Children's home run by Kent County Council in Ashford

Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 1 SC439282 Registered provider: Kent County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This short-break service is run by the local authority. It offers a service for children with a physical and/or learning disability. The maximum number of children who can stay at the home at any one time is four. The service also provides a day-care service during some school holidays.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since July 2021 and is not registered with Ofsted.

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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: 2 December 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 children’s home: SC439282 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/12/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good 06/03/2019 Full Good 21/03/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from a skilled and passionate staff team. Children’s complex health issues are well understood, and children are consistently encouraged to make individual choices in their care. P ersonal care is thoughtfully delivered, allowing staff to focus on children’s dignity and self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents are positive about how staff and managers support the children. One parent described it as a lifeline, while another commented that children always go for stays feeling excited and come home happy. Professionals report good communication, especially from leaders, and confirm that they are quick to react to any concerns that are raised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s independence and life skills are well documented through monthly reviews; however, records do not consistently reflect the ongoing progress that children are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are creative in making sure that children’s views and thoughts are captured and that children are able to make a meaningful contribution to choices about their care. Children’s meetings have a variety of purposes. Significant events for children are celebrated, advice around specific areas such as advocacy is shared, and there are opportunities to contribute to changes in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions to and from the home are well planned. Detailed admission sheets are completed by staff and carers to ensure that any changes to care plans and key information are shared. Children use the home based on thorough dependency assessing. This ensures that the home is suitable and that any planned stays have suitable levels of staffing to safely care for all children.

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

Risks are identified, understood and well managed by staff. Children’s risk assessments are clear and checked and updated when required. Children benefit from a home where their safety is a primary concern, and they feel safe as a result.

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

When safeguarding concerns have been identified, detailed information has been shared with external safeguarding professionals, and any advice is actioned quickly and swiftly responded to.

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

Some children have complex medical conditions. Staff are aware of children’s plans. They receive regular training from a practice educator, and work closely with parents to fully understand children’s plans. Leaders and managers also make sure that there is good multi-agency work with relevant clinical professionals. Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 4 Recruitment practice provides a thorough vetting process of all staff. There is good decision-making, and appropriate safer recruitment checks are completed. There is some inconsistency in the home’s policy about identification checks, and this needs to be resolved.

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

Health and safety is managed effectively. There is a clear, easy-to-use monitoring system, so all staff know what to complete and when. Any actions identified are quickly responded to by managers.

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good

Despite the manager being in place since July 2021, he is not registered with Ofsted.

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good

Leaders have good working relationships with social workers and families, and both talk confidently about the impact that this has had on the care of children. Leaders have also ensured that there are good relationships with neighbours, and are quick to respond to any issues that are raised.

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good

There is good management oversight of care plans and incident reports. However, there has been a complaint that has not been responded to in a timely manner. This meant that there was a late referral to external safeguarding professionals. While this did not leave any children at risk of harm, the lack of communication and notification to Ofsted highlights ineffective action on behalf of leaders, and does not allow immediate learning for staff.

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good

Supervision for staff, on the whole, happens regularly and uses a good combination of personal and professional discussion to ensure that staff are given the opportunity to reflect on the impact of the work. However, one member of staff did not receive supervision at the same frequency, meaning that their opportunities to discuss the impact of the work were limited.

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good

Regular team meetings allow staff to review children’s stays, targets, health needs, changes of policy or any safeguarding concerns. Detailed records ensure that all staff are able to keep up to date with decisions and information. Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

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 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 30 September

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(g)(i)(ii)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 30 September Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 6 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 4 (e)) 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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 children’s home: SC439282 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kent County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC439282 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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