Children's Home run by Consensus Support Services Limited in Suffolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 1 SC386258 Registered provider: Consensus Support Services Limited 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 for up to six children who have autism spectrum conditions and associated complex conditions. The registered manager has been in post since 4 September 2015.

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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: 31 January 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2019 Full Outstanding 21/09/2017 Full Good 29/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/12/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in most aspects of their welfare and their physical, social, emotional and behavioural development. The children benefit from a manager and staff who care about them and meet their needs and provide support that contributes to change and improvement in their lives. A social worker said, ‘My child has progressed in his health and his communication skills and he looks so much heathier, especially in his appearance. The staff do whatever is needed for the children. They go above and beyond.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education forms an important part of their care. The staff support the children’s attainment in education through the maintenance of good routines, the staff’s participation in multi-agency meetings and the review of services. All the children attend an education provision. A headteacher said, ‘The support that the staff give the children is unbelievable. They [the staff] see themselves as the children’s parents. They go that extra mile.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to see their friends and family and to develop relationships that will sustain them into adulthood. The staff understand family dynamics, build relationships with families and use these experiences to enhance outcomes for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children grow in confidence because they are encouraged to take part in fun activities, which include ballroom dancing, judo classes and escape rooms. The children make and build friendships at the home and in the community. This gives them a chance to try different experiences and develop new skills. The staff support the children to meet up with their friends outside of school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care and support planning are well organised, detailed and helpful. Records contain good levels of information and provide a unique picture of each child. The staff understand the children well and use their knowledge carefully to think about what events and behaviours mean, in order to help the children to progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live at a home that is pleasantly decorated and furnished to meet their complex needs. However, one child’s bedroom did not have curtains at the window, a cupboard is missing from the kitchen and a toilet seat was missing in a child’s bathroom. Some of the children’s bathrooms have mould growing on the ceilings and walls, and puddles have formed on floors where water is not draining away sufficiently, which is a hazard to the children’s health and safety. Overall, the home’s environment has deteriorated since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Most of the staff have a good understanding of safeguarding practice. They are aware of their responsibility to protect the children and keep them safe and can Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 4 confidently describe reporting procedures. However, some safeguarding concerns that have been raised with leaders and managers have been met with a poor response and a lack of oversight. Leaders and managers have not ensured that allegations have been responded to appropriately in line with policy and procedure.

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improvement to be good

Some staff have not used a monitoring device appropriately for a child who is at risk of severe epilepsy, and the staff failed to hand over information pertaining to a child’s medication. This put children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

There are no recording procedures to ensure the staff’s accountability in daily or nightly monitoring tasks. This demonstrates a lack of effective day-to-day management oversight and monitoring. Ofsted was not notified about a significant incident and therefore was unable to monitor the effectiveness of the staff’s responses.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers know how to meet the children’s health needs and have detailed plans and risk assessments in place. However, the lack of recorded information on the administration of medication has led to several medication errors and robust action has not been taken to prevent further incidents. The failure to keep accurate and reliable records means that there is potential for confusion and inconsistency in the approach to safeguarding children effectively.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour and care management plans are effective. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort to safeguard the children and the staff. Staff work in partnership to enforce boundaries fairly and consistently. The staff are skilled in de- escalating children’s challenging behaviours. Effective sanctioning, when appropriate, enables the children to make amends and reflect on their behaviour well. There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home for many years. None of the professionals spoken with raised safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example, putting the children first and aspiring for them to achieve, enjoy life and make good progress. She ensures that the home operates in line with the statement of purpose. This is achieved through active communication with the children, staff and external professionals. As a result, the children continue to receive a good standard of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good insight into the children’s strengths, vulnerabilities and progress from their starting points. She offers good support to the staff through her daily presence at the home and leads a dedicated staff team that is experienced in caring for children who have complex needs. The manager is accessible and approachable and, when necessary, offers practical support to the staff. Regular team meetings ensure that the children are discussed in detail and that they remain the focus of activities at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 5 Supervision is of a high standard. Training focuses on the needs identified in individual development plans and induction. This training ensures that the staff have the skills to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is strong. The manager and staff embrace a multi-agency approach to children’s care. Parents and social care and education professionals all said that the manager and staff provide them with regular information and that the staff are extremely good at advocating on behalf of children to ensure that they get the best possible all-round support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are well maintained. Records are detailed and well written and are presented in a way that is helpful to the reader. Information is recorded in a positive way that reflects the high esteem in which the staff hold the children. Children’s records provide a good oversight of the work that is undertaken by staff and give a detailed overview of children’s journey, experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment and selection of staff are generally good. However, a reference in respect of one member of staff’s last employment was not requested. This shortfall meant that the provider did not have all the required information to ensure suitability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s monthly monitoring reports give a good overview of the home, the staff, and the children who live there. However, the independent visitor is known to staff working at the home due to another role that they hold. The provider has not fully understood the conflict of interest and the visitor’s reports have not documented this conflict. Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 6

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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 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)(e)) 31/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— 31/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 7 employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

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,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

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)(d)) The registered provider must appoint, at the registered provider’s expense, a person (‘the independent person’) to visit and report on the children’s home carried on by the registered provider.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the registered provider may not appoint the following as an independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered provider is not a local authority, a person who is employed for payment by the registered provider. (Regulation 43 (1)(3)(b)) 31/03/2020

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Recommendations

 Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC386258 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Consensus Support Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bradbury House, 830 The Crescent, Colchester Business Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 9YQ

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Inspector

Cathy Russell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC386258 9 to 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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