Children's home run by Ownlife Residential Limited in Kingston upon Thames

Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 1 SC483779 Registered provider: Ownlife Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to four children aged between 12 and 17 at the point of admission who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since April 2022. A new manager has been appointed and confirmed that she will be submitting an application to register 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/05/2021 Full Good 10/07/2019 Full Good 19/06/2018 Full Good 30/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff know the children well and talk confidently about the progress children have made. Staff form close and trusting relationships with children. When discussing staff with the inspectors, one child said, ‘They understand, that’s why we get on and since being here I have never had to complain to my social worker.’ One parent reported that she feels that her child is ‘doing great’. She said that compared to his previous place, he is much better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work proactively and positively with families and professionals to secure good outcomes for children. One parent said, ‘Communication is good, they always keep updating me.’ One social worker said, ‘I think it’s an amazing children’s home, child centred, homely and welcoming for the children and professionals.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children appreciate and benefit from the consistency and stability of the staff team, which promotes a family-style atmosphere. Some children who previously lived at the home maintain contact with staff, who offer them support and celebrate special occasions with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s feelings, views and wishes are sought through feedback forms. Children can also express their views about their day-to-day care through key-work sessions, and their views are reflected in monthly progress reports. However, there is no central log of the children’s suggestions. This is a missed opportunity for children to be more involved in the day-to-day running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work hard to overcome the barriers to education for children who have spent significant lengths of time out of school. Children’s educational achievements are praised. When children are not attending school, the manager and staff ensure that they are engaging in educational activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy various activities, including go-karting, bowling and trips out. Staff capture these moments through taking photos and record them in the children’s files and memory books. The memory books are for children to keep, which means that they have memorabilia of these special moments to keep as part of their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work hard to encourage and support children to attend health appointments. One child was accompanied and supported by their key worker at the hospital during an overnight stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are treated with respect and dignity. However, the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in communal areas is not proportionate or necessary. The surveillance was firstly installed for the purpose of safeguarding children but its use has not been reviewed in a long time. During this inspection, the inspectors were informed that the internal CCTV in communal areas will be disconnected. Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 4 Children benefit from living in a safe and comfortable home environment. They have access to a garden where there is a fruit and vegetable plot so children ‘can learn where their food is coming from’. The home is currently being redecorated to make it more homely and welcoming.

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

The manager and staff work hard to ensure that children are protected from harm. One social worker said: ‘There are ongoing contextual safeguarding concerns and staff are very proactive in updating our emergency duty team and the police whenever there are concerns for the child’s safety and are always readily available to attend professionals’ and strategy meetings.’ The manager and staff talk to children about the risks they face, for example from going missing from home.

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

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. The manager and staff respond promptly when children go missing. They maintain regular contact with children and work collaboratively with children’s families, professionals and agencies. However, this is not always effective in decreasing the number of missing- from-care episodes for children.

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

The manager and staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual needs and risks. However, risk assessments are not sufficiently detailed and do not include details of the strategies that staff should use to reduce the risks. This compromises staff’s ability to safeguard the children and does not help staff to provide a consistent approach to managing risks.

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

Children benefit from the consistency of care, attention and boundaries that are provided by managers and staff. Incidents of challenging behaviour are rare. Incident records are detailed and provide a clear description of what happened, the action taken by staff to manage the incident and the debrief with children.

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

Staff have undertaken safeguarding training and demonstrate a good understanding of the policies and procedures to follow if allegations are made against staff. However, they do not demonstrate a good knowledge of whistle-blowing procedures. This compromises staff’s ability to respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns within the organisation.

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

All staff are suitably trained to use safe restraint when required. However, the use of physical intervention has not been used to manage children’s behaviour since the last inspection. The home’s statement of purpose informs that the home has a ‘no- restraint policy’. However, the manager agreed that physical intervention would be used to prevent injury to a child or others. Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 5

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good

There have been recent changes in the management team. An interim manager was appointed in May 2022, who has still not submitted her application to register with Ofsted. This has prevented the home’s regulator from assessing the manager’s suitability to lead and manage this home.

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good

The manager has been working on new processes to improve the monitoring of the quality of care provided in the home. However, as these processes have not yet been embedded in day-to-day practice, their effectiveness cannot be measured.

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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, and feedback from external professionals on the leadership of the home is positive overall. One social worker said, ‘I am of the opinion that the manager goes above and beyond for [name of child].’

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good

Staff report that they feel well supported by leaders and managers, who are available and approachable. Staff receive regular and effective supervision which prioritises the children’s needs. All staff have received their annual appraisal.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated. It contains outdated and incorrect information. This is confusing for those wishing to understand the home’s way of working with children, particularly local authorities and other external professionals, as well as new staff coming to work at the home.

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good

There has been only one complaint made by a child since the last inspection. Details of the complaint were discussed with the child and recorded appropriately. However, the record does not include details of the outcome of the complaint.

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good

Reports completed by the independent visitor are not shared with the regulator in a timely manner. This was identified as a shortfall at previous inspections. Furthermore, the reports do not include any recommended actions to help the provider to improve the quality of care and practice. This is a missed opportunity for further independent scrutiny and challenge for the development of the service.

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good

Leaders and managers undertake regular monitoring exercises to explore various aspects of the running of the home. For example, there is clear evidence of the manager auditing the children’s files. However, the quality of some of the children’s records is not consistently good. For example, risk assessments do not provide specific guidance for staff about the strategies they should implement to reduce risk, and care plans do not include set timescales for actions. This does not promote consistent practice and drive improvement and consistency in practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 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 ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the independent visitor’s report must be sent to HMCI in a timely manner. 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that the manager’s audits lead to consistent improvement in the quality of recording documents, such as care plans, risk assessments and key- work sessions. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if— 30 October 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 7 the person is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and

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Requirement Due date

the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has—

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Requirement Due date

within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children;

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Requirement Due date

worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and

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Requirement Due date

the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must submit an application with Ofsted so her fitness to manage the home can be assessed. The registered person must—

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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)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— 31 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 8 the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children. (Regulation 24 (1)(a))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to respond appropriately when an allegation is made about a member of staff. In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff are familiar with the home’s whistle- blowing procedures. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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: SC483779 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Legion House, 75 Lower Road, Kenley CR8 5NH

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Inspector

Aneta Wasilewska, Social Care Inspector Sandra Jacobs.Walls, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC483779 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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