Children's home run by Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

Inspection report children's home: 2505172 1 Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd Interim 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 for up to two children. The provider’s statement of purpose states that care is provided to children who present with challenging behaviours and who are in need of additional support.

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Inspection date: 10 February 2022

Date of last inspection: 9 November 2021

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Inspection date: 10 February 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 10 February 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2505172 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.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At this interim inspection, Ofsted judged that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There has been limited progress made against the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection. None of the requirements or recommendations have been met, hence they are repeated for this interim inspection. One requirement was for clear and consistent recording of staff signatures and the frequency and timing when recording the administration of children’s medications This was not evident at the time of this inspection, and gaps in recording were apparent, leaving children at risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The two children currently living at the home were resident at the time of the last inspection. Their experiences are very mixed. One child has numerous missing-from- care episodes, with concerns evident in relation to criminal exploitation. The manager and staff are not able to keep him safe, despite their best efforts to do so. The other child is making some progress but is considerably adversely affected by the impact of living with the other child. Another previous requirement has not been met. Staff were to ensure that concerns or complaints made by a child about another child’s behaviour were fully investigated and resulting actions and decisions were clearly documented. This has not been implemented.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

When children make complaints not related to the behaviour of other children, the manager’s response is not evident. Records do not outline the outcome of the complaint and what actions children can expect as a result.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has very recently had a change of manager. The new manager has a good understanding of areas of practice that need improvement and has clear plans to address these issues.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has not had any admissions since the last inspection. The manager is aware of the requirement to ensure the needs of children moving in are fully considered against those of the children already in the home. However, changes to the impact assessment, to ensure that this is clearly assessed, have not yet happened.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Required safeguarding notifications to Ofsted do not contain sufficient information in relation to incidents. Additionally, incidents are not always recognised as requiring a notification to Ofsted. The monthly independent monitoring review identifies areas for improvements in practice; however, these are not always implemented in a timely manner. Inspection report children's home: 2505172 3 The manager and staff work well with partners. They maintain regular contact with children’s social workers, which helps with care planning for children. Relatives of children report that the manager and staff communicate effectively with them and provide them with important information about their children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

When children are missing from care, staff are proactive in their efforts to keep in contact with them and follow each child’s missing-from-care protocol. When children return, staff make efforts to have conversations with them about where they have been and any risks they may have been exposed to. However, the manager and staff are not proactive in initiating further conversations when children show initial reluctance to engage in such conversations. This is a missed opportunity to help identify actual and potential risks to children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There are a number of appropriate risk assessments designed to help keep children safe. However, these are not consistently updated following significant incidents, and they do not include the agreed actions identified to manage risks to children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff training matrix is not up to date. This compromises the manager’s overview of what training staff need to undertake in order to meet the needs of children in their care.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Supervision with staff is not taking place consistently. Supervision records do not sufficiently focus on the work being undertaken with children to help to keep them safe and the actions required to promote their welfare.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

All fire extinguishers in the home are kept upstairs, meaning that there is no fire extinguisher on the ground floor, including the kitchen. This limits the capacity of staff to reduce the spread of fire. Inspection report children's home: 2505172 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 2505172 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 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;

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring that any concern or complaint made by a child in regard to another child’s 1 May 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2505172 6 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. 1 May 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.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 1 May 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;

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Requirement Due date

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— 1 May 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2505172 7 the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children;

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Requirement Due date

the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home;

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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 compliance notice, 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

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Requirement Due date

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, 1 May 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2505172 8 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

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 detail 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. 1 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

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)) 1 May 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2505172 9 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 4.11)  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 with reference to updating placement plans, risk assessing hazards in the home and ensuring that fire safety equipment is suitably placed to reduce the spread of

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Recommendations

fire. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2505172 10

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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

Andy Whippey, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2505172 11 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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