Children's home run by Champion Children Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 1 Registered provider: Champion Children (Fig Tree) Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care for children with emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since March 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered individual is currently in day-to-day charge of the home until a new manager is appointed.

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Inspection date: 2 February 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 2 February 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The responsible individual has stopped accepting new admissions until a new manager is in post.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Despite the challenges brought about by the departure of managers, children are safe and supported well by committed and aspirational staff. As a result, children are making some progress from their starting points. Children wish to remain living in the home, which is a testament to the care provided by staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff work well together to provide a welcoming and child-centred home environment. Communal areas are clean and decorated to a high standard. There are photos of the children involved in different activities proudly on display.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leaders accept that progress to implement and make some of the requisite changes from the last inspection is too slow. This includes a failure to provide a quality of care review. This has been compounded by front-line management challenges.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A secure bespoke electronic system captures children’s day-to-day experiences, their activities and their most recent care plans and reviews. Improved compliance with statutory regulations and revised recording systems are leading to better quality information about children. However, reports are not evaluative or succinct enough. For example, children now have individual risk assessments, but these are lengthy, descriptive and lack focus. This makes it hard to measure progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Management action following the effective scrutiny provided by independent visitor reports is often delayed. This is hindering improvements.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff training is being prioritised. This is aimed at ensuring that practitioners are helped to deliver the ‘therapeutic’ ethos and outcomes detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. However, this training is not yet evident in practice.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

While staff’s understanding of policies and procedures is improving, the lack of consistent management direction has led to confusion. More work is required to unify and improve the quality and consistency of supervision and management day- to-day oversight.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

More positively, better behaviour management is reducing serious incident notifications and physical interventions. For example, one physical restraint in December 2021 was appropriate and proportionate. The record of this incident is detailed and there is a debrief for the staff and the child. There have been fewer Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 3 missing-from-care episodes since the previous inspection. While these are reducing, the response by staff and managers to understand the reason children go missing from the home is not consistent enough. Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 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 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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 31 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 6 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 March 2022

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(g)(i)) 31 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 7 This particularly relates to how staff deliver therapeutic care.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.20)  The registered person should understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should use their review process as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. This relates to acting on recommendations raised from independent visitor reports and using monitoring to understand more about why children may go missing from care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: 2595340 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Champion Children (Fig Tree) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Champion Children (Fig Tree) Limited, Moran House, Units 7 and 8, 449 to 451 High Road, London, Middlesex NW10 2JJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Wakeling

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Inspector

Brenda McLaughlin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2595340 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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