Children's Home run by Personal Security Service Limited in Essex

Inspection report children's home: 1258658 1 Registered provider: PSS Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home, which is run by a private organisation, provides care for up to four children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 31 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 5 May 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following a monitoring visit on 1 April 2021, Ofsted served a compliance notice in relation to the leadership and management of the home and a notice restricting Inspection report children's home: 1258658 2 accommodation. At the monitoring visit on 5 May 2021, the compliance notice was not met, and a further compliance notice was served. The provider had complied with the restriction notice, which remained in place following the monitoring visit on 5 May 2021.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/07/2019 Full Good 04/10/2018 Full Good 22/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1258658 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. Two children left the home in April 2021, after a monitoring visit identified several concerns. Another child had left the home in February 2021. This child was not safely matched with the other children. Since April 2021, a restriction of accommodation notice has prevented any further admissions. Therefore, it is not possible to test whether the staff can meet the needs of children who move into the home. The requirement in respect of effective placement matching has been restated.

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improvement to be good

Since the last monitoring visit, the staff have received the relevant training to help them to meet the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The home is adequately furnished. However, areas of the kitchen are damaged following a recent incident. This detracts from an otherwise well-kept home.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys feeling nurtured by the staff. The child receives individualised care and has made progress since moving in . The staff are working positively with the child to build a structured routine and help the child to consistently sleep at night. This is starting to improve the child’s well-being.

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improvement to be good

The child has developed positive relationships with the staff team. The staff actively address discriminatory behaviours as they arise. The staff encourage acceptance and help the child to understand people’s differences. Although the staff work positively with the child, frequent staff changes have the potential to unsettle the child.

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improvement to be good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff created home-study routines for the child to continue their on-site education. The staff use a weekly education planner that covers a range of life skills, including self-care and self-acceptance. The head of education is working with external professionals to find a suitable school. Home study provides some structure to the day and prepares the child for school following a long gap in their education.

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improvement to be good

The inspector reviewed the provider’s progress in meeting the steps that were set out in the compliance notice, which was served on 11 May 2021. The provider had not met all the steps set out in the notice. However, progress had been made and the remaining shortfalls will be addressed through statutory requirements.

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improvement to be good

The provider has failed to address some of the required actions in the fire risk assessment. The staff and the child have practised safe fire evacuations during the Inspection report children's home: 1258658 4 day. However, the provider has not met the recommendation in the home’s own fire risk assessment to provide opportunities to practise different evacuation scenarios. This does not ensure that the staff and child are as prepared as they could be in the event of fire.

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improvement to be good

The child is settled and appropriately supported by the staff. The child has significantly improved her understanding of internet safety. The staff are alert to online safeguarding risks and work with the child’s social worker to reduce these.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management plans and risk assessments have been updated since the last monitoring visit in May 2021. These guide the staff in identifying risks to children and addressing these risks. The behaviour management plans give effective guidance to staff on preventing and responding to difficult behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The staff receive suitable training in behaviour de-escalation and physical intervention strategies. They understand the underlying causes of challenging behaviour to be a means of communication. There has been no use of physical or restraint in the past three months.

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good

There has been no registered manager since March 2021. A temporary manager was appointed in May 2021 and is due to apply to register as the permanent manager.

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good

Some staff were redeployed to the home from the organisation’s other homes. These staff were used to fill the vacancies created by staff leaving.

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good

The staff induction and probationary procedures have been improved. This ensures that staff are equipped for their roles and are competent to lead shifts. Good staff supervision and regular team meetings ensure that the staff have the right support and are confident in their roles.

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good

All staff have undertaken suitable training to support and care for the child at the home. This has increased the staff’s knowledge of self-harm, trauma and autism spectrum disorder. Three of the staff have the required level 3 residential childcare qualification. However, one member of staff has not completed this qualification within the specified time frame.

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good

The operations manager has increased their monitoring of the home. The managers understand the areas for development and have taken appropriate action to drive improvement in most areas. However, there continue to be areas that require improvement, including the records and the fire risk assessment. The most recent review of care fails to highlight the shortfalls in the service. Elements of the review are contradictory and there is no reflection on the challenges that the staff have faced or the actions that have been taken to improve the care. Inspection report children's home: 1258658 5 The records are of poor quality and not organised well. There are specific records that are unavailable or difficult to locate. Some records lack clarity on the actions taken to support the child. Some central logs have missing pages. This increases the risk that important information may be lost.

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good

The complaint records do not consistently detail the action taken to address children’s complaints or whether the child is satisfied with the outcome. It is therefore difficult to judge the responsiveness of the home in relation to specific complaints. Inspection report children's home: 1258658 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and

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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)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that records are available and accurate, and evidence the support that the children receive;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that complaint records evidence the actions taken to address children’s complaints;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the fire risk management plan clearly details the actions taken to address the concerns raised in the fire risk assessment so that monitoring of action is effective. 9 July 2021

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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

promotes their welfare. 23 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1258658 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children moving into the home are suitably matched with the existing resident group and the staff’s skills and experience.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 23 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, address all the recommendations set out in the home’s own fire risk assessment. 1 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— 10 September Inspection report children's home: 1258658 8 the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff who have worked in a children’s home for more than two years achieve a suitable level 3 qualification.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the damage to the kitchen is repaired. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review is of good quality and meets all the aspects stipulated in Regulation 45. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: 1258658 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PSS Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 284 Chase Road, London N14 6HF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Frederik Booysen

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Inspector

Joanna Heller, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1258658 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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