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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 1 SC057804 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

The home provides residential short breaks for up to five children who have learning and/or physical disabilities. The service is operated by a charitable organisation in partnership with a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2019. He has achieved the level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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 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: 23 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2020 Full Good 07/03/2019 Full Good 20/02/2018 Full Good 23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child-centred and experienced staff team provides children with good-quality, bespoke care. Staff take the time to get to know children and their families. They visit each child’s home and school to gather important information. Carefully planned transitions help to reduce anxiety for children and their families. The registered manager uses this information to match children well. Comprehensive, ongoing assessment ensures that children receive support in line with their needs. As a result, children really enjoy their short breaks and make good progress in a range of areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff work well with a range of key partners, including parents, and health and educational professionals. This means that children receive consistent and well-informed care. The registered manager uses these professional relationships to gather key information and set individual targets for each child. For example, targets focusing on personal care and independence skills are established and reviewed. This enables the children to make good progress. A parent told the inspector, ‘Staff focus a lot on her [child] life skills. She has progressed massively. The breaks have boosted her confidence a lot.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to participate in their care. Staff use a range of innovative communication tools to help children express their views and are highly skilled and perceptive in understanding the communication methods for each child. Children also take part in a regular forum that encourages them to make important decisions, such as planning activities or purchasing new equipment for their home. This inclusive ethos supports children to take ownership of their care. However, most of the staff have not yet completed the recognised signs and symbols language training programme. The manager plans to provide this training imminently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of enjoyable experiences and activities. Children enjoy baking, arts and crafts and trips to the cinema. This encourages them to try new experiences and develop new skills. Children also form new friendships with their peers. As a result, children become more independent and feel increasingly confident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children really enjoy their short breaks in this spacious and welcoming home. Passionate and caring staff greet children with warmth and enthusiasm. Parents told the inspector that the service is a ‘home from home’ and feels like ‘an extended family’ for their children. Parents feel reassured that their children are safe and are receiving good-quality care. Overall, the home environment is bright and welcoming for children. However, there are aspects of the internal environment that appear tired and need repainting. In addition, a significant amount of play equipment in the garden is no longer fit for use. The registered manager is planning to install a range of new play equipment. Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 4 Staff provide families with written summaries of children’s short break experiences. However, some records lack detail and are not consistently signed off by the child’s key worker or the registered manager. This means that some families may not have

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

a full understanding of their child’s experiences and progress during their short break. The registered manager has recognised this shortfall and is taking appropriate steps to improve this practice.

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

Staff provide children with a high level of supervision and support and strike a good balance between keeping children safe and promoting their independence. Staff understand children’s risks and complex needs and take steps to keep children safe. However, this good work is undermined by the quality of some children’s records. For example, some risk assessments and behaviour support plans are not updated following incidents. This means that staff may miss important updates about children’s emerging risks.

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

The spacious environment enables children to explore and enjoy their short break experience easily and safely. Children can socialise with their peers, staff or, when appropriate, have time on their own. The service is well equipped to meet the complex needs of children. For example, high-dependency bedrooms contain specialist equipment that enables staff to provide children with dignified and sensitive care. The registered manager ensures that all equipment that may restrict children is risk assessed and consent for its use is provided by parents and local authorities.

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

Effective communication and a proactive approach help staff to recognise the triggers to children’s challenging behaviour. Detailed verbal handovers support staff to discuss children’s needs and vulnerabilities. In addition, staff understand and plan for a range of small, yet important, details. For example, staff ensure that children choose their favourite bedrooms and bedsheets, meals and activities. This individualised planning helps to minimise risk while also promoting an enjoyable and enriching experience.

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

Staff support children to take appropriate risks to develop their social and independence skills. For example, some children learn to take their own medication and become increasingly confident in managing their personal care.

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

On occasions, children can become unsettled due to a range of complex needs. Staff use their in-depth knowledge of children to de-escalate incidents. The registered manager and staff complete robust reviews following each incident to identify learning and improve practice. This proactive and well-informed approach means that incidents of restraint are extremely rare. The registered manager acknowledges that there are some shortfalls in the quality of incident records and is working hard to improve them. For example, he has recently changed the format for recording incidents and is planning to provide staff with further training to improve their recording skills. Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 5 There is an effective system in place to ensure that the children’s medication is received, stored and administered safely. This ensures that staff continue to safely meet children’s health needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The registered manager is experienced and knowledgeable about the service he leads. He holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management. He has effective monitoring systems in place. For example, he works alongside senior leaders and the independent visitor to regularly review children’s care and identify learning. The registered manager is passionate about children in his care and continually strives to enhance their experiences during their short breaks. His detailed development plan has the potential to address the shortfalls identified during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Staff benefit from a robust training programme that equips them with the skills and knowledge to meet children’s complex needs. Staff appreciate the high level of support provided by the registered manager and senior staff. Staff really enjoy working at the home and they say that the team is supportive and works well together. Overall, staff benefit from regular supervision. However, the inspection identified some shortfalls in the quality of these supervision sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

An established and diverse staff team means that children have access to staff who have a range of personalities and expertise. Staff are committed to children and genuinely care about them. Staff know children well and speak confidently about their complex care needs, targets and progress. They provide a strong, well- thought-out and consistent approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Parents and carers are integral to this service. They feel involved in their children’s care and speak very highly of staff and the management team. A parent told the inspector, ‘I have always been made to feel welcome. They [staff] are always asking questions about him [child] and making sure they have up-to-date reports. I can always go to them when I need to. They go above and beyond.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Overall, staff understand children’s plans and can clearly articulate their role in achieving important milestones. Staff work well with a range of professionals to provide children with well-informed care in line with their needs. This effective joint working means that children settle quickly and enjoy their short breaks. However, this good work is undermined by shortfalls in the quality of children’s records. For example, some plans are not updated and lack information, while other plans contain a significant level of handwritten notes and are therefore difficult to understand. In this respect, records do not always reflect the good quality of care provided by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Staff work in partnership with a range of external professionals. This means that they provide a coordinated response to the health and well-being needs of children. However, formal consultation between staff and social workers is rare. This is a Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 6 missed opportunity to provide additional oversight of children’s care and to improve staff practice. The registered manager has identified this shortfall in his development plan and is taking action to address it. Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff receive consistent and good quality supervision. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that all areas of the home are well decorated, and children have access to adequate play equipment in the garden. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate training to provide them with the skills to communicate fully with children. This specifically relates to the provision of Makaton training. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that all records, including incident reports, children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans are updated and clearly

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Recommendations

written. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the provider regularly consults with local authorities to seek feedback about children’s experiences and use this feedback to improve the quality of children’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.11)

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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 for children’s home: SC057804 8

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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

Gareth Leckey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC057804 9 regulates and inspects 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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