Children's Home run by Ashford Children’s Care Limited in Surrey

Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 1 Registered provider: Ashford Children’s Care Limited Full 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 six children. In its statement of purpose, the provider states that the home offers long term care for children and young people with a moderate to severe learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in July 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children settle in well when they first arrive. They share trusting relationships with the staff. They feel secure, make good progress and have good experiences. A local authority social worker said, ‘They are doing such wonderful work with my young person, so committed and dedicated, he looks happy and settled.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive personalised care, and they make steady progress. This is in relation to their physical health and their emotional, social and psychological well- being. However, there are recording errors in medication records which are not consistently accurate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop practical living skills with the support and supervision of staff. This helps them to prepare to live more independent lives. For example, one child is supported to make purchases using a bank card, and staff are helping another child to better manage their anger.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported extremely well to keep in touch with their families and those who are important to them. Visits to the home by family members are frequent when it is safe to do so. One parent said, ‘I was very anxious when he first moved. The staff helped me a lot, and I can see my child is a different person now, so grown up and less challenging.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s learning outcomes are good. They attend school regularly and, as a result, their learning outcomes are positive. Because there has been a delay in sourcing education for one child, he is receiving education at home. Leaders and managers have worked hard to support the placing authority in identifying education options, and they provide support to the tutor in the home to progress education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is generally well kept. Children have personalised bedrooms and are helped to choose a room with their special interests in mind. However, parts of the home have an institutionalised feel, and not all repairs are completed to a high standard. On the day of the inspection, food was not labelled as required to maintain good food hygiene.

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

One child spoken to during the inspection reported that they feel safe and happy in the home. Staff protect them from harm, abuse and neglect. Children benefit from staff’s understanding of the impact their disabilities have on their daily lives. The inspector observed children making choices, moving around freely and having warm interactions with staff.

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

Individualised risk assessments address known and anticipated risks to children. These provide staff with guidance and highly effective strategies that help to reduce Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 4 children’s risk-taking behaviour. Staff vigilance with each child helps plan for any potential risks between children in the home. However, the work staff do to reduce incidents between children is not always clearly recorded.

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

Behaviour management support plans for children are individualised. These plans provide staff with effective strategies that help to promote appropriate behaviour and assist them to manage children’s complex behaviour. However, comprehensive records of behavioural incidents are not routinely kept for all children. This compromises management monitoring and oversight.

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

Staff promote children’s positive behaviour. Staff restrain children only when risks are posed to them, staff or others. Staff plan for children’s daily experiences well. They are able to balance how best to keep children safe as well as ensure that they have fun.

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

Staff recruitment practices are comprehensive and safe. This confirms that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children.

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

Leaders and managers respond swiftly and appropriately when they are advised of any allegations against staff working in the home. However, the local authority does not routinely inform the home of all concerns they become aware of. This does not provide leaders and managers with the opportunity to review or investigate matters. Leaders and managers have escalated this safeguarding shortfall to the local authority as it has the potential to impact on the safeguarding of vulnerable children.

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

Two staff members spoken to during the inspection did not demonstrate a good understanding of the home’s child protection and whistle-blowing policies. This does not help to keep children safe.

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good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2021. The manager is committed to delivering the best possible care for all the children in his care. The service has at times been affected by staff shortages. The manager and registered person have taken the decision to provide shift cover themselves to reduce the use of agency staff. Leaders and managers are actively recruiting for the service.

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good

Staff say that they feel supported by leaders and managers. However, the supervision and formal staff training for some staff are inconsistent. Staff meetings are rarely held. This does not provide staff with a consistent level of support and guidance. This is important to help enhance staff’s knowledge and skills in working effectively with vulnerable children.

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good

Leaders and managers continue to develop the monitoring and review systems. They are ambitious for change and have identified areas where there are weaknesses in practice. The quality of care review was completed late and was Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 5 submitted to Ofsted during this inspection. This delay is a missed opportunity to set out the strengths and weaknesses of the home or set out the plans to address concerns. This does not demonstrate good management oversight of the service.

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good

The registered person does not ensure that notifications of all significant events relating to the welfare and protection of children are made to the relevant authorities. One allegation was not reported to Ofsted. This is a breach of regulations.

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good

Leaders and managers have started to develop systems to maintain effective oversight of records. However, these are not yet embedded. For example, records of behaviour management are not sufficiently detailed. They do not include details of all the actions staff take to manage behaviour or consistently include detailed management oversight. This shortfall in recording compromises management oversight of the home.

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good

Two children’s case records reviewed at this inspection did not include up-to-date care plans from the placing authority. Despite this shortfall, the staff and manager’s regular communication with the child’s professional network means that they work in line with the local authority plans and agreed targets for the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that:

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Requirement Due date

 all leaders and managers follow the home’s child protection policies in managing allegations;  all staff know what action to take in relation to whistle-blowing procedures. 8 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — 8 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 7 is instigated; or

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff receive:

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Requirement Due date

 supervision in line with the statement of purpose;  training to meet the needs of each child. This includes core training for children’s homes and training such as self-harm, behaviour management and safe use of restraint;  support to attend regular team meetings to develop cohesive and consistent practice. 8 April 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. 8 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 8 Case records must be kept—

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring full records are kept of:

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Requirement Due date

 children’s day to day experiences in the home;  the progress children make and how progress is reviewed;  of all actions staff take to manage behaviour;  management oversight of staff actions and the day to day oversight of the home.

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Requirement Due date

This regulation applies to a child who is looked after by a local authority.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must co-operate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan. (Regulation 17 (1)) 8 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the physical environment is a homely, domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations such as food hygiene and ensuring that the home environment is maintained to a good standard. However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should undertake a review at least once every six months that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children as set out in Regulation 45. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 9 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64,

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Recommendations

paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused or not administered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2636494 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ashford Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 24 Showell Green Lane, Birmingham B11 4JP

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Inspectors

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2636494 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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