Children's home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 1 SC046480 Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered for up to four children. It provides care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private provider which has three other homes in the area.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the previous inspection, a new manager has been recruited who was registered with Ofsted in March 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 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/08/2018 Full Inadequate 19/09/2017 Full Good 14/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 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

13: The leadership and management standard

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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–

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In addition, determine the suitability of having staff who are still in their probationary period in sole charge of the home. 30/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

If there is a referral of a person working in the home pursuant to section 35 (Regulated activity providers: duty to refer) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(a), the registered person must without delay notify–

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if– 30/11/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 4 a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child–

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(3)(a)(b)(c), (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Recommendations

 The capacity and competence of staff to build constructive, warm relationships with children that actively promote positive behaviour, provides the foundations for managing any negative behaviour. Staff should have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. Where necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the police are not used to manage young people’s behaviours.

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the duration of each restraint hold is documented and that the records of debriefings with staff are of a consistently good quality.

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Recommendations

 No more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night at the home should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17) Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in developing their understanding of their behaviours and in their education. Staff are proud of the children and celebrate their achievements and the progress that they make. Together with the children, staff have developed an instant reward scheme, as well as a system whereby children can earn money, which they save to buy items of their choice. Children like these reward systems.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know children well and provide them with good-quality care. Staff follow clear plans that provide them with effective guidance on how to care for each child. Despite being a relatively new staff team, they have developed strong relationships with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, children’s day-to-day experiences are good. There was a period after the previous inspection when they were variable. Leaders and managers have reflected on this and worked with the staff team to make the necessary improvements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in a wide range of fun activities. They encourage children to attend local clubs and to try activities that they have not done before. Children are also supported to pursue their personal interests and hobbies. Staff take many photographs of children, which provides a lovely record of their time at the home. Children take these photographs with them when they leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to make moving into and out of the home as stress-free and positive as possible for the children. Leaders and managers review each one of these events and use the lessons learned from them to keep improving practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children with their education. One child, who has recently moved in, is awaiting an education placement. While waiting for this to be identified, staff are helping the child to become used to the structure of a school day and are carrying out educational activities with him. Staff keep a record of the educational activities completed in the home and share this information with education providers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As appropriate to their individual needs, staff support children in learning independence skills. Children love being involved in cooking activities, and some really enjoy helping to keep the home clean and tidy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good at helping children to maintain and, in some cases, to re-establish contact with their families. One child’s family praised the staff for how well they look after their child and also for the support given to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a spacious, comfortable home. Staff ensure any damage is quickly repaired and that children are involved in how the home looks and how it furnished. Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 6

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

Children feel safe living in this home. Safeguarding arrangements are good, and staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs. Leaders and managers review all safeguarding events and use the lessons learned from these events to improve practice. Safeguarding records are well maintained.

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

Behaviour is managed effectively. There has been a reduction in the number of incidents and the use of restraint. Through key-worker sessions, staff are helping children to develop both their understanding of risk and the techniques to manage challenging emotions. This work is supported by detailed behaviour support plans and risk assessments, which provide staff with clear guidance.

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

Records of incidents and restraints have improved. However, staff are not consistently recording the duration of each individual hold that is used. In addition, the quality of the conversations held with staff after these events is not consistently good. After being restrained, children now speak to staff who were uninvolved in the restraint to talk about what happened. Leaders and managers monitor these records to identify any patterns or trends, update children’s plans and improve practice.

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

Since the previous inspection, there have been two occasions when staff have called the police to help them to manage children’s behaviour. The manager has carried out a review of these incidents and is working with the staff team to prevent this from happening in the future.

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

Staff respond appropriately to incidents when children go missing from the home. Leaders and managers have challenged placing authorities effectively, insisting that they carryout return-home interviews.

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

Management arrangements require improvement. Although leaders and managers have implemented new monitoring systems to help them to evaluate the quality of the work carried out in the home, it has not identified all the areas found at this inspection to require improvement.

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

Staffing systems require improvement. On too many occasions since the previous inspection, staff members whose capability has not been confirmed by leaders and managers have been left in sole change of the home. This is not good practice, as it potentially puts children and staff at risk.

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

Leaders and managers failed to notify Ofsted of one significant event as required by the regulations. Appropriate actions to safeguard the child were taken and all other professionals were informed.

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

Leaders and managers provide staff with a supportive working environment. Staff benefit from receiving good-quality supervision and regular ‘advice and guidance’ meetings. Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 7 Collectively, these sessions provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and to identify ways to improve the quality of care that they provide to children. The manager will challenge staff practice effectively and, where required, staff are placed on improvement plans. This has been effective in improving staff practice.

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

Staff receive a good range of training that enables them to meet the children’s needs. The manager has identified that the current system for monitoring training is cumbersome and is working with managers from other homes to develop a more effective system.

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

Staff have effective working relationships with other professionals and with children’s families. This partnership working ensures a cohesive approach to each child’s care. When needed, the manager will challenge placing authorities to achieve good outcomes for children.

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

In general, the quality of the records that staff keep has improved. Children’s records are now well organised and provide guidance for staff on how to care for the children. Records of complaints now include the complainant’s view of the investigation carried out and the outcome.

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

Leaders and managers consult with children, social workers and families. The manager incorporates this feedback into her review of the quality of care and uses the information to further improve practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 8

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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 difference 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: SC046480 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Lytton Road, New Barnet, Barnet EN5 5BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Kendall

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC046480 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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