Children's home run by Woodford Children's Services Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 1 Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Home 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 is a privately owned home. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 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: 20 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 2

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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

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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person 16/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 3 or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) The registered person must ensure that 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

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)) 16/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, the provider must ensure that risk assessments are kept under review and that they contain information relevant to each individual child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy settled placements and all of them make progress. They spoke confidently about life at this home. One young person said, „It is the closest to a family home it could be.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Trusting relationships develop between staff and young people. This means that young people accept and generally respond well to the guidance and support that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people improve their attendance and educational achievements in school. However, there are still lost opportunities for learning due to some young people experiencing unstructured periods, during what should be a full school day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team has a good understanding of each young person‟s likes and dislikes. There are a number of ways that young people can voice their wishes and opinions, and the staff team takes these seriously and acts on them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a range of opportunities for young people to take part in stimulating leisure Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 4 activities. This helps to improve young people‟s self-esteem. Recent activities have included outings to the restaurant, going bowling and trips to the cinema. The registered manager plans to offer a wider range of activities to young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff prioritise young people‟s health and general well-being. Young people are registered with primary healthcare services and attend routine medical appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are mindful of young people‟s emotional well-being, and any change in a young person‟s mood is monitored by them. Communication with external professionals is reported as being excellent. This means that the changing care needs of young people are evaluated appropriately and care arrangements are adjusted when necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively support the young people to maintain and improve relationships with their families and friends where this is possible. The staff team develops a good rapport with young people‟s families and keeps them fully informed of events affecting the young person concerned.

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improvement to be good

There are clear and effective safeguarding arrangements in place to keep young people safe. Staff help young people to understand risk and how to keep themselves safe. Any allegations or suspicions of harm are immediately shared with the appropriate safeguarding agencies and are managed well by leaders and managers at the home.

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improvement to be good

Young people spoken with said that they feel safe at the home.

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improvement to be good

In the main, physical intervention is rare and is used appropriately. However, restraint records are not kept in line with regulations. Leaders and managers fail to fully scrutinise the appropriateness of physical interventions. As a result, the safety of young people can be compromised.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in behaviour support and risk management processes. Some young people have made exceptional progress in taking responsibility for their behaviours. However, such progress is not reflected in the young people‟s behaviour support or risk management plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained to keep young people safe. Safeguarding training is targeted and meaningful. The registered manager undertakes regular safeguarding competency testing to ensure that her staff team keeps up to date with current protocols. She uses this process to identify and update individual staff training needs.

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improvement to be good

Improvements to the home‟s admission processes now ensure that communication between the home and local authorities is more robust. Therefore, decisions regarding the suitability of young people moving into the home have also improved. This has led to young people benefiting from placement stability. Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is led by an effective registered manager. She is enthusiastic and sets high expectations for the quality of care provided to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

While some staff have resigned since the home opened, there is a core team of staff who have good relationships with young people and who are committed to their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from high levels of individual and team supervision. Supervision includes regular meetings with a clinical psychotherapist who has a family therapy background. For example, these sessions look at staff responses to meeting young people‟s specific needs from a child-focused perspective. A member of staff said, „The high level of practice supervision l receive means l have a greater understanding of where young people are coming from. I am constantly learning.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective internal and external monitoring systems ensure that the home continues to provide a good standard of care. However, reports completed by the independent person require a little more information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has ensured that the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team maintains good communication with external agencies. Comments from involved professionals reflect a positive view of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recently undergone a complete refurbishment. The environment now contains more social space. This helps to provide young people with a bright and modern 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: 1268886 6 Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Home Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 More London Place, Riverside, London SE1 2RE

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Inspector

Juanita Mayers, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1268886 8 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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