Children's home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Thanet

Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 1 SC065517 Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 13 October 2019.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 26 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2019 Full Good 19/03/2018 Full Good 19/09/2017 Interim Not judged 07/02/2017 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection the previous registered manager has left. This led to a period of insecurity for the children. However, the hands-on approach of the new manager, alongside a well-planned handover and continued contact with the previous manager, has helped the children to adapt and settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take a keen interest in all aspects of the children’s overall well-being and progress. Children enjoy the care and attention of the staff, who openly display warmth and affection towards them. As a result, the children develop a positive sense of their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Caring staff provide a nurturing environment in which children can learn, grow and play. The structure and routines in the home provide the children with a feeling of safety. Staff have clear expectations and set appropriate boundaries that are warm and supportive. This assists the children to understand acceptable boundaries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to develop resilience and insight into what has happened to them in their lives. Children are encouraged to build memory boxes which include pictures and special mementoes. Staff take pictures of the children with family members during visits. These measures help the children to stay connected and to maintain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive consistent messages and praise in support of their academic and social development. Communication between the home and school is frequent and comprehensive. This provides the children with a consistent experience of care between the home and school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and motivate the children to follow their interests, whatever they may be. Children have access to a range of activities in the community. As a result, the children extend their social skills and gain greater confidence.

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

Children are vocal, make choices and contribute to key decisions. Children help in the planning of the meals and decide with the staff what they will have for dinner. There are no set menus and meals are home-cooked, often by the manager. She has been instrumental in teaching the children cooking and food preparation skills. The informal teaching of cooking, budgeting and planning helps the children to learn responsibility and self-reliance.

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

Staff place strong emphasis on kindness, tolerance and respect. They model this behaviour with each other, and with the children. Emphasis is placed on restorative measures and helping children to de-escalate tensions. Rewards and positive reinforcement are routinely used to promote positive behaviour. Consequently, children are better equipped to understand and manage their emotions. Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 4 Everyone in the home knows what bullying is, and is not. Working together, the children and the staff can see the situations where bullying could happen, and stop it before it starts. Staff support the children who exhibit bullying behaviours to understand the impact of their behaviour on others, and to find new ways of behaving. This helps to ensure that all of the children feel safe and happy in their home.

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

Good healthcare planning ensures that the children’s health and emotional well- being needs are met. Children have good access to tailored therapeutic support and universal healthcare services. Children say that they are being helped by the staff. With help and encouragement, children accept and engage in the support that is available to them.

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

Leaders and the manager operate a safer recruitment policy. Staff practice relating to the protection of the children is good. However, a domestic worker who works at the home has not received recent safeguarding training. This means that she may not be equipped to know how to respond to a safeguarding concern.

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

Behaviour management plans do not show consideration of the children’s health needs or relevant past experiences. This runs the risk that the use of physical intervention may be used without a full exploration of the implications of this for each child. However, in practice, the staff manage behaviours well.

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good

A change of manager and staff changes since the last inspection have contributed to inconsistencies in practice. One child described staff changes as ‘irritating’ and voiced her annoyance at frequent switches of her key-worker. Nevertheless, at the time of the inspection, the home was staffed sufficiently, and plans were in place to recruit another member of staff. This will provide the team with greater flexibility to respond to the specific needs of the children.

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good

The standard of maintenance at the home is variable. The manager acknowledged the issues and rectified some shortfalls during the inspection. Ongoing plans are in place to ensure that a high-quality environment for the children is maintained.

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good

There is good management oversight of the care plans and records relating to the care of the children. However, the manager’s monitoring of the quality of care in the home does not gather the views of professionals and families. This is a missed opportunity to gather important feedback that could be utilised to inform service development.

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good

The logs relating to the use of physical intervention show timely manager reviews. After incidents, the children’s well-being being is checked and debriefs are undertaken with the staff involved. But, on some of the records sampled, the manager’s evaluation of practice relates to incidents that she was involved in. Consequently, the manager’s oversight of these incidents does not provide independent scrutiny. Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 5 Staff feel supported, valued and appropriately challenged. However, one of the longer-serving members of the team had not had her yearly appraisal. This is a missed opportunity for the leaders to identify the strengths and developmental needs of the individual staff member.

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good

The manager provides regular supervision that is child focused and prioritises safeguarding matters. For newer members of the team, the manager uses supervision to coach, and provide staff with the skills that they need to meet the individual needs of the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the quality of care review must specifically ascertain and make use of feedback of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff to inform service development. 01/06/2020

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Recommendations

 Any use of restraint carries risks. These include causing physical injury, psychological trauma or emotional disturbance. When considering whether restraint is warranted, staff in children’s homes need to take into account: – the age and understanding of the child; – the size of the child; – the relevance of any disability, health problem or medication to the behaviour in question and the action that might be taken as a result; – the relative risks of not intervening; – the child’s previously sought views on strategies that they considered might de- escalate or calm a situation, if appropriate; – the method of restraint which would be appropriate in the specific circumstances; and – the impact of the restraint on the carer’s future relationship with the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.55)  As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for

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Recommendations

maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 7 supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, the manager and leaders must ensure that all staff that work in the home, including domestic workers, receive safeguarding training.  Many children placed in homes may undergo a difficult transition and what should be simple aspects of their care take on a substantial significance in this context. 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,

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Recommendations

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 homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, ensure that the home environment is consistently maintained to a high-standard.  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) In particular, ensure that when physical intervention is used, these incidents are reviewed by an independent person. Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 8

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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: SC065517 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited, 17 Leigh Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 5EU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leslie Davenport

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Inspector

Anne-Marie Davies, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC065517 10 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 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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