Children's Home run by McRae Residential Care Services Limited in Croydon

Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 1 SC025813 Registered provider: McRae Residential Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to eight children (boys) with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since 2007.

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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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 15 January 2020

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2020 Full Outstanding 07/03/2019 Full Good 21/11/2017 Full Good 27/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 3

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outstanding

The quality of the individualised care and support that carers provide to the children in the home is outstanding. The entire care team regularly reminds the children, ‘You have the capabilities to be anything you want to be.’ Carers reinforce this message to children by saying, ‘It is important that you believe in yourself as much as we do.’ These affirmations help children to make significant progress in all aspects of their lives.

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outstanding

The quality of the relationships between children and carers is exceptional. Children build genuine and trusting relationships with their carers and peers in the home. Carers promote a convivial family atmosphere in the home. Much as you expect in a family home, carers welcome children back at the end of their school day, with informal chats and catch-up conversations in the office. Children describe the home’s manager as a ‘second mum’. If children need comfort, she provides appropriate hugs. A child said, ‘I feel like I am part of a family and I do not want anything to change.’

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outstanding

Carers prioritise children’s access to education. They tirelessly advocate for the support that children may need to engage in formal learning opportunities. This ensures that every child has a suitable school place, or in-house tuition while a school place is secured. Carers support children to complete their homework and children achieve exam successes. Like any good parent, carers attend children’s school parents’ evenings and other key statutory meetings.

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outstanding

Carers ensure that children have a voice in the home. Children contribute to their care decisions. They contribute to their care reviews and they choose their home key worker. Children also have a say in who their carers will be by suggesting questions and providing feedback during staff recruitment interviews.

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outstanding

Children enjoy a range of healthy activities. Carers help the children to find local boxing and youth clubs to attend, alongside going swimming, trampolining and rock climbing. Children engage in the home’s social activities, such as cultural celebrations, meals out, cooking and karaoke parties with their carers. The large new outdoor garden gym complements these activity options. However, the large garden appears unkempt in parts.

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outstanding

Children are very well prepared for their futures. Carers provide age-appropriate independence skills training to the children. During ‘teen talk’ sessions and targeted key-work sessions, children learn about a range of subjects, from better decision- making, citizenship lessons, contraception and online banking skills to making their own health appointments, cooking, laundry and improving their personal care. Two independent accommodation suites on the top floor of the home are also available to children when they are ready to further improve their independence skills. Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 4

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outstanding

Any risks associated with the children living in the home are well known and understood by staff. Children’s risk assessments are comprehensive. Carers review and update risk assessments, which ensures that the assessments reflect any emerging risks and remain dynamic. Highly effective risk management strategies are put in place to manage and minimise risks to children. Consequently, children’s risks reduce.

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outstanding

Children who go missing experience an excellent well-coordinated response. Carers make creative use of technology to keep in touch with children if they are absent from the home without authority. For example, children are encouraged to use a ‘safe emoji’ and to maintain contact with staff. Return home interviews help identify the children’s ‘pull factors’ in the wider community.

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outstanding

Children attend the home’s ‘hard talk’ sessions. Children are helped to understand police ‘stop and search’ powers, alongside risks in the community such as gang affiliation, exploitation and knife crime. The forward-thinking carers invited the police youth engagement team to the home. This helped children to understand the role of the police in the community and the support and advice that they can provide to help to keep children safe.

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outstanding

Targeted behaviour rewards encourage children’s positive behaviour. The children’s personalised rewards are effective and result in challenging behaviours reducing. There have been no incidents requiring the use of physical restraint in the last 12 months.

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outstanding

Children benefit from integrated care plans. These include input from the home’s in- house therapist, who provides children with weekly, tailored emotional well-being support. As a result, children’s self-esteem improves and they develop the confidence to explore their childhood experiences. A child said, ‘They are helping me to be a better person.’

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outstanding

When children struggle to engage in their tailored package of care and support, the versatile care team always considers alternative solutions. An independent reviewing officer praises the carers, saying, ‘They are always willing to look at different and flexible approaches to engage the children.’

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outstanding

Children living in the home say that they feel safe. In describing his progress, one child said, ‘When I first came here, I was on the wrong the path. They gave me a talk, I stayed in education, they kept motivating me and it changed my mentality.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have unquestionably strong working relationships with partner agencies. This includes placing authorities, police, educators, mentors and Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 5 parents. Every professional contacted by the inspector described the lines of communication with the home as excellent. This means that children receive timely professional input and support when it is needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers inspire the care team to ‘aim high’ for the children in their care. This is successful. Furthermore, this ambition is duplicated for the care team career path. Managers support carers to develop their professional skills and qualifications. Many carers take up this opportunity. However, the home’s training matrix is not up to date. As a result, it is unclear what training staff have undertaken in recent months. The inspector also found an error in a child’s medication administration records. However, this error did not impact on the child’s health.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers continue to develop the service. They are undertaking a review of the home’s highly successful model of care moving towards a more theoretical research-based approach. The registered manager is a qualified practice educator and welcomes student social workers into the home on placement. This enhances the diversity of the care team and encourages a shared learning environment. Carers report that they feel like they are part of a family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers advocate for children in their care. They meticulously research ‘staying put’ options for children so that they can finish their education and remain living in the home. The suitability of new placement referrals is considered by the carers. This means that they have an input into placement decisions. Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 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 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 provider must ensure that all staff training is consistently recorded. 17 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in order for the children’s home to be a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children, they should maintain the back garden area so that it is a more user-friendly space. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should keep records of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused. (‘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: SC025813 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: McRae Residential Care Services Limited

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC025813 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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