Children's home run by Area Camden Limited in Haringey

Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 1 ` SC473639 Registered provider: Area Camden Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately own children’s home provides care for up to 10 children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children with social and emotional difficulties. The home is situated on two sites that are close to one another.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since February 2022.

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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: 13 October 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/10/2021 Full Good 22/10/2019 Full Good 06/03/2019 Full Good 26/06/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home make good progress. The home’s behaviour support approach enhances children’s progress. Children re-engage with their professional support and they attend their health appointments. Children successfully reintegrate back into school and complete their exams. Episodes of going missing from home reduce. Children’s self-esteem and confidence improve. Children successfully move on to independence or return to their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move on from the home complete a consultation form. This adds to leaders and managers’ understanding of children’s experiences in the home and helps them to further improve the service. Children say: ‘It’s a good home to live in. Staff are the best thing, they care about me,’ and, ‘I want to thank staff for having my back.’ Children spoken with said that they like living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children help prepare their weekly planners. These include holiday activities, such as trips to theme parks, staycation breaks and swimming. Weekly takeaways, café visits, independent cooking sessions and celebration meals also feature every week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children complete a detailed independence programme before they move on. They are helped to create their own curriculum vitae, learn interview skills and manage their money.

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

Staff help children to keep safe. Staff ensure that children are offered regular one- to-one discussions. These discussions help children to understand their risks, vulnerabilities and ways to keep themselves safe. This includes an orientation of the local community and targeted discussions about exploitation or substance misuse. The police said: ‘Every effort is made by the home, and staff are always striving to safeguard [X] in the home and the community.’

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

Children’s risk assessments are detailed. The staff team has a good overview of children’s decreasing or developing risks. This helps keep staff practice dynamic and specific to each child. However, the inspector found that not all care documents have been read and signed in a timely manner by all staff. This limits the extent to which some staff’s knowledge is up to date.

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

Children moving into the home read the children’s guide and participate in a thorough induction with staff. Children understand the expectations when living in the home, including attending school, house rules, boundaries and allowances.

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

Children contribute to the decisions made about their care. They help interview new staff, and they read and sign their care plans. Staff encourage children to decide Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 4 their own appropriate restorative consequences for unwanted behaviours, alongside rewards for celebrating their achievements.

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

Children know how to complain. Leaders and managers take complaints seriously. Investigations always take place and children receive full written responses so that they understand the outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by an experienced and passionate manager who knows the individual needs of the children well. Leaders and managers’ proactive communication with all relevant agencies and professionals ensures that children receive the support that they need in a timely way. This is a strength of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The newly registered manager sets high standards for the staff team. Staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals and they say that they feel supported by the registered manager and the responsible individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has introduced a comprehensive staff induction and training programme. Staff have a good knowledge of the home’s policies and procedures and they receive a wide range of training to meet the needs of the children living in the home. All of the staff team are suitably qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers conduct detailed evaluations of the potential impact of new placement referrals on children already settled in the home. However, if the stability of placements is at risk, leaders and managers are quick to challenge placing authorities and develop well-organised moving-on plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have plans to further develop the service. This includes a redesign of the layout of the home to increase the communal spaces for children. They are also considering the prospect of an independence training flat for children on the top floor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the internal and external home environment is well maintained. The quality of the furnishings and decor is to a high standard. The internal environment is homely, welcoming, and personalised with pictures of the children. However, the recently deactivated closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in the home remain installed. This detracts from the homely environment. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 5

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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 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. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff follow the home’s procedures that are set out to ‘read and sign’ children’s documentation. 30 September

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home offers a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. A homely, domestic environment should be provided. In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that the disabled internal CCTV cameras are removed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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: SC473639 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Area Camden Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspectors

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Nicki Shaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC473639 7 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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