Children's home run by Seva Childcare Ltd Assurance visit report: 2548794 9

Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 1 Registered provider: Seva Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run home for up to five children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and/or learning difficulties. Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2020 and the manager registered in March 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 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: 10 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting relationships with adults, who provide consistent care and take the time to get know them. Staff and managers see beyond children’s presenting behaviours and are committed to helping children to make good progress, however small. The registered manager said, ‘I am over the moon about the progress children have made. This has exceeded my expectations.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have limited or non-verbal communication. Staff and managers use alternative communication methods such as widgits, pictures, social stories and gestures. This enables children to express their wishes and feelings through key- work sessions and children’s house meetings. Children views are listened to and acted on by managers and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have adapted the section of the children’s handbook regarding making complaints into a widgit format, so that this is more accessible to the children. However, the children’s guide is currently not accessible to all children, as it is not age and developmentally appropriate for all children. Therefore, staff often have to explain its contents to each child to make sure that they understand it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend the provider’s education provision, established independently to the home. Support staff, including the headteacher at the school, work well with the children and staff. Children generally make progress in terms of their command of speech and understanding of language, however, this progress is variable as specific behavioural patterns and developmental levels have proved to be a challenge to the advancement of the set curriculum.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff ensure that children participate in a wide range of activities in the home and community. This includes playing board games, enjoying a chill out/sensory space, opportunities to bake or cook, visiting the cinema and the local farm, going bowling and taking walks out to the local park. The home has a large garden area, with swings and a trampoline. Staff and managers undertake a significant amount of planning and complete risk assessments to ensure that children’s experiences are positive and any potential trigger areas for children are known and understood. When possible, children’s day-to-day activities, trips and meetings with family members are captured in photos, giving children with limited reading and verbal skills the opportunity to see themselves doing things with those who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff follow children’s healthcare plans in collaboration with health colleagues to ensure that children maintain good health. Children make significant progress in their health and well-being. The administering of regular medication forms an important part of children’s healthcare plans and there are effective procedures in place for the management of medicines. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 4 Managers and staff have positive working relationships with several professional services linked to children, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. Managers and staff are knowledgeable in relation to the specialist services that children may need to meet their needs and they advocate on children’s behalf to secure additional provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff work proactively with parents and other family members to support children to maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them. Staff take children to see their parents and other family members, who also visit children at the home. A parent said that they were ‘happy’ and ‘grateful’ that their child was living in the home.

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

Due to children’s significant care needs and their limited ability to communicate their needs effectively, children are particularly vulnerable to harm from others and to self-harm. Managers and staff work to individualised care plans and risk assessments to ensure that children are supervised appropriately.

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

Managers and staff are ambitious for the children to have the same experiences as all children and to develop resilience to cope with potentially stressful situations as part of their development. One social worker regularly meets a child in the local cafe, where the child can choose a cake and pay for it. This was not attempted by the child’s previous caregivers. The social worker commented that the home, ‘manages the balance between keeping [name of child] safe and giving her the opportunity to take age-appropriate risks’.

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

Managers and staff learn from their continuous observations and recording about children to help to promote children’s positive behaviour. For one child, ‘demand avoidant communication’ technique is used, which involves the modelling of behaviours staff and managers wish from the child, but with minimal verbal requests. This technique has been successful in reducing the incidents of negative behaviour for this child and staff are now able to use basic commands and requests.

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

Managers and staff develop detailed positive behaviour support plans to ensure that children are kept safe and do not injure themselves or others. Restraint is a feature of this home and managers monitor closely the incidents of restraint and the impact of alternative methods to managing behaviour, such as the teaching of deep breathing exercises. There has been a decrease in episodes of restraint over time, which demonstrates that behaviour support plans are effective.

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

Leaders and managers work hard with staff to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. Managers use team meetings, one-to-one supervisions and case studies based on other home inspections to review staff’s understanding of safeguarding procedures. Leaders and managers have planned bespoke training later in the year to address practice situations in the home and to equip staff with further knowledge and skills needed to safeguard children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 5 Leaders and managers take immediate action when they become aware of allegations or suspicion of harm. In one example, they acknowledged reporting procedures had not been followed and ensured that a full investigation was undertaken, with a lessons learned review completed to identify shortfalls and areas for development. Leaders and managers are aware that reporting needs to remain

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

an ongoing agenda item for staff working in the home.

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

The physical environment is spacious and bright, giving children the opportunity to move freely within the home. Leaders and managers want children to experience the place they live in as their home, and so no restrictions are placed on where they can go in the home. However, due to the different needs of the children currently living at the home, one child has a dedicated TV/chill-out area on the floor they live on. All risk assessments related to the physical environment are up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is supported in the role by an equally competent deputy manager. Leaders and managers have worked hard to recruit a permanent team of staff who are committed to ensuring that children receive high-quality continuity of care. Leaders and managers are focused on improvements in standards of care, which benefit children who have highly individualised needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is strong motivation to learn from day-to-day practice and to review the quality of care provided to children. Leaders and managers have effective monitoring systems in place to inform the care provided to children. They understand that to meet the complex needs of children with autism, consultation with others who know the children well is essential. This enhances the experiences of children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have a range of professionals involved in their care, such as psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists, as well as local authority services. Leaders and managers are effective in bringing together the knowledge and information provided by these individuals and agencies to develop and implement specific care plans to meet the needs of children. Leaders and managers keep these plans under regular review to ensure that children are supported to achieve the best outcomes possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff receive regular supervision, which includes clinical sessions to address the impact of caring for children who display challenging behaviours and have complex needs. The registered manager has recently initiated group supervision and intends to make this standard practice. Staff report that they find supervision and team meetings helpful spaces to discuss children but also to address their own developmental needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the importance of training in giving staff the right knowledge and skills to respond effectively to children’s needs. However, one professional, who has worked closely with staff and one of the children in the home, Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 6 suggests that leaders and managers consider very specific training for staff, ‘to build on the good foundation and demonstrably become more expert’, in working with the types of children living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 7

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document; (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the children’s guide being available to all children and being age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review the workforce development plan to ensure that the training and support offered to staff enable them to carry out their roles and responsibilities in a specialist care environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff working in the home understand their responsibilities with respect to recording safeguarding matters and that this remains a standing item in team meetings and other forums. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 8

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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: 2548794 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seva Childcare Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Colin Bent, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 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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