Children's home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children's home: SC484671 1 SC484671 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home offers therapeutic support, education and care for up to four children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since June 2021. The acting manager is in the process of applying to Ofsted for registration.

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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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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC484671 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2019 Full Good 05/12/2018 Full Good 21/06/2017 Full Good 06/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC484671 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children have moved out and five children have moved into the home since September 2020. Four children are currently living at the home and are making good progress relative to their complex starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before moving into the home, several of the children struggled to engage with education and had not attended for several years. The managers and staff are ambitious for the children and have ensured that all the children have a school or college place. When children remain reluctant to engage in education, the manager is quick to respond proactively by working in partnership with education professionals and social workers to improve children’s outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to maintain good relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff arrange transport and welcome family and friends to the home. Children are supported to continue with healthy friendships and their friends have been included in activities. For example, one of the children recently enjoyed a day out with their friend, accompanied by staff, on a trip to Winter Wonderland.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child has a memory book containing photographs and reminders of their achievements and special moments. Alongside this, they have a positivity book. These books contain words of praise and celebrate the progress that the children are making. When children move on, they do so with mementos of this important part of their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to learn independence skills in line with their age and ability. Two of the children especially enjoy cooking, and one of the children is looking forward to travelling to college independently with their new bus pass. All children are encouraged to learn valuable life skills such as basic housekeeping tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is set in a rural location and is decorated to a very high standard. Children personalise their bedrooms and take pride in their home. One child spoke of how lovely the home is and how much they enjoy living in such a beautiful environment.

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

The home provides a calm environment in which the children feel safe. The staff are caring and respond to children in a nurturing way. Good relationships have been developed with children who often struggle to trust adults due to their past traumatic experiences.

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

Children feel listened to and staff take the time to get to know them well. Regular conversations with staff enable children to discuss their feelings and share their views. All children have been consulted about how they wish to be supported in times of distress. Staff’s successful de-escalation of incidents has resulted in no physical interventions being necessary since July 2021. Inspection report children's home: SC484671 4 None of the children currently living here have gone missing from home. This is significant progress for two of the children who have extensive histories of going missing. A social worker said, ‘Such progress has been made. The child is making safer choices and is beginning to open up to the home’s therapist. [Child’s name] is a different person now. They absolutely love it and feel safe at the home.’

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

Comprehensive risk assessments detail children’s individual behaviours and provide staff with clear guidance on actions to take to reduce risks. These are generally updated promptly. However, on one occasion, a new behaviour was not recorded promptly. A delay in reassessing risks may result in the recurrence of a preventable incident.

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good

There has been no registered manager in post at the home since June 2021. The deputy manager was appointed as acting manager in November 2021 and is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. The acting manager is supported by a newly appointed deputy manager, who has also worked at the home for several years. Together, they provide consistency and stability. Staff speak highly of the managers and say that they feel valued.

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good

All staff have undertaken the organisation’s mandatory training. The acting manager and the deputy manager are suitably qualified. However, none of the full-time staff currently hold a relevant level 3 qualification. The provider is supporting staff to gain this necessary qualification. Two staff members are enrolled, and one staff member is in the process of being enrolled for the qualification. The remaining staff will be enrolled once they complete their probationary period.

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good

A recommendation set at the last inspection has not been met. The managers have undertaken internal reviews of the quality of care provided for children; these are comprehensive and detail specific actions for development. However, several of the reports have not been submitted to Ofsted as required.

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good

The acting manager has developed good relationships with professionals. The children’s social workers said that she works in partnership with them, and the level of communication is faultless. All the social workers are complimentary about the quality of the regular reports and updates that they receive.

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good

Supervision is effective and monthly staff meetings ensure that the staff are supported. Alongside this, staff benefit from having regular meetings with the provider’s therapeutic programme manager. These meetings explore group dynamics, aspirations and children’s progress and help staff to share and develop their practice further.

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good

The two requirements and two of the three recommendations set at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report children's home: SC484671 5

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff are suitably qualified and that the manager in day-to-day charge of the home promptly and successfully submits an application to register with Ofsted. 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a)) 28 February 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, ensure that records are updated to accurately reflect the assessed level of risk. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Inspection report children's home: SC484671 6

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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: SC484671 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Benjamin UK Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, White House Court, Leighton Buzzard LU7 1FD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Rudman

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Inspector

Lynne Drage, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC484671 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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Inspector

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