Children's Home run by Curam Domi Solutions Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 1 Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions 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 privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since December 2018. The acting manager is due to apply to register with Ofsted.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 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

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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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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ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 14/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(i)) 14/02/2020 Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 4 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, two written references, including a reference from the person’s most recent employer should be obtained. 14/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37(1)(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must keep a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and records of the actual rosters worked. 14/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider— 14/02/2020 Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 5 is an organisation or a partnership;

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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the name of the person so appointed; and

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the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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the person is of integrity and good character;

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having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and

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the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and

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full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has—

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within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children;

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worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and

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Requirement Due date

the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”); ); 14/02/2020 Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 6 or a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma. (Regulation 28(1)(a)(b)((i)(ii)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)) 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)) 14/02/2020

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The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff members are included in the home’s training record, and that all staff training is clearly recorded. 14/02/2020

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Recommendations

 Children’s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of the children. They will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, a wardrobe door must be repaired, a bedroom blind must be rehung and the carpet on the stairs must be cleaned or replaced.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the children to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  If it is likely that there might only be one member of staff on duty at any time,

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Recommendations

the manager should make a formal assessment of the implications for the children’s care, including any likely risks. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.18)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the children’s assessed needs as recorded in the children’s relevant plans, and where they have fully considered Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 7 the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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improvement to be good

Young people live in a comfortable home. There is no dedicated staff office. On occasion staff answer telephone enquiries and carry out administrative tasks either in the young people’s s kitchen or in the young people’s s lounge. This detracts from the homeliness of the environment.

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improvement to be good

Young people and staff share a communal bathroom. A young person has complained that staff use their toiletries and leave a mess after they use the bathroom. The home requires improvement and maintenance. A bedroom blind is missing and due to general wear and tear a bedroom wardrobe door has been damaged and the stair carpet is stained. The responsible individual has plans in place to rectify these issues. However, these issues mean that the environment does not appear homely.

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improvement to be good

A window-repair appointment at the home was poorly planned. During the inspection, one young person was in the kitchen engaged in their home-tutoring session. However, members of staff and a window-maintenance professional walked through the kitchen on numerous occasions, interrupting the young person’s studies. The subsequent hammering and drilling during the window repair disrupted the young person’s learning environment.

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improvement to be good

Some of the young people make progress while living in the home, despite their challenging starting points. Family contact in the home is supported and the young people improve their relationships with their parents and siblings. Staff encourage the young people to engage in their education provision, and provide homework support. Home tuition and creative alternatives, such as music workshops, help to ensure that the young people continue with their learning. One young person has successfully completed 11 GCSE exams.

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improvement to be good

Young people are encouraged to plan their extra activities to add to their weekly planners. These activities include visiting the gym or the cinema, or developing their basic life-skills, such as doing their laundry. Young people have a voice in their home and are encouraged to regularly complete written feedback forms regarding their care.

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improvement to be good

Where possible, young people are welcomed to the home in a planned manner. Staff visit the young people before they come to live in the home, and the young people are given the opportunity to visit their new home. Young people’s familiarity with their new environment helps them to settle. Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 8

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improvement to be good

Staff complete young people’s risk assessments before they arrive in the home. However, one file did not record a young person’s history of criminal activity, possible gang affiliation and antisocial behaviour. As a result, there were no recorded strategies in place to manage these risks.

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improvement to be good

Evidence that staff always consider matching the suitability of new admissions to the existing residents in the home is inconsistent. Staff could not find the matching risk assessments for two young people who lived in the home at the same time. Both young people had similar vulnerabilities when out in the community. It was not clear that staff could manage the risks involved or minimise any negative influences the young people may have had on each other.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, the staff team, which includes an experienced specialist youth worker, engage the young people in key-working sessions. These sessions provide the young people with opportunities to reflect on their life skills, develop their self-esteem, learn how to keep safe in the community and make safe decisions.

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improvement to be good

When the young people are missing from the home, staff follow the appropriate missing- from-home protocols. However, information from any return home interviews is not always shared with staff. This limits the staff’s ability to understand and analyse the young people’s missing behaviours and to consider any new or emerging risks.

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improvement to be good

The home’s location risk assessment is reviewed every year. However, the local area data for crime and antisocial behaviour is out of date. Some locations and neighbourhoods may change over time and become unsafe. This is particularly important for young people who live in the home and have a history of criminality or gang affiliation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff recruitment is not safe. The responsible individual was not able to produce a reference from a member of staff’s most recent employer or evidence that another reference had been verified. This means that insufficient checks are carried out on the suitability of staff to work with the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

On occasion, staff in the home work alone. This limits the staff’s ability to respond to and manage emergency situations appropriately. A member of staff who has not received training in physical restraint said that they did not always feel safe when they work alone.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Sometimes staff work 24-hour shifts in the home. This may leave them tired, and physically and mentally vulnerable, and could limit their capacity to perform their duties satisfactorily. In addition, the final record of the staff’s actual rosters worked is not an Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 9 accurate reflection of the staff who are working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When lone-working staff complete their administrative duties in the home, the young people are not able to engage in their planned, supervised community activities. On one occasion, without additional staff cover available, a member of staff who was lone working attended a professionals’ meeting, taking a young person with them. The young person had to sit outside the meeting room. This was inappropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A member of staff has complained to the responsible individual that they feel bullied by other members of the staff team. The responsible individual said that she is addressing this issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said that they receive good training. However, the home’s training matrix does not include all of the staff who work in the home. This makes it hard to assess whether all staff are fully trained. Particular training to meet the needs of the young people who live in the home, such as county lines awareness and oppositional defiant disorder, has not been delivered to all of the staff. This limits the staff’s knowledge and skills in regard to supporting young people with these needs and vulnerabilities.

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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: 1257182 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 86–90, Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE

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Inspector

Victoria Jones: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: 1257182 11 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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