Children's home run by Heartwood Residential Services Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 1 SC423959

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Heartwood Residential Services Ltd

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to five children and young people. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for children who generally present with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The aim is to break the negative cycle of multiple placement breakdowns.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager started working at the home in June 2020 and is awaiting registration with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted instigated this monitoring visit due to reports of the high number of children going missing from care. The concerns were also linked to the suspected criminal and sexual exploitation of children.

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This monitoring visit

This visit involved the inspector examining children’s missing-from-home records, risk assessments, progress reports and key-work reports. The inspector held discussions with the acting manager, the responsible individual and the staff team on duty. Feedback was also received from three of the children’s social workers.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do their best to help children understand the risks and dangers of going missing from the home. They sensitively support children when they return to the home. Staff have developed strategies to explore and reduce missing behaviour through key-work sessions. This approach has had some success in reducing missing behaviour.

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This monitoring visit

The home has provided a stable base for some children. This is commendable as some children had been living at the home for approximately one year. Children have moved on from the home into semi-independent accommodation or to other children’s homes more suited to their needs. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 2 Leaders and managers proactively request risk management meetings from the child’s placing authority. These meetings aim to develop a strategy for managing any identified risks. Placements are appropriately terminated where a child is at serious risk of harm and staff are unable to safeguard them.

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This monitoring visit

The manager liaises effectively with placing authorities and other agencies to safeguard children. Children’s protection is improved by the home’s inter-agency working, specifically with children at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation and with mentors and mental health services. This provides a good wraparound service to address children’s needs.

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This monitoring visit

The organisation has undertaken significant work with the police through a specialist missing-from-home project. Staff have been instrumental in the development of a grab pack, which outlines a wide range of important information regarding children. This pack includes known risks, children’s associates, and identifies areas and addresses where children may be. This pack helps the police with the prioritisation of missing-from-care cases.

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This monitoring visit

Feedback from social workers is variable. A social worker highlighted that they would ‘welcome a more robust approach to gain an insight into these missing episodes’. Another social worker feels that staff are ‘ knowledgeable’ and ‘caring’, and they also praised the ‘good communication’ and feel that this is a ‘good home’.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are able to identify children’s individual strengths. They work hard to help children to develop their talents and interests. Staff have helped children to enrol on to college courses and attend school. Equipment has also been bought for them, including a hairdressing mannequin.

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This monitoring visit

The home is not yet meticulous enough in its approach to the management of episodes when children go missing from care, risk management, the Ofsted notification process and record-keeping. Managers must ensure that staff are kept updated on safeguarding practice and research.

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This monitoring visit

Staff maintain separate missing-from-care records, which evidences that they endeavour to make frequent contact with children when they are missing from the home. Occasional errors were seen in relation to the date of the episode when a child went missing, and correction fluid had been used on occasions.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted has not been notified of two significant incidents. This includes an allegation of a sexual act between two children and another regarding suspected sexual exploitation. The latter related to a child alleging another child had gone missing with an older man while out in the community.

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This monitoring visit

Staff attend safeguarding training and the majority have received training which raises their awareness of gangs, knife crime, and criminal and sexual exploitation. However, newer members of staff have not yet received training regarding gangs and knife crime. Staff are also unaware of the principles of contextual safeguarding. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 3 Children’s risk assessments do not reflect the range of identified risks. They are not routinely updated after incidents. Risk assessments do not include all risks and do not detail effectively how risks will be managed. Examples include concerns regarding the possession of weapons, threats from peers and possible sexual and criminal exploitation.

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This monitoring visit

This visit also highlighted the need to improve record-keeping. Children’s progress reports do not always detail all the meaningful work undertaken. Some of the language used is not child centred and does not recognise children’s vulnerabilities. For example, the term ‘streetwise’ and the word ‘bad’ have been used to describe behaviour and decisions.

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This monitoring visit

Staff endeavour to help children to lead a healthy lifestyle, for example by enrolling a child at a gym. Staff’s approach to important health appointments is not robust. For example, a child continually refused to attend a sexual health appointment, which could have led to serious long-term complications.

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This monitoring visit

Children benefit from a stable staff team which primarily consists of highly experienced individuals. Staff enjoy their work. However, they do not feel valued by the organisation. There is an insufficient number of computers, which has an impact on the staff’s ability to keep records. Staff also raised concerns regarding placement matching and the activity budget.

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This monitoring visit

The manager completes a review of the home’s quality of care. This report includes the views of children and the plans to further improve the service. However, the management monitoring report does not clearly detail the feedback from parents, placing authorities and staff. This requirement is repeated from the last two inspections.

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This monitoring visit

The home benefits from a committed staff team and an enthusiastic manager. The independent monthly monitoring visits are constructive and focus on continual improvement. The evaluation of placements also helps with looking at the lessons learned. There is a good capacity to further improve and a willingness to implement positive changes.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 16/09/2019 Full Good 13/08/2018 Full Good 07/11/2017 Full Good 14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 4

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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 system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 01/03/2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 01/03/2021

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children attend health appointments. 01/03/2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff have training to raise their awareness of gangs, knife crime and contextual safeguarding. 01/03/2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 5

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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) In particular, ensure that progress reports meaningfully capture all the work undertaken with children. Also ensure that correction fluid is not used and that language used is child centred.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, risk assessments must include all identified risks, such as offensive

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Recommendations

weapons, sexual assault and threats from others in the community.  The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, ensure that staff have sufficient information technology tools to maintain the home’s records. Consideration should also be given to staff’s concerns regarding the activity budget, placement matching and feeling undervalued.  Records must be kept which detail all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36) (schedule 3 (14)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31) In particular, records must accurately detail the dates of the episodes when children go missing from care.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Heartwood Residential Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9TH

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Inspector

Sharon Payne, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC423959 7 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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