Children's home run by Action for Children Services Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 1 Registered provider: Action for Children Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a charity. It is registered for up to four children, aged up to 18, who have a sensory impairment and/or a learning and/or physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted on 5 September 2019.

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 3

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improvement to be good

Staff provide children with positive care and helpful support, enabling them to make valuable progress. However, weaknesses identified in the safer recruitment of staff have the potential to place children at risk of harm. These same weaknesses were also identified at the last full inspection. Although action has been taken, it has not been timely enough to mitigate the weak organisational recruitment processes.

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improvement to be good

Moving-in plans for children who are new to the home are well organised. Good arrangements are made to enable staff, the child and family to get to know each other before the child moves in. However, the process for formally assessing whether the new child is suitably matched with this home and the current residents needs some improvement. Currently a formal impact assessment is not fully completed before a new child regularly visits the home as part of their transition process. Delay in formally considering whether children are appropriately matched could mean that their individual needs impact negatively on one another during these visits.

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improvement to be good

Staff have developed strong, positive and nurturing relationships with the children, which were observed throughout the inspection. Staff skilfully help children to achieve their goals and to make progress. Notable improvements have been made in children’s health and sleeping patterns and with their development of their communication and independence skills. Staff are proud of the children’s achievements and celebrate them.

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improvement to be good

Care and support plans provide good detail about children’s needs but do not consistently provide sufficient clarity for staff about how to meet some of these needs. For example, in one child’s plan there is a lack of specific detail about how staff are to support the child with personal care.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to take part in a wide range of activities. Despite the impact the pandemic has had on access to activities outside the home, staff have been creative in ensuring that children have lots of opportunities and lots of fun. Each child has a scrapbook that beautifully captures a record of their time here and the fun they have had on activities, on holidays and with special celebrations.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to make choices about their day-to-day experiences. This is an area the staff are developing further by reviewing the effectiveness of the systems they currently use to consult with children. They are planning to create a bespoke system to meet each child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide children with a comfortable home that is well furnished, equipped and personalised. Children’s photos and their art and craft work are given pride of place on display around the home. Children benefit from having a spacious garden to play Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 4 in. This is well equipped, including a sensory garden, a twigloo and a trampoline. The significant number of fire-door signs detracts from the otherwise homely environment.

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improvement to be good

The staff have managed the impact of the pandemic well. They helped the children in a child focused way to understand what was happening and to stay safe. Staff ensured that children had access to the health appointments and support services they needed during this time.

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improvement to be good

Children living here present as confident and happy in their home environment. They benefit from positive relationships with staff who know their needs well and work hard to keep them safe. Restraint is not often used, as typically staff recognise quickly when children feel anxious or upset and work hard to alleviate these feelings. Staff interact positively and calmly with children, helping them to develop their confidence and learn constructive ways to manage their feelings. However, records of restraints require improvement.

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improvement to be good

In the last 10 months, restraint has been used on six occasions to help a child to receive necessary medical treatment. The records relating to one serious incident where the child was held on the floor by medics are not comprehensive enough as they do not document each time the child was held or describe exactly the position in which they were held. Staff noted injuries to the child following this incident and correctly recorded them on a body map. However, on this occasion, and on some other occasions relating to unexplained or concerning marks seen on children, records do not confirm what action was taken or document the outcome. There are other examples of very good follow-up, and detailed records, of unexplained or concerning marks or injuries, and therefore practice is this area was found to be inconsistent.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager advocate effectively for children when they feel their needs are not being met and/or their welfare is not being promoted. Referrals are made to external safeguarding agencies as required and leaders and managers work effectively with others to agree safeguarding plans. However, the management of safeguarding records could be improved as, currently, information is recorded in different documents. Some records do not consistently provide a clear enough account of the event from identification of a concern through to its conclusion.

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improvement to be good

Senior leaders told the inspectors that 12 months ago they recognised that organisational recruitment processes were not fit for purpose and that they have plans in place for them to change on 1 July 2021. Despite identifying these weaknesses, the same processes have continued to be used when recruiting new staff, without sufficient action by leaders and managers to mitigate the problems. For example, gaps in employment history are not always identified or followed up. The reasons why staff left previous employments are not always asked for as applicants are allowed to submit personal curriculum vitae. More work is required to Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 5 ensure that appropriate references are always obtained. In addition, leaders and managers do not ensure that agency staff who work in the home are subject to the recruitment checks required by the regulations.

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good

The registered manager is appropriately experienced and qualified for their role. The staff are positive about her leadership and the support she provides. Leaders and managers understand the strengths and some of the areas for development in the home. Improvement plans are in place, but action by leaders to address organisational weaknesses with recruitment has not been timely enough.

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good

Leaders and managers provide an encouraging, child-friendly home that supports children to have a positive experience living here. Staff are ambitious for the children in their care and strive to provide each child with the skills they will need in the future to live as independently as possible.

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good

Staff are well trained and receive good-quality, regular formal support for their roles. They feel well supported in their roles. Records of staff supervision are very detailed, reflecting the discussion held. Where required, appropriate action is taken to address poor staff practice.

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good

Parents who contributed to this inspection are very positive about the staff and the home. They praise the staff for their commitment to the children and the good progress the children have made.

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good

The registered manager carries out a review of the quality of care provided for children every six months as required. Reports of her review contain a lot of detailed information but there needs to be an increase in the consistency of analysis and evaluation within the reports to aid the development of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 12 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home;

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s plans provide clear guidance for staff on how to meet the child’s needs. There must also be an agreed formalised plan in place, which is consistently followed by staff, to manage medical treatments without the use of restraint. 12 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d)) 12 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)) 31 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

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

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 31 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 8 intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). (Regulation 45 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the written report must consistently demonstrate an analysis and evaluation of the work undertaken at the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should seek, as far as possible, to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression in the home. For example, they should review the health and safety signage. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should carry out a risk assessment on all new children prior to them coming to the home. In particular, ensure that matching assessments are formalised so as to inform the decision-making regarding whether a place can be offered. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that safeguarding records contain all the required information from identification of the concern to conclusion, and that body chart records consistently record actions taken and the outcome of these actions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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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: 2537149 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Action for Children, 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspectors

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Paula Lahey, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report children’s home: 2537149 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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