children say that they know staff are trying to protect them and will mostly engage with staff during these times. Staff demonstrate professional curiosity when a child returns from being missing, observing all aspects of their emotional and physical presentation. The therapies team endeavours to explore with children why they have been missing.

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

Staff recognise behaviour as a form of communication, and are keen to understand why a child acts in the manner they do. The home‘s approach to behaviour management is of learning from your actions, and as a result the use of formal sanctions is low. Children are supported to consider why they have acted or responded in the manner they have, and to develop new ways of responding in the future. The use of physical interventions is clearly reported, and incidents of guides and restrictions of movement are recorded. While records of incidents are comprehensive, they are not always clear about who was present or whether children and staff have had a suitable debrief.

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

Children are protected from avoidable risks through regular maintenance of the home and grounds. The recruitment process is thorough, with the home trying to gain more detail from former employers who only provide dates of employment. The home seeks references from all employers where the applicant has worked with vulnerable adults or children and includes the internet search of the organisation within the recruitment records, demonstrating a thorough approach to verifying applicants‘ accounts of their employment history.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is effectively managed by an experienced registered manager, who has recently been joined by a competent and enthusiastic deputy manager. Staff say that they are well supported by the management team, whose members they can approach at anytime for guidance and support. They feel that they have the training and supervision that they need in order to complete their roles in caring for the current group of children. Staff are knowledgeable about their roles in delivering the therapeutic ethos and approach to care within the home, and they are enthusiastic about the Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 5 training and support that they receive from the therapies team and the trainer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team members are particularly reflective about practice in the home and about how well children are progressing. They are in the process of introducing a web-based recording system to better scrutinise and evaluate data and the progress of children. Regular staff meetings include input from the therapies team, ensure that all staff are up to date on children‘s current needs and aid a consistent approach to care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home utilises the professional challenge through Regulation 44 reports. The registered manager has not conducted a review of the home in line with Regulation 45 since she returned from maternity leave in November 2018. This is likely to have contributed to the small number of gaps in records identified during the inspection. The registered manager acknowledged this shortfall, and is now delegating tasks to the deputy manager to ensure that monitoring is fully covered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is in the process of recruiting staff to reduce the number of extra hours staff are working. The managers monitor the number of hours staff are working to ensure that they do not get too tired or burn out. There has been a shift in staff since the last inspection, including some returning to their permanent base in the organisation‘s other home and some newly appointed staff leaving due to the strain of completing the role. A core group of staff remain, who have worked in the home for a number of years. The recruitment process includes realistic scenarios as an indication of the role. The offer of employment letter is not clear on how sleep-ins fit in with contracted hours. Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 6

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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— use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 27/09/2019

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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. 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. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)) 27/09/2019

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Recommendations

 When commissioning a placement in a children‘s home the placing authority must establish how the home will support the child‘s educational needs. In accordance with Regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children‘s needs are met), homes must have proactive relationships with appropriate schools and educational support services. The home should have processes that enable staff to share their experience and understanding of the child‘s educational needs and progress with other services. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 27, paragraph 5.7) Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 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: SC361090 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited trading as Tulip Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 19–20, Bourne Court, Unity Trading Estate, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC361090 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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