Children's home run by Holibrook House Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 1 SC377702 Registered provider: Holibrook House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and provides care and accommodation for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children who present with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. In addition to having two other children’s homes, the company is also a registered education provider.

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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

The manager was registered with Ofsted in January 2018.

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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: 26 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: SC377702 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2020 Full Good 11/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/07/2018 Full Good 22/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have continued to make good progress during the pandemic. Staff have made great efforts to ensure that children achieve good educational outcomes. Some children have achieved excellent exam results and gained college admission, from a starting point of non-school attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have helped children to make progress by taking small steps to establish sleep routines, self-care and reflecting on children’s actions and feelings. This has helped children develop their independence and help them build relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where children experience setbacks, managers and staff are creative in ensuring that they get the right support from those they have built relationships with, and from specialist services. This has ensured that children’s needs were supported and upheld during times of instability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they can tell adults if they are unhappy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff manage complaints effectively, ensuring that children’s views are heard and addressed. However, one child did not know how to make a complaint.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers encourage and support children to keep in touch with family members. During lockdown, children were able to stay in touch with families virtually. Once lockdown measures eased, staff supported children to have face-to- face family time. Staff ensured that where possible families engaged with children for special occasions, including birthdays and Christmas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to specialist help to support their good mental health. . Staff and managers work excellently with professionals to ensure that children get the support they need. However, staff do not always clearly record interventions and the support offered to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home, while safe, needs redecoration and new furnishings. Children report that they are pleased to live in a good home that provides good food . However, they would like the home to be more ‘homely and cosy’ .

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

Risks associated with children around exploitation, episodes of children going missing from the home, substance misuse and mental ill health are well understood by staff. Staff identify and assess risk well, and risks assessments are regularly updated to reflect changes. All staff, including managers, respond well to identified risks to children and have a strong focus on keeping them safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 4 All staff manage missing episodes well. Return home debriefs are routinely conducted when children return from missing episodes. Relevant information from return home debriefs is routinely shared with safeguarding partners. Children were well supported and advised to keep safe while in the home and out in the community, in line with the government’s guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

There has been an increase in the number of incidents of poor behaviour and police callouts in recent months. Staff managed these situations appropriately. There is evidence that managers maintain oversight and provide debriefs and appropriate support for children and staff following these events.

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

There was one incident of restraint being used, which was recorded as part of a behaviour management incident. The restraint was very low level and staff managed this appropriately. However, the restraint was not recorded as the staff member did not recognise the intervention as restraint. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the home’s ability to conduct face-to-face training. Consequently, not all staff are trained in restraint and behaviour management. The manager has taken measures to arrange training. However, this has yet to take place.

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

Allegations against staff are managed well. The manager routinely seeks advice and support from the local authority designated officer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager has been in post since January 2018 and holds the required leadership and management qualification. The manager has made significant changes to the staff team, with a greater emphasis on developing a positive, nurturing staff culture. The manager has built capacity in the staff team in order to provide mentoring for less experienced staff. This has resulted in greater staffing stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they feel well supported by leaders and managers and benefit from regular and effective supervision. Staff also benefit from fortnightly team meetings. These meetings have helped them keep abreast of changes that affect the home and the children who live there. However, staff did not demonstrate a good knowledge of the home’s therapeutic model of intervention. This requires embedding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is diverse in culture, race, and experience. The staff team includes a good mix of male and female staff. Recruitment of staff is safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers regularly reflect on emerging risks to children. Managers and staff seek to strengthen current partnerships and build new partnerships to meet children’s emerging needs. Leaders and managers have also ensured that staff reflect on learning and continuously strive to improve the experiences and lives of children. Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 5 Leaders and managers know children extremely well and advocate effectively on their behalf. Managers ensure that new strategies and interventions are considered from specialist providers to address changing needs. This ensures that children remain the focus of interventions to keep them safe and develop necessary life skills?

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent monitoring reports do not regularly show evidence that conversations have been held with children and stakeholders or that their views have been sought. Independent monitoring visits continued to take place remotely, even when guidance suggested that it was safe to visit the premises. This was not effectively challenged by managers. Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")–

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered 22 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 7 person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) (v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

The independent persons report may recommend actions that–

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Requirement Due date

the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)( (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that independent monitoring reports comply with regulations and provide challenge and independent scrutiny to allow the home to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided. 22 July 2021

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Recommendations

 Staff should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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Recommendations

Specifically, ensure that all children in the children’s home know how to make complaints.  The registered person should ensure that staff understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 8 record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

Specifically, this relates to keeping good records of services that are provided to children and how they are received by children, and in ensuring that interactions with children, for example keywork sessions and children’s meetings, clearly reflect the views of the child.  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

Specifically, this relates to improving the fixtures and furnishings in children’s bedrooms and the redecoration and repair of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC377702 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Holibrook House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, 172 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 4QH

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC377702 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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