Children's home run by Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people. The provider’s statement of purpose states that care is provided for children who present with challenging behaviours and who are in need of additional support.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 9 April 2019. The registered manager post has been vacant since 31 August 2020. The home’s new manager has been in post since September 2020. A complete application to register with Ofsted has not been received.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

This inspection was conducted on site and involved meetings with children and staff. Feedback was received from social care, education and health professionals as well as parents and children. The home’s manager was also asked to share a staff questionnaire for staff who were not on site, but who wished to contribute their views.

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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 Inadequate

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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. Date of last inspection: 7 January 2020

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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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers make decisions that consider some aspects of children’s support needs. Information known about children is assessed prior to children moving into the home. However, impact risk assessments do not always consider the needs of children moving into the home with the needs of children already living in the home. This has the potential to results in poor matching decisions and cause unnecessary disruptions and instability in the home. There have been two unplanned endings that have caused unnecessary disruptions at the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have made progress since they moved into the home. Staff provide stability for children, which has allowed one child to restart engaging in education and reduce self-harming incidents. Another child has been able to remain living at the home for over a year after previously experiencing frequent changes of homes. Consequently, staff can help children to make better life choices and improve their well-being.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure that children access universal and specialist services. Children are appropriately registered with health and education providers. Staff successfully advocate for children, which has led to one child receiving educational support in the home while not attending mainstream school. Leaders and managers have financed external professional help when there have been local authority delays to support children’s mental health needs. As a result, children’s life chances are significantly improved.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to learn and develop their independence skills. Staff encourage children to compile shopping lists and to go shopping. Children learn to use equipment to wash and dry their clothes. Staff, sometimes, use reward systems to support and encourage children to have good personal hygiene. Staff support children to transition into the next stage of their lives.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to a wide range of leisure and learning opportunities both in and out of the home. However, children’s case records could be improved by ensuring that photographs are consistently dated and labelled. This will help to ensure that children’s experiences are sufficiently captured to support them to understand their experiences in later life.

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improvement to be good

Staff try hard to engage with children. A professional stated that a member of the staff team had responded to a child’s request for an activity despite this meaning that the staff member worked additional hours. Observations of children during the inspection demonstrated that children are comfortable to voice their opinions. However, the recording of children’s views is not always child focused. nor does it reflect what support and feedback children receive from staff. Therefore, children’s views do not fully contribute to the quality of care they receive.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a warm and well-furnished home. Although it is a small home, children have access to a separate lounge and dining area, and a large-sized garden. However, risks and hazards in the home are not sufficiently, managed to ensure the safety and well-being of children. For example, the appropriate safety equipment for children to use a boxing bag has not been provided, a broken chair has not been removed and children have access to a ladder in the garden. This means that children are at some risk of avoidable harm in this home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers consider the risks and concerns for children identified in their referral information. They actively challenge placing authorities when information does not adequately reflect children’s behaviours. However, children’s behaviour management plans and risk assessments are not sufficiently detailed or regularly reviewed and updated to reflect children’s changing and evolving behaviours. This compromises the ability of staff to respond and meet the needs of children effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff training is not sufficiently targeted to meet children’s needs. Although staff receive a range of training, they do not consistently have the knowledge to meet the individual needs of the children in their care. Staff receive a range of training, including training to specifically meet the individual needs of the children in their care. However, this is not always consistent, and some staff are yet to receive training in relation to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, which is a known condition of one child at the home. The Provider had identified this gap and was taking steps to address this.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that staff are supported to understand and work with children’s complex behaviours. Despite an agreement at a professionals meeting for staff to be offered clinical sessions, this did not happen. Leaders and managers did not pursue or escalate this resulting in the staff team not receiving the agreed clinical support.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always proactive in their responses to children. Children reported that they have little confidence in the ability of all staff to intervene in their relationships with other children. Leaders and managers do not ensure that concerns are followed up with children during individual sessions. Further work such as reparation sessions and agreed staff interventions do not occur. This does not reassure children that they will not be harmed by others in their home.

