Children's Home run by Clearwater Care (Hackney) Ltd in Essex

Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 1 Registered provider: Clearwater Care (Hackney) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to two children between the ages of seven and 18 who have needs that relate to their social, emotional, behavioural and/or mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home comprises two separate bungalows, each of which accommodates one child. At the time of inspection, only one child was living at the home. She said that she likes living at the home and gets on well with staff. The staff are committed to the children, and work effectively with other agencies to meet children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Comprehensive plans are put in place to support children to move to the home. Before children move into the home, the staff go to visit them. The children also visit the home for the day, and sometimes stay overnight. These visits to the home include going on activities with staff. The child living at the home at the time of inspection spoke positively about her experience of moving to the home. The manager gains detailed information about children’s needs from relevant professionals in advance of children moving to the home. This information is used to put together individualised plans which support staff to provide appropriate care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to improve their emotional well-being. Children have regular sessions and build positive relationships with an in-house clinical psychologist. After an incident that involved a child having an extended stay in hospital due to their mental health needs, the manager and clinical psychologist worked closely with external mental health services and the child’s local authority to put plans in place to keep the child safe on their return to the home. In addition, while the child was in hospital, the staff provided them with a high level of support. This demonstrated the staff’s commitment to ensuring that the child was able to return to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has given notice on the placement of the child living at the home at the time of inspection, as a result of feeling that it is not an appropriate placement for the child’s needs. However, this decision was not taken lightly, and was only made after many things had been put in place to try and provide good support for the child. The child’s social care team manager said the manager and staff have been highly committed to the child and tried everything they could to make the placement succeed. The social care team manager also said: ‘I feel a lot of other placements would have given notice sooner, I can’t fault them at all.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home has a very limited education provision. The local authority has not put clear plans in place for the child’s education and the manager has not advocated for the child effectively, in order for a more appropriate provision to be agreed. The child is reluctant to engage in what education is in place, and there are no clear plans for how staff will support learning while she is not attending a formal provision. This lack of effective planning and support means that the child’s education has not been appropriately prioritised. Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 4 The home is well maintained, and children are able to have input into the decoration of it. The child living at the home is a talented artist, and some of her artwork is displayed in the home. This helps children feel a sense of belonging in their home.

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

Children have often been exposed to significant levels of risk prior to living at the home. The manager and staff take a multi-disciplinary approach to managing risk. Risk assessments and missing-from-home protocols are shared with other professionals, including the police, who are able to contribute to them. Concerns around the children’s associates have been shared with the police without delay. Staff help children to try and reduce risks, and demonstrate a good understanding of what these risks are. Staff are supported by the organisation’s clinical psychologist to think about risk and how to manage it effectively.

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

Physical restraint has been used at times to keep children safe. Staff are trained in appropriate techniques and use these only when necessary. Records of restraint are clear and debriefs are undertaken with children and staff after incidents. The manager has good oversight of incidents of restraint and provides timely review of them. This approach helps to ensure that physical intervention is only used to keep children safe, and that learning from such incidents informs future practice. Children have regularly been involved in episodes of going missing. Staff generally respond appropriately, actively search for children and welcome them back to the home on their return. Changes have also been made to the physical environment to try and minimise such incidents. The local police missing persons coordinator said communication from the home around risks for children has been ‘brilliant’.

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

Return home interviews have not always been undertaken after episodes of children going missing. When interviews have been completed, the relevant paperwork has not always been received by the manager. The manager has requested the paperwork, but the lack of response has not been challenged as effectively as it could have been. This means that information that could be gained from such interviews cannot be considered and incorporated into children’s plans so as to try and minimise future incidents and manage them as safely as possible.

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

One child was the subject of a deprivation of liberty order, meaning that they had very high levels of supervision. This proved challenging at times, in terms of building effective working relationships with the child, as the child could often feel crowded by staff. There have been occasions when staff have not worked in line with the child’s risk assessment in relation to immediate supervision of the child at specific times. There has been a clear rationale behind this, but the risk assessment is not a true reflection of how staff are working in certain instances.

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

A number of allegations have been made about staff. These have been managed appropriately, with referrals to the designated officer being made in a timely fashion. Investigations have been appropriate, and when some practice issues have been identified these have been appropriately addressed by managers. Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly regarded by staff. Staff members commented on the high levels of support that the manager provides and her commitment to the children living at the home. Staff supervision is regular and includes good consideration of children’s needs, as well as support for staff who manage a high level of risk. Staff spoke positively about supervision and how beneficial it is to their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of children’s care and incidents that occur. Input from external agencies is sought in a timely manner when a specific need is identified. For example, recently, concerns around fire safety and substance abuse have resulted in swift referrals for support in these areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have built excellent links with external agencies. Feedback received from professionals was unanimously positive, and all spoke of how committed staff are to meeting children’s needs. For a relatively new service, very good progress has been made in this respect. Good links with external agencies ensure that staff are working as part of a wider group of professionals to provide high levels of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good levels of training, including in mental health and self-harm. This helps them have a good understanding of children’s needs and the challenges faced by the children who live at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff recruitment has been a challenge, but there are good systems in place to ensure that all necessary checks are undertaken before staff start working at the home. These good recruitment practices help to ensure that staff working with vulnerable children are suitable to be doing so. Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 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 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 that staff—

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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;

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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

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)) 6 November 2021

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— 6 November 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 7 assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should challenge local authorities to ensure that they provide an opportunity for children to have an independent return interview after incidents of going missing, and 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)

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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: 2614508 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Clearwater Care (Hackney) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Minton Place, Victoria Street, Windsor SL4 1EG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Olubunmi Fabusuyi

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Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2614508 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 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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