Children's home run by The Drive Care Homes Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 1 Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. Its statement of purpose specifies that it will provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have mild to severe learning disabilities. This also includes associated additional needs arising from sensory deprivation, communication difficulties and an autism spectrum disorder. The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2017.

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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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2019 Full Good 06/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 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 registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, it should specify the experience and qualifications of staff. 01/02/2020

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Recommendations

 Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so that they understand what they need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) In particular, ensure that staff know who the different external agencies are that they can contact if they have safeguarding concerns.  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of Regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons including parents. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3) In particular, providing written reports on children’s progress. Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children thrive within an environment where they are regularly praised and listened to. Children quickly settle into the home and they make good progress from their initial starting points. Children are growing in confidence and they have improved communication, social and independent living skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning focuses on the children’s goals and details their progress. Photographs also capture the children’s achievements and fun memories. However, a social worker and a parent highlighted that they would like to receive regular written updates on children’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend school. This is a significant achievement as some of the children have spent long periods of time out of education. Feedback from the school is positive and this is supported by the certificates that the children are awarded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children improve their communication, social and independent living skills. Children proudly help with cooking meals, tidying up, shopping and doing their laundry. Children also learn to attend to their personal care and how to use the toilet. One social worker stated the latter achievement was ‘monumental’ for their child’s independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a purposeful commitment to giving children a voice and improving their levels of understanding. A range of pictorial aids are used, which includes visual timetables and social stories. Effective, regular key working enables the children to discuss their concerns and to work on the things that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to lead healthy lifestyles, including taking regular exercise. Children also enjoy a nutritious, appetising and varied diet. This is significant as some children had very limited diets prior to living here. Children have regular health appointments, including opticians and dental appointments, which for some children were very overdue.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children choose and enjoy a wide range of activities. They have the opportunity to visit places of interests in Central London and within their local area. A child highlighted to the inspector that their best trip so far had been to Buckingham Palace.

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

Good safeguarding practice helps to protect the children and promotes their welfare. Children respond well to the calm atmosphere and the high staffing ratio. There are no issues with children going missing from the home or being involved in sexual or criminal exploitation, radicalisation or extremism.

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

Health and safety arrangements help to ensure that the children live in a safe environment. Staff continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 4 place to protect them. Children are continually reminded about their personal safety, which includes internet, community and fire safety.

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

Good behaviour is encouraged using routines, positive reinforcement and clear boundaries and expectations. Staff have completed positive behaviour training and relatives are also invited to attend this training.

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

Children learn to self-regulate and they are also helped to understand their emotions. At times, the children’s behaviour is very challenging. However, staff manage these incidents in a caring and positive manner. Children’s medication levels have also decreased, providing further evidence of their improved emotional well-being.

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

Safeguarding allegations are managed well, and appropriate notifications are made to Ofsted. The organisation has a senior manager who leads on safeguarding issues. Staff receive a wide range of safeguarding training.

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

Staff know how to report child protection concerns within the organisation, but several staff members were unaware of all the external agencies that they can refer safeguarding concerns to. This is despite safeguarding and child protection being regularly discussed in team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and the staff demonstrate pride in their ability to provide a service which helps the children to maximise their potential. Feedback from relatives and involved professionals is generally positive. All of the children make progress during their time spent living at this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is an experienced individual who enjoys spending time engaging with the children. Children receive care from a staff team that feels valued and well supported. However, the home’s statement of purpose does not include the experience and qualifications of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which enables them to continually reflect on their work. Staff receive ongoing training to equip them for their roles and vocational training is also in progress. However, the training matrix has not been updated to include all the training that staff had completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have addressed the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. They are aware of the service’s strengths and there are plans in place for further improvement. Future plans include enhancing the staff team’s knowledge by completing advanced autism training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children ultimately benefit from the good-quality assurance systems in place. The monthly independent monitoring reports provide constructive feedback. The internal quality of care review also provides a clear evaluation of the service and focuses on continual improvement. Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 5 Children live in a clean and comfortable home, which is currently being refurbished. Children have chosen the colours for the redecoration of their rooms and there are plans to create a sensory room. Children enjoy spending time in the garden, which has a trampoline, basketball hoop and a specialist swing.

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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: 1257101 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Drive Care Homes Limited, 18 Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent DA14 4BG

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Inspector

Sharon Payne: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1257101 7 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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