Children's Home run by London Borough of Barnet in Barnet

Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 1 SC033805 Registered provider: London Borough of Barnet

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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 local authority-owned home provides care for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose states that it is a home for children between the ages of 12 and 18 who have emotional and/or mild learning difficulties. The registered manager has been registered since 2009.

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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

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2019

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2019 Full Good 06/11/2018 Full Inadequate 23/05/2017 Full Good 08/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) These relate to key-work sessions and monthly summaries which do not detail work conducted with children or highlight the progress that children are making.  A record of supervision should be kept for all staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the

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Recommendations

supervision and the staff member have a copy. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they are happy at this home. Staff and managers have developed and maintained good relationships with the children. Staff and managers speak positively about the children, their achievements and their progress. Children are encouraged to share their views and opinions. Children who are new to the home are well supported to settle in. Children are supported to attend education. Where children have been out of education, plans around individual tuition and alternative education are supported and encouraged. Virtual school case workers say that, ‘Key workers have a high level of knowledge of the young people in their care and advocate for them at meetings.’ Children understand how to complain. They said that they have trusted adults in the home whom they can share their concerns with. Staff manage complaints effectively, ensuring that the children’s views are heard and their concerns addressed. Children also

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

benefit from having access to a complaints box, which is accessible only to managers. Children are also offered the services of advocates. Children enjoy good health. Staff administer and review medication appropriately. Staff effectively monitor changes in behaviour and mood for children who have complex health mental health needs and support and encourage them to engage with specialist Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 4 services. Staff have developed good links with mental health specialists and seek advice where required. Children make progress in the home. However, this is not always well evidenced. Link work sessions are not routinely recorded. One social worker said, ‘It would be useful for the child to have clear targets to plan for independences which can be built on and evidenced in a structured way.’

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

Children said that they felt safe. Staff assess and manage risk well. They involve the children in developing their own safety plans, which help staff to manage risk and keep the children safe. Staff use good de-escalations techniques to help the children manage their behaviour. Staff are clear about how to protect children and show a good understanding of safeguarding procedures to keep the children safe. Staff receive good safeguarding training. They work effectively with professionals, police and parents in keeping children safe. Managers and staff manage allegations and restraints well. They have good links with the designated officer and other safeguarding professionals. There were no incidents of restraint since the last inspection. One child said, ‘I was restrained a lot before I came here. I have been here since October and have not been restrained once. They talk to me, and when I get upset and swear I say sorry.’

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

Staff effectively support the children to manage their behaviour. Staff make use of rewards, sanctions and positive reinforcement to improve behaviour. One child was helped by staff and professionals to reduce their use of cannabis. This has helped the young person to focus his attention on achieving educational outcomes. Staff recruitment is in line with safer recruitment procedures. The physical environment is safe and well maintained. Children are encouraged to show responsibility for their environment and towards others. One child showed an interest in becoming a fire marshal for the home, and staff supported him in learning more about helping himself and others in case of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers have good expectations and show commitment to children. The home is led by an experienced and long-standing manager, who is respected by the staff. The manager is suitably qualified and has maintained her professional development. Staff felt supported by their manager. They are supported to attend a good training programme that reflects the needs of the children. The core staff team has largely remained stable. Where required, staff numbers are supplemented by the same bank staff to promote consistency for children. Staff recruitment is safe. Leaders and managers use the views of children to improve the experiences and care for children. For example, one child raised a concern that they were receiving a lower Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 5 allowance than children in foster care. The manager has begun a process to advocate for parity in payments for children living in both care settings. There are also regular house

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

meetings where the children are encouraged to share their views on a range of things, for example their meal plans, activities and room decorations. Staff receive supervision. However, the frequency and quality of supervision is variable. Staff benefit from an open-door policy with the manager where some issues can be resolved. However, there are gaps in supervision taking place as well as significant gaps in the recording of supervision. Staff benefit from good induction and appraisal, focused on meeting the needs of the children living in the 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: SC033805 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The London Borough of Barnet, Building 4, North London Business Park Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP

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Inspectors

Jayshree Pillay, social care inspector Patrick Sullivan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033805 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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