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improvement to be good

Children’s case files show limited positive rewards given to children, which is a missed opportunity to reward and reinforce children’s progress. Incident reports do not consistently include debriefs with children. Therefore, staff do not adequately support children to learn from and reflect on their actions.

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improvement to be good

Children receive their required medication. Staff follow prescribed changes in medication as detailed by health professionals. However, they do not have clear and consistent records of the medication given to children. Medication logs do not fully outline the frequency or timing of medication. There is a lack of consistency on the number of staff signatures required to administer medication. Leaders and managers do not have clear oversight of the processes involved. This has the potential to result in children not being given medication as prescribed and poses a risk to their health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff work effectively and promptly in partnership with children’s support systems to address children’s missing-from-home and mental health complexities. Staff attend professional meetings to support children’s safety plans and development. They follow recommendations and advice. This means that there is a united approach to keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager of the home has not submitted a complete application to Ofsted for registration despite being in the manager role since August 2020, a requirement being raised at the previous inspection and a compliance notice being issued in July 2021. It is acknowledged that the manager has attempted to submit a full application but has been unable to do so. However, this means that the care of children is overseen by a manager who is not compliant with regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not maintain proactive oversight of the home. Ofsted had to alert senior managers to the home’s forthcoming local authority planning permission expiry date that may have an impact on the ongoing operation of the home. The majority of requirements made at the previous inspection have been restated at this inspection. This apparent disregard for regulations and permissions could lead to significant disruption for children in their home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not consistently ensure that suitably experienced and qualified staff are employed to work in the home. Some staff files do not have the required number of references. Furthermore, some references are character references and some staff do not have any professional references. One staff file has a character reference which was provided by a colleague in the team. Therefore, leaders and managers are unable to completely account for the validity of information about staff working with children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is unsure as to what capacity some staff, such as bank staff are employed. Some of these staff do not receive regular supervision and the manager is unclear if they are still members of the team, how long they have been employed and whether they are subject to employment processes such as probation or annual appraisals. This does not demonstrate that the manager has sufficient oversight of the staff who work at the home. This demonstrates ineffective management oversight of resources and prevents clear understanding of how children are supported in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff do not have experience of working in children’s social or residential care. Staff have a range of professional backgrounds including administration, leisure and adult social care. Although staff complete training, supervision records do not demonstrate that leaders and managers discuss how the learning is embedded and how it will improve their practice with children. This does not provide assurance that staff are suitably skilled and experienced to meet the complex needs of children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The sharing and recording of relevant childcare information is poor. Staff do not sign and date the staff communication book and the information on children’s case files to demonstrate that they have read and understood changes. Staff meetings are not consistently documented. Information and learning regarding children are stored in different places. This limits management oversight of practice and makes it difficult for children to understand the information held about them.

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(xi)(b)) 10 January 2022 This particularly refers to staff ensuring that any concern or complaint made by a child about another child’s behaviour towards them is fully investigated and that resulting actions and decisions are clearly documented.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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 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) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that needs of children moving into the home are fully considered against the needs of children already in the home. 10 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff ensuring that there is clear and consistent recording of the frequency, timing and staff signatures of the administration of children’s medications. 10 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

* A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

the person is of integrity and good character; 10 January 2022 having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has—

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Requirement Due date

within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children;

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Requirement Due date

worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and

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Requirement Due date

the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must submit a complete application to register with Ofsted.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection, was subject to a provider requirement letter and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 10 January 2022 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient written references on employees records and that the details provided can be validated. This also refers to ensuring that there is clarity on the role of each person documented as working in the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff undertake training to meet all the needs of children in their care.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 10 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 10 January 2022 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child,

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the child’s voice, views and participation are clearly ascertained and documented. All information should inform and support the continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10 and 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This is reference to updating placement plans, risk assessing hazards in the home and providing the necessary safety equipment for children. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 86-90, Paul Street, London, Greater London EC2A 4NE

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Inspector

Tolulope Sawyerr, Social Care Inspector 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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