Children's home run by Area Camden Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 1 Registered provider: Area Camden Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children. The home cares for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager was registered by Ofsted in January 2019 and has been in post since July 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

There were six children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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 24 February 2020 to carry out a full inspection. The report is published on our website.

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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

Date of last inspection: 24 February 2020

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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: 1251364 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/02/2020 Full Good 18/12/2018 Full Good 10/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and well supported. They form close and trusting relationships with staff. One professional commented, ‘Staff are child focused, compassionate [and] non-judgemental, and they really have children’s best interests at heart.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key work sessions are effective. Staff understand the impact of children’s past experiences and the trauma they have suffered, which has had an impact on their behaviour. They sensitively explore areas of risk such as the possible triggers for going missing or their involvement in negative behaviour. Children respond well and learn to manage their emotions effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from effective and consistent behaviour management plans. Staff helpfully remind children of the consequences of poor behaviour. This helps children to manage and improve their behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Case records evidence the progress achieved by children. However, one child’s case records lack important documents such as the local authority care plan, looked after children’s review record and personal education plan. Potentially, this could have an impact on the ability of staff to effectively care for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make progress in their education. Children have aspirations and goals. Staff help children to achieve their goals and to prepare for independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly involve children in the running of the home. Children bring ideas to their meetings and they take ownership of arranging their own activities. Additionally, one child writes weekly newsletters for the other children and staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked hard to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on children by arranging creative activities for them. Staff have focused on children’s individual talents such as painting, and one child’s paintings were proudly displayed in the home. As some of the pandemic restrictions are lifted, children are now enjoying more outings, such as visiting the London dungeon, the tower of London, Thorpe park, and going to the cinema and bowling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a warm and welcoming home environment. The home is clean, comfortable, spacious and bright and is decorated to a good standard. Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 4

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

Children live in a safe home environment, and safeguarding practice at the home is strong. The registered manager and staff know children well and have established strong relationships with them.

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

Staff have completed safeguarding training and know how to respond to safeguarding concerns. When concerns arise, these are shared with key professionals. This ensures that children are safeguarded effectively.

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

Risk management plans are of a good quality and reflect children’s individual needs and the potential triggers for risk-taking behaviour. The risk management plans help staff to identify, manage and reduce risk. Furthermore, staff know how to sensitively manage children’s individual risks and help children to keep themselves safe. Consequently, missing and child exploitation incidents have reduced.

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

Professionals spoken to during the inspection consistently praised staff for their strong, child-centred relationships, stability and care offered to children. Staff have supportive discussions with children that enable them to engage with joint work and help to keep them safe.

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

Staff have established clear and consistent boundaries and manage incidents well. Incident records are detailed and provide a clear description of what happened, and the action taken by staff to manage the incident.

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

The registered manager understands the procedures to be followed when an allegation is made against a member of staff. All allegations are reported to relevant safeguarding professionals and are investigated appropriately.

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

Safer recruitment and employment practices ensure that staff are suitably vetted. This prevents unsuitable people from working at the home and helps to ensure the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff strive to make a positive difference to children’s lives. The registered manager is present and readily available to support children and staff. A strong, child-centred leadership in the home helps children to progress and to stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. Recruitment of more permanent staff is one of the areas the registered manager is working to improve. This will bring more consistency and stability for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the requirements made at the previous inspection have been addressed. One requirement relating to the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in communal Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 5 areas is repeated for this inspection. The new leadership team is currently reviewing the surveillance policy to address this issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although quality assurance reports have improved, they do not include feedback from children, family members and staff. This is a missed opportunity and potentially limits the opportunities for independent scrutiny and challenge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses creative methods to support children and staff. Team meetings are used effectively as learning and development opportunities and enable staff members to give presentations on relevant issues to support their work. Similarly, children chair their own meetings and bring new ideas to improve home life. This helps to build children’s confidence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reported that they feel well supported and valued by leaders and managers. Leaders and managers are available and approachable, and staff receive regular training and supervision. Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 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 registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24(1)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 27 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any placing authority is challenged to provide a complete and current relevant plan. In particular, the home should ensure that case files contain up-to-date care plans, review records and personal education plans from the placing authority. This will inform care planning for the children concerned. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Specifically, the registered manager should ensure that Regulation 44 reports include feedback from children, parents and staff members. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 7

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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: 1251364 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Area Camden Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4AD

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Inspector

Gulcin Ardic, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1251364 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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