Children's Home run by Educare Support Limited in Enfield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 1 Registered provider: Educare Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is a privately owned children’s home. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for up to three children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2020 and the manager registered in July 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 3

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improvement to be good

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection. Both children spoke to the inspector. One child told the inspector that everything was good, and the other child had mixed views about their home.

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improvement to be good

Children are offered regular, individualised direct work sessions. Some children choose not to engage in these sessions and have high levels of being missing from care, which impact on their engagement and progress.

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improvement to be good

Most children generally make good progress from their starting points. One social worker said, ‘I do think that they built rapport with [the child] and gave [them] a safety net to discuss family and relationships, so much so that [they] would write songs and sing them to staff.’

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improvement to be good

Children are treated with respect and dignity. They have good opportunities to share their wishes and feelings about the home and how it is run. Managers are currently reviewing staff’s current practice of keeping the kitchen and lounge locked during the late evening. Children accessing the kitchen and lounge during the late evening had posed risks previously. However, this appears to no longer be an issue and so reviewing this practice is warranted.

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improvement to be good

One child said she didn’t like being referred to as ‘showing attention-seeking’ behaviour, and would like staff to not have their laptops with them all the time as this would help create a more homely environment. Managers and staff have put plans in place to address the use of language and to reduce staff’s use of laptops when engaging with children.

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improvement to be good

Children generally live healthy lifestyles. Children are supported to take their medication and attend health appointments. Staff ensure that children have access to specialist advice and support. This has helped to improve some children’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to learn more about their culture and identity. For example, one child was supported to explore and celebrate Jamaica Day. The child’s grandmother said, ‘It was great that they celebrated the day with [the child], I didn’t even celebrate it.’ This helped the child take pride in and share her cultural heritage.

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improvement to be good

Children are provided with opportunities to have fun and develop hobbies and skills, but don’t always take up these opportunities. The inspector observed one child proficiently and happily play the keyboard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 4

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improvement to be good

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities. However, children’s risk assessments do not include all known risks and do not always set out specific actions of how staff should respond to and manage these risks. This does not help to keep children and staff safe.

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improvement to be good

Protective action was taken in response to a child threating staff with a knife. However, risk and behaviour management plans were not updated with all actions staff should take to ensure that the child did not have a knife stored in their bedroom or in their possession when they entered the home. Consequently, staff were not consistent in their approach in managing this risk, which has the potential to impact on the safety of others.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers work very well with safeguarding partners. However, they failed to escalate an inadequate response from a placing authority to senior leaders. This impacted on one child and staff members feeling unsafe in the home, and had the potential to impact on the safety and well-being of other children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Risks to children, such as going missing from home and self-harming, are managed well. Children who go missing from the home experience a well-coordinated response and there is a clear plan of action in place to safeguard them. Staff keep in touch with children when they are missing from home and make efforts to locate them to ensure their prompt return home.

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improvement to be good

Managers failed to secure an office window on the third floor of the building after one of the children climbed a fire escape staircase to gain entry into the home. Furthermore, some windows do not have window restrictors. This poses a risk to the safety of other children and staff in the home.

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improvement to be good

Bedroom searches take place when required. However, the recordings of these searches are poor. They do not make it clear which member/s of staff have conducted the search, whether children were present or consented to the room search, and they are not signed by staff or children. This does not demonstrate that searches of children’s bedrooms are conducted appropriately.

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improvement to be good

There was a serious incident involving a child unknown to staff being found on the property the day before the inspection. This poses a significant risk to children and is currently under investigation.

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good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The home has a permanent full staff team. This helps to provide consistency in the care provided to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 5 Staff benefit from having a good induction and regular supervision with the manager and deputy manager. However, records are not consistently completed for all supervision sessions and some supervision records are not sufficiently detailed. This compromises leaders’ and managers’ oversight of staff practice and development.

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good

Some staff say that they feel well supported by the deputy manager. Staff say that they have a forum for their views to be heard, but these are not always acted on. For example, most staff spoken to say that they find the long shift patterns difficult and would like more support following serious incidents. Leaders and managers have started taking action to address these concerns.

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good

Staff and managers undertake detailed shift handovers. However, handover records are poor and are inconsistently completed. Consequently, this has resulted in inconsistent care and practice.

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good

Leaders and managers work very well with other agencies and carers to support the day-to-day care of children. However, leaders and managers did not consult with safeguarding partners when updating the home’s location risk assessment. This does not equip leaders, managers and staff to respond effectively to risks relating to the location of the children’s home.

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good

Reports completed by the independent person do not consistently provide a view about the safety and well-being of children in the home and do not include feedback from parents. This does not meet regulations and limits the opportunities for independent scrutiny and challenge.

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good

Managers and staff conduct health and safety checks of the home and ensure that sharp objects are safely secured. However, they do not keep good audit records of these checks. Some of the kitchen cupboards require repair and cleaning. This does not create a homely environment. Managers have plans in place to redecorate the home.

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good

Leaders and managers have not updated the statement of purpose following a variation of their conditions, and have not provided an updated version of this to the regulator and placing authorities. This is a breach of regulations. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 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 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—

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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.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 7 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished, and maintained to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring:

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Requirement Due date

that the third-floor window is secured to prevent children entering the home through the window;

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Requirement Due date

that window restrictors are repaired for known risks to children; and

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Requirement Due date

that the kitchen cabinets are repaired and cleaned. 1 September 2022

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans should be up to date and demonstrate that staff identify, review and explore the impact of all known risks to children.

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Requirement Due date

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans should provide staff with clear strategies to manage all known risks, including risks relating to children entering the home through 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 8 the office window, and include the actions staff should take when children are found to be storing and/carrying knives.

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Requirement Due date

Staff should undertake the required training to manage the day-to-day risks that children may pose, including dedicated training about how staff should respond to children being in possession of knives.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 1 September 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)) 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 9 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.

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Requirement Due date

if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child’s death;

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Requirement Due date

in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child’s date of birth;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Keeping full and detailed records of room searches in line with the home’s room search policy.

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Requirement Due date

Consistently record all audit checks of sharp items in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Keep full and detailed records of staff meetings and shift handovers which the home considers important to the day- to-day functioning of the home. 1 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plan. (Regulation 5 (c)) 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 10

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that notes of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions are kept and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. Specifically, this relates to ensuring that good records of the content of supervision are maintained for the purposes of staff development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: 2569345 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 453 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex IG2 6EW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher O’Nions

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2569345 12 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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