Children's home run by Action for Children Services Ltd in Watford

Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 1 SC004429 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 home is a short-break service for four children who have severe learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated and managed by an independent provider in partnership with the local authority. The registered manager has extensive experience and knowledge.

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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 12 November 2019. 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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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: 12 November 2019

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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: SC004429 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2019 Full Good 20/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/05/2018 Full Good 06/02/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children love their short-break experiences because they are cared for by familiar staff who know and understand their complex needs. Staff embrace each child with patience, nurture and kindness. As a result, children are thrilled to stay at this short- break service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships blossom because staff ensure that children are matched appropriately into individual groups for the duration of their stay. Children visit the service as part of their induction to help them feel comfortable. Once children are using the service, they settle quickly and make friends with other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to use interactive technology, picture reference cards and craft play to communicate with staff. This means that children can have a say in the care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s learning and personal development well. For example, staff have recently covered topics including body development, personal care skills and internet safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a range of enjoyable activities both in and out of the home. This ensures that children have fun times, socialise and learn new skills. Photos celebrating these social experiences and achievements are on the walls of the home to remind children of these happy times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s medical, health and personal care needs well. For example, staff are skilled in enteral feeding, medication administration and epilepsy management. Additionally, parents feel secure and reassured that their children’s health and medical needs are supported effectively by well-trained staff. As a result, parents are confident to leave their child in the care of competent staff.

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

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of children accessing the service was reduced in order to minimise the potential risk of infection. This action enabled the most vulnerable children to continue to access the service safely.

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

Staff work hard to keep children safe and protected from harm during their short- break stay. Staff understand each child’s vulnerabilities. Clear safeguarding policies and procedures mean that staff know how to protect children from harm. A parent wrote in a survey response about the service and said, ‘It’s very safe and secure. It has great facilities for our daughter to access. The staff are all very approachable, friendly and professional.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 4 Physical interventions are rarely used. This is because staff can use their relationships with children to de-escalate situations and redirect children from harm. Children understand and follow the agreed rules and boundaries. This creates a harmonious and calm environment for everyone to enjoy.

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

The registered manager has ensured that all staff, including existing and new staff, are safely recruited. This means that children are only cared for by adults who are appropriate to do so.

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

The registered manager and staff take pride in the home and ensure that it is maintained to a high standard. Routine fire safety, and health and safety, checks reduce the potential risk to anyone living, working and visiting the home.

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

Children’s risk management plans are detailed and provide clear strategies to keep children safe. Some children need to be observed by staff during the night to ensure that they are safe. This includes regular visual and listening checks. Although staff follow the agreed plans and check on children at night, they do not always complete records in full to verify this. This makes it difficult to evaluate records against children’s plans.

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

On one occasion, the decision to lock a child’s bedroom windows at night, to keep them safe, was not explained to the child. This meant that the child was not helped to understand the reasons for doing this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child-focused registered manager is experienced, qualified and knowledgeable. She leads by example and is enthusiastic, dedicated and motivated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by the registered manager. For example, they are provided with effective supervision, good-quality training and an annual appraisal. This means that staff develop their skills and knowledge and receive valuable feedback about their performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the service. She regularly reviews the quality of care provided to children and completes a report that is shared with Ofsted. Any learning identified from this is used to inform an action plan to support and improve children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works exceptionally well with parents and professionals, who speak highly of the excellent communication and partnership-working between them. For example, a local authority team manager told the inspector how she was impressed with the registered manager’s creativity in supporting families during the COVID-19 pandemic, when their children could not access the service. This action taken by the registered manager prevented families from going into crisis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager reviews the statement of purpose and supplies a copy to Ofsted on time. However, the statement of purpose does not include the Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 5 arrangements for the use of electronic devices used for the purpose of surveillance and monitoring. Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 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 must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that a description of the home’s approach to the monitoring and surveillance of children is included in the statement of purpose. 26 November 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are supported to express themselves as individuals and should be given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to the day-to-day arrangements for their care, depending on their individual needs. When a child’s preference cannot be met for safeguarding reasons, staff should discuss this with the child to help them understand why. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.21)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. This is in specific relation to recording checks at night in accordance with the child’s plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC004429 7

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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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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC004429 8 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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