Children's home run by Kennet Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 1 Registered provider: Kennet Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to four young people. The statement of purpose states that the home caters for the needs of young people between the ages of eight and 17. It aims to create a warm, caring environment that is safe and supportive, enabling young people to recover from past life experiences and grow to achieve their full potential. The home is one of two small, private organisation-run homes.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in January 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 25 to 26 February 2020

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2018 Full Good 24/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for the young people and use creative key working to reflect the young people’s wishes and feelings. The staff support the young people to partake in direct sessions at their own pace, and they take unprompted opportunities to listen to the young people, act on any concerns and safeguard them. For example, one young person said that he wanted to return to education, and a visit was organised by his keyworker immediately. Another excellent example was a member of staff’s approach when addressing a young person’s sensitive health needs. These direct sessions help the young people to improve their relationships with trusting adults and promote the young person’s voice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a family atmosphere, and the living room is a place of comfort which all the young people enjoy. On the evening of inspection, two young people had turned this room into a gaming room. The staff supported them to move the sofas round and bring in another television, so that the friends could ‘game’ together. This is a good example of how the staff are encouraging and enabling the young people to spend time together in an open and trusting environment, instead of being isolated in their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Senior managers had not replaced broken chairs in the dining room to enable the young people and the staff to eat a meal together. The broken chairs were recorded in the maintenance book, and appropriate action was taken to resolve the matter during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and the staff team have worked boundlessly with a young person to make them feel safe and to continue living in the home. The staff’s effort and unwavering commitment to managing extreme levels of emotional and self- harming behaviours are commendable. This approach has enabled the young person to build personal relationships within the home, and to unpack their belongings for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people in the home are not currently accessing formal education; their level of need has proved to be an obstacle to them accessing the right provision. The manager is working determinedly with social care and education professionals to resolve this as a matter of urgency. The staff work proactively with the young people, setting goals and objectives for the acquisition of practical skills. For example, staff have secured a work experience placement within the local community for one young person. This is a good example of staff at the home using their initiative to continue to encourage daily routines and independence skills when young people are not able to access education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

External professionals are positive about the progress of the young people at the home. They said that they are impressed with the professionalism and commitment of the staff team. They praised the open and honest communication from senior managers. They also said that the staff always make excellent contributions to Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 4 meetings and professional discussions. One professional said, ‘The home enabled a young person to successfully transition back home. This was a multi-agency approach and the home continued to advocate the wishes of the young person throughout the process.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Unhealthy food options were available to the young people in the fridge on the day of inspection. However, the previous evening a member of staff had cooked a nutritious and hearty meal for everyone. The registered manager is looking into innovative ways of encouraging the young people to eat more healthily and get involved in regular exercise. The young people have gym membership, but often choose not to attend.

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

Staff manage the young people’s complex emotional and behavioural needs well and demonstrate a commitment to overcoming difficult and challenging behaviours. The staff work closely with parents and professionals to gain insight into the young people’s emotional needs. The staff undertake life-story work with the young people and hold weekly home meetings to enable them to understand potential triggers for behaviour and to pre-empt challenges before they arise. For example, the registered manager monitors the patterns of behaviour of one young person after they see their family. The staff team now works closely with this young person to help them to understand their emotions and to prepare better for these visits.

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

The staff team has developed very comprehensive missing from care protocols, risk assessments and initial ‘grab packs’ with all the important information a member of staff would need to know in order to respond to such an incident. The staff follow these procedures meticulously when the young people go missing from care, and they actively encourage young people to return to the home at every opportunity. The home has fantastic links with the local police community support officers. This is due to senior managers persistently working with outside agencies to protect the young people. Dog handling police officers also recently visited the home to improve their relationships with the young people and to endorse a drug-free culture.

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

Although the home’s location risk assessment was updated in February 2020, the registered manager did not update the local crime statistics that directly inform the risk assessment. However, local crime hotspots were on display in the office.

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

Physical inventions are rare; staff use praise and diversion techniques as alternative methods. The young people each have an emotional behaviour response plan that the manager reviews, amending strategies when necessary to meet the evolving needs of the young people.

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

The young people all have comprehensive risk assessments to identify their risks, such as county lines, radicalisation, and child sexual exploitation. The strategies used by staff to support the young people in managing risks are clear, and they are reviewed robustly after every incident. Most risks are triangulated throughout the young people’s placement plans, and the young people are actively encouraged to Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 5 talk about their risk-taking behaviour during home meetings and with trusted adults. On one occasion, a risk that was identified through an impact risk assessment was not subject to a defined risk management plan. This was addressed the day after the inspection.

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

Staff training focuses on keeping the young people safe in the context of relevant risks. The completion of mandatory safeguarding training as part of the induction process ensures that staff understand and follow robust safeguarding procedures. Staff in the home have a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures and who they are to report to if a concern arises. Most of the staff have completed their level 3 qualification or have the equivalent. This promotes staff’s understanding of the young people’s behaviours and the challenges of supporting them.

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

Good safer recruitment practices are followed, promoting the employment of staff who will provide safe care to the young people.

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

Senior managers have used two padlocks to restrict access out of a window after an incident where window restrictors were not sufficient. Although this was the initial process to safeguard the young people, it has not been reviewed since. This means that the young people have not been given the opportunity to demonstrate that they have made progress in their risk-taking behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in January 2020 and has had a positive impact on the home. He is committed to developing a culture of improved outcomes and good quality care for the young people. He has a clear vision and realistic ambitions for the development of the home. This is embedded in the evolving business and workforce plans. He has worked hard to achieve his set targets. These include pen pictures of the young people and an information leaflet which sets out the complaints process and safeguarding expectations for all visitors to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has made some progress in ensuring that impact risk assessments are undertaken before young people come to live in the home. This has contributed to the home currently feeling settled and stable. However, since the last inspection three young people’s placements have ended in an unplanned way. The registered manager is progressing plans to strengthen the referral processes to ensure that robust measures are in place to take full account of the staff skill set and the resident young people’s vulnerabilities when considering whether another young person should move into the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The young people are making progress at an appropriate pace, taking into account their individual needs. This is primarily due to the registered manager’s understanding of young people’s differing needs, the creation of realistic placement plans and the setting of achievable goals and targets. The registered manager is Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 6 also looking to encompass health and educational targets into these plans, with the engagement of the young people. A young person said, ‘I know my voice matters!’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good management communication enhances the care the young people receive. Effective and regular one-to-one and group supervision ensures that staff focus on providing child-centred care and gives staff time to reflect on their professional development. Staff appraisal targets were not evident in regular supervision discussions, and these targets are appraised annually. The registered manager is looking at options for including the review of these targets into regular monitoring systems to ensure the continuous professional development of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been occasions when the independent visitor reports have not been sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. This omission has not directly affected the quality of care provided for the young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 7

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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 care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and 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— 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)) 20/05/2020

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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— that staff— 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans and risk assessments are detailed and include all of the relevant information staff need to support children. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 20/05/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) In particular, ensure that appraisal targets filter into regular monitoring systems to ensure the continuous professional development of staff.

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Recommendations

 When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can assess services to meet needs identified in relevant plans. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals and opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Homes must also meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, ensure that there is enough seating for the young people and the staff to enjoy a meal together and review the padlocking of the window. Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 9

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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: 1185488 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kennet Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Stan Colaco & Co, Regus Business Centre, Centurion House, London Road, Staines TW18 4AX

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Inspector

Kelly Monniot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1185488 11 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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