Children's Home run by Kattz (YH) Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 1 Registered provider: Kattz (YH) Limited 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 a short term, from 28 days with a possible extension to six months, for up to five children who have emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2019. This inspection is the first since the home’s registration in August 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 November 2019

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 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

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; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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)(a)(c)(h)) 23/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children–

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receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 23/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 3 The registered person must–

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)(5)) 13/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which–

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 13/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if–

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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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(b)(d)(e)) 13/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2)) 23/12/2019

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 4  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that damage to the home is repaired in a timely manner.

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, ensure that all references are obtained and checked when recruiting staff. Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 5

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improvement to be good

The manager has accepted admissions to the home without careful consideration of the children’s needs, balanced with the risks that have been identified in the home’s location risk assessment and the staff’s skills. Shortfalls in the management team’s decision- making about accepting admissions without ensuring that assessed needs can be met have resulted in two unplanned endings for children in a short space of time, and this has been detrimental to those children.

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improvement to be good

The staff team is motivated, child-focused and committed to supporting positive experiences and the well-being of children. However, on occasion, children have overheard information discussed among staff. This does not ensure that children consistently have the required role models to support them to build positive relationships with others.

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious and well equipped. The children benefit from personalised bedrooms that are decorated in line with their preferences. However, the damage that has been caused during behavioural incidents has not yet been repaired. This detracts from what is otherwise a well-decorated, homely setting.

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improvement to be good

Children are beginning to make some progress from their starting points. Children who are at risk of drug misuse and criminal exploitation have made progress in reducing these risks. Some children have been able to re-engage with education. However, despite the strong efforts of the manager to challenge the placing authority, one child does not have a suitable education arrangement. In the absence of suitable education, there is a lack of consistent routine and support for the child to engage in activities that encourage embracing diversity and further their hobbies and interests, and this undermines their daily experiences.

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improvement to be good

The staff gain the children’s views and opinions through weekly house meetings, individual consultation and key-working sessions. The children receive feedback about the decisions made. This inclusive approach means that the children are involved in the planning of their care and that their wishes and feelings are listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to stay in touch with their families, because the staff are effective in their communication and planning. The staff team recognises the importance of these relationships and, consequently, children benefit from improved emotional well-being and an increased sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not updated the home’s location risk assessment in line with children’s identified vulnerabilities. Important information and crime statistics that could help to Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 6 reduce the risks to children have not been sufficiently gathered. This does not ensure that potential concerns are mitigated effectively.

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improvement to be good

The selection and checking processes for the recruitment of staff are generally suitable. However, the checks for one staff member were not satisfactory in relation to obtaining a reference from a recent employer. This does not adequately reduce the potential for unsuitable people to gain employment at the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities. The children said that they are safe. Children who have a history of going missing from home have significantly reduced these incidents.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management plans are comprehensive. There is an emphasis on proactive strategies and individual incentive programmes. These have become the foundation for driving effective behaviour change with children.

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improvement to be good

Allegations against staff are managed appropriately. Children have been consulted with and appropriate referrals have been made. This provides assurances that there are suitable systems in place to safeguard children.

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

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. The manager has needed to focus on meeting the children’s complex needs. Because of this, she has not had the capacity to fulfil all the managerial tasks. Despite this, the manager is realistic and highly regarded by the staff team, and recognises the improvements that are necessary.

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

The staff have not undertaken all the training that the organisation has offered. Furthermore, important training in areas such as autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and self-harm is not offered. Given the children’s individual needs and the relative inexperience of the staff, this training deficit does not ensure that the staff have the necessary skills to meet the children’s needs.

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

Inaccuracies in external monitoring visit reports have not been identified. The managerial oversight of records requires improvement. Issues identified in some behavioural incident reports lack suitable monitoring and reflection. As a result, opportunities to drive improvement at the home are missed.

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

The manager revised the statement of purpose. However, she did not submit the revised version to Ofsted. This means that Ofsted was not aware of the change to the admission criteria.

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

The management team has failed to consistently notify Ofsted about significant incidents. Some notifications have not been submitted within the appropriate timescales. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor children’s safety has been reduced.

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

The children’s records outline their achievements and progress. However, some records Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 7 are not clear or up to date. This increases the difficulty in auditing and evaluating outcomes.

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

The staff value their child-focused and personal development discussions in supervision meetings. They said that they feel well supported. These regular practice-based supervisions provide the staff with direction and time for suitable reflection.

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

The manager is aware of statutory entitlements for children and implements a good level of challenge and scrutiny to local authorities when these entitlements have not been accessible. This provides assurances that the manager and staff focus on what is important to children’s development and welfare. Professional feedback is positive. Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 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: 2536455 9

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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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Inspectors

Mark Anderton: social care inspector Natalie Burton: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2536455 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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