Children's Home run by Capital Children’s Care Ltd in Essex

Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 1 Registered provider: Capital Children’s Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to three children aged between 10 and 18.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 22 March 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 10 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our website.

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Inspection dates: 14 to 15 April 2021

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Inspection dates: 14 to 15 April 2021

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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Inspection dates: 14 to 15 April 2021

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Inspection dates: 14 to 15 April 2021

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Inspection dates: 14 to 15 April 2021

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted served two compliance notices on 15 March 2021 in relation to the safety of the children and the leadership and management of the home. This inspection Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 2 assessed the changes that the home has made. The provider has met the steps that were set out in the compliance notices.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 3

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improvement to be good

Following concerns raised with Ofsted in relation to the quality of care and the leadership of the home, Ofsted undertook a monitoring visit on 10 March 2021. The visit identified serious concerns and resulted in Ofsted serving two compliance notices. The provider has met the steps that were set out in the compliance notices. However, some further improvements are required. In addition, further requirements have been raised at this inspection.

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improvement to be good

There are currently two children living at the home. The home registered with Ofsted in June 2020. Since this time, there have been several staff changes including three different managers. The new manager has been in post since 22 March 2021. Such frequent changes in staffing have not supported a sense of stability and security for the children.

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improvement to be good

The staff provide high levels of supervision to meet the children’s complex needs and risk-taking behaviours. Staff have worked hard to develop good relationships with the children. The staff are sensitive to the children’s wishes and feelings. They offer regular opportunities for the children to participate in decisions about activities and the running of the home. However, not all staff follow the children’s placement plans. Both children struggle to develop a healthy sleeping pattern. The staff are not providing a consistent night-time routine for the children. In addition, not all staff are persistent in waking the children up in the morning. The lack of consistent boundaries means that the children do not benefit from positive routines.

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improvement to be good

The staff have not set expectations for the children. When the children refuse to attend education, the staff are not sufficiently addressing the underlying reasons behind their refusal. The staff are not providing the children with enough informal educational opportunities. This means that children are not making progress in their learning.

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improvement to be good

The staff have helped the children to maintain virtual and appropriately socially distanced contact with their families. The staff work actively to include parents in decision-making. The children value this approach to their care.

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improvement to be good

The children are encouraged to attend their health appointments. Staff are working with healthcare professionals to ensure that most of the children’s physical and mental health needs are being met. Since the monitoring visit, one child has been able to access specialist mental health support and has been referred to a smoking cessation programme.

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improvement to be good

The children benefit from a clean and well-furnished home. Some of the children’s artwork is displayed in the living room. Children’s bedrooms are clean, comfortable Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 4 and individualised. Good upkeep and care of the environment help the children to feel valued.

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improvement to be good

The staff have struggled to manage one child’s self-harming behaviours and her frequent episodes of going missing from the home. Despite staff following the missing-from-home protocol, there has been a high reliance on the police to keep the child safe. The manager has begun to monitor and evaluate these episodes to consider what themes and trends can inform the staff’s practice. However, he has yet to develop a system for promoting and collating information from return home interviews. The lack of consistent follow up of all return home interviews means that this potentially valuable information to better inform the child’s safety plan is missed.

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improvement to be good

The manager has undertaken workshops with staff to confirm their understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. He has ensured that all staff are now trained to address the children’s individual risks. This means that staff are better equipped to respond effectively to the children’s behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Following the recent monitoring visit, the children’s risk management and support plans have been reviewed. These now include full details of the children’s individual risks and clear guidance on harm-reduction strategies. However, some staff have not followed the updated support plans diligently. This has led to one child being unsupervised for short periods of time. This lack of supervision could potentially increase the likelihood of her self-harming or going missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

The home has a ‘no restraint’ policy and minimal use of sanctions. The staff are encouraged to use a restorative approach and focus on rewarding positive behaviours. However, this has not supported the children to be aware of their actions and of how to take responsibility, and the use of rewards has been inconsistent and ineffective in helping children to reflect on and modify their behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not always communicate effectively with one another and record incidents appropriately. Following a knife being found in a child’s room, the staff did not record this as an incident or inform the child’s key worker. This led to the key worker failing to undertake work on weapon awareness. Consequently, the child did not have the opportunity to understand how carrying weapons can increase harm.

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good

Due to the high turnover of managers at the home, there has been a lack of management organisation. The staff had not been confident in what procedures and policies to follow. Since the new manager has been in post, he has audited all aspects of the home to ensure that clear systems are in place. He is working closely alongside the staff to support them to feel confident in their practice. Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 5 Staff said that due to the manager’s strong person-centred skills, morale has significantly improved. This has also led to improved relationships with the children’s wider professional network. External professionals said that the staff are now consistently sharing the weekly log information. The staff inform them of when children are not able to attend their online education or appointments.

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good

However, the manager has not recorded staff coaching sessions in their files. He has failed to provide regular formal supervision for staff. There are long gaps between supervisions. For one member of staff, there is only one supervision record on file in seven months. The lack of regular supervision limits the manager’s capacity to follow up on actions set, to monitor progress in implementing new skills or to provide staff with protected time to explore their feelings and reflect on their practice.

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good

The responsible individual has undertaken timely responses to complaints. However, she has failed to provide a summary of those complaints with actions and outcomes. This limits the learning opportunity for understanding how the outcomes can inform future practice.

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good

The recording and monitoring systems require improvement. The manager has failed to undertake a quality of care review. It is therefore not clear how children’s progress and experiences have been formally incorporated into the development plans for the home. In addition, it is not clear how the manager is using the current audits of the home to identify shortfalls in practice and to drive improvements.

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 17 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 6 support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)) 17 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with the appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that all staff receive regular supervision in line with the supervision policy. 17 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3)) 17 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 7 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months.

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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 quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 17 May 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 8 a particular course of action. Staff should discuss the decision with the child’s placing authority when appropriate. If a child makes a choice that would place them or another person at significant risk of harm, staff should assist them to understand the risks and manage their risk-taking behaviour to keep themselves and others safe. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an

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Recommendations

independent return home interview. The registered person should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that staff understand when to use an incident form and to undertake a key-work session and make a record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2575372 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Capital Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Pike Way, North Weald, Epping, Essex CM16 6BL

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Inspector

Leemya McKeown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2575372 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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