Children's Home run by Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 1 SC454294

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Registered provider: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a charitable organisation and is registered to provide care for up to eight children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home is a specialist residential therapeutic community that provides therapeutic care and treatment along with family support to psychologically traumatised children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since 1 December 2021. A new manager is in post and they have applied to Ofsted to be registered.

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/02/2020 Full Outstanding 09/01/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from positive relationships with staff. These relationships provide a safe and open environment for children to experience care from staff who are attentive and understand their needs. This allows children to feel valued, respected and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move to the home in a thoughtful and considered way. The managers review the needs of the children as part of the matching process and are well prepared for children’s arrival. Children visit the home before they move in and receive a teddy bear to welcome them and give them comfort when they first move in. Despite this, the initial assessment process does not fully consider staff skills or the location of the home. To date, this has not had a detrimental impact on the children who have come to live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress at school. The children attend the on-site school provision and their attendance is good. Staff value and promote the children’s education and learning, and work alongside the school. At times, this includes direct support for children. This results in effective partnership working to support children in their learning journey and to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their families. The staff ensure that any impact of family visits is considered and arrangements are made in the child’s best interests. Staff have advocated for one child to see their mum, despite her being in hospital. This has helped to reassure the child that their mum is ok.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s health needs. They work closely with all health professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are dealt with effectively and promptly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from being part of a close-knit, supportive community. Regular house meetings ensure that children have plenty of opportunities to express their feelings. Children are involved in the running of the home. One child said, ‘The meetings help us get on together and staff listen to us.’ These meetings are effective forums for group discussions that promote children’s views and wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to try new experiences. The children talked excitedly about a recent holiday. One child spoke about recently joining a stable and learning about horses, as well as making new friends. These experiences provide children with opportunities to broaden their social skills and increase their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value the importance of the environment. The home is nicely presented. Children spoke positively about being involved in refurbishing the lounge. One child said, ‘We have asked for lamps and a piano.’ Children are able to individualise their bedrooms according to their own likes and interests. Therefore, children’s views and opinions are respected and valued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 4 Moving on from the home is mainly considered and planned. When children do have to leave quickly, staff strive to provide a positive ending. All children receive a memory book of their experiences and significant events while living at the home. Children who have left are encouraged to remain in contact with the home. This results in children benefiting from relationships they have formed.

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

Children said that they feel safe and that they like the staff. Staff demonstrate good safeguarding practice by following clear procedures when incidents occur. Their consultation with other professional agencies is effective and positive for the children.

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

Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of safeguarding, and they spoke confidently about keeping children safe. This is underpinned by regular training, team meetings and risk-management reviews. Therefore, children are cared for by well-informed staff who understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities.

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

There are risk-management plans in place. However, the format of these does not provide clear and individualised information about children’s current risks. Nevertheless, staff do understand children’s risks and manage these effectively.

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

Staff manage challenging behaviours effectively. Behaviour support plans provide good guidance for staff. When interventions do occur, children are helped to understand their own behaviour through detailed debriefs. This provides children with opportunities for learning and for developing positive behaviour strategies. Consequently, children begin to develop resilience and manage difficult feelings.

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

Staff promote and reward positive behaviour and rarely use negative sanctions. Children are supported to rebuild and repair relationships through restorative approaches. This results in children understanding how their behaviour affects others.

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

Safe recruitment is understood and implemented by staff responsible for this area of practice. All necessary checks are in place to ensure that children are protected from unsuitable people working in the home.

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good

The manager is warm and nurturing towards the children. She has an in-depth understanding of the children’s needs. Staff and other professionals recognise the strength and passion the manager brings to the home. She has a vision for the home and understands the areas that require development. However, this is not evidenced through an up-to-date development plan. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 5 Senior leaders have not provided the necessary support for the manager. The manager has not received an induction since being appointed in December 2021. This failure means the manager has not been provided with the necessary guidance and advice to undertake the manager’s role and regulatory responsibilities.

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good

There are significant shortfalls in the manager’s monitoring of the home. This is hindered by the organisation’s use of generic templates that are cumbersome and do not provide opportunities to develop individual plans for children. The manager has some oversight of daily records and reports but does not clearly evidence how she uses this oversight to further improve practices or address any areas for development.

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good

Staff supervision and appraisals are not consistent. This does not give staff the opportunity to reflect on practice and benefit from continuous professional development. Although some staff training is in place, senior managers do not provide training to meet the individual needs of children. For example, a need for bereavement training to support one child has been identified, but this has not been provided to staff. Such omissions fail to develop the knowledge and skills required to give informed care to children. The staff said that they feel supported by the management team.

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good

The statement of purpose for the home is reviewed regularly. However, any revisions made are not always submitted to the regulator for review as required.

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good

Regular communication with the children’s social workers results in a shared approach to managing risks and targeted care-planning for the children. Social workers said that they are ‘happy with the care the children receive, and the communication is really good’. However, there have been occasions when the hosting local authority has not been informed of children moving into or out of the home. When there are incidents and concerns, this information is promptly shared with relevant professionals and Ofsted. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31 July 2022

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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;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and 31 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 7 have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify, without delay, the local authority for the area in which the children’s home is located of every admission of a child into the home and every discharge of a child from the home.

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Requirement Due date

A notification under this regulation must be in writing and must state—

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Requirement Due date

whether the child is provided with accommodation under section 20 or 21 of the Children Act 1989(a);

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Requirement Due date

whether the child is subject to a care or supervision order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989(b);

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Requirement Due date

the independent reviewing officer appointed for the child’s case; and

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Requirement Due date

whether the child has an EHC plan or a statement of special educational needs and, if so, details of the local authority with responsibility for the EHC plan or for maintaining the statement of special educational needs. (Regulation 41 (1) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 31 July 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 8 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: SC454294 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy, 210 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JX

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Inspector

Rebecca Fisher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC454294 10 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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