Children's Home run by Creating Care Choices Limited in Lewisham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 1 Registered provider: Creating Care Choices Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to six children aged between five and 17 with learning disabilities and other complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 22 October 2021. This is the home’s first inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. One social worker told the inspector that the progress one child has made in their behaviour and independence since moving into the home ‘did not seem possible a few months ago’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can express their views about their day-to-day care through key-work sessions and in weekly meetings. For example, children express their preferences about activities, meal choices and the decoration of their bedrooms. Children with communication needs are helped to express their wishes and feelings through symbols and pictures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from key professionals and a family member is positive. They praise staff for their child-centred relationships and the stability and care they provide to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand that it is important for children to maintain relationships with the people who are special to them. Good organisation and communication with the children’s families ensure that visits are well planned and enjoyed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to live healthy lifestyles. Staff ensure that children attend health appointments and take their medication as prescribed. Children are also supported by staff to have a healthy diet and participate in physical activities, such as trampolining and playing football. This physical activity has helped one child to lose weight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children are in education and staff support them to learn more about their culture and identity. For example, they recently celebrated Black History Month.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, comfortable and decorated to a good standard. There are photos of the children displayed throughout the house. This adds to the homely atmosphere of the home.

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

The registered manager and staff work hard to ensure that children are protected from harm. Children receive one-to-one support, which significantly minimises the risk of harm.

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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 needs and vulnerabilities. Children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans are reviewed regularly. They include all known risks and set out specific actions of how staff should respond to and manage these risks. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 3 Children benefit from the attention and boundaries that are provided by staff. Incidents when children present with that is difficult to manage are rare. Incident records are detailed and provide a clear description of what happened and the action taken by staff to manage the situation. However, the records lack sufficient management oversight.

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

Staff are trained to restrain children safely when required. However, the use of physical intervention has not been required since the home was registered. Furthermore, there have been no allegations made against staff since the home was registered.

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

Staff have undertaken safeguarding training and demonstrate good knowledge of the policies and procedures to follow. They understand the importance of reporting and following up concerns. For example, when scratch marks were noticed on one child, this was appropriately reported to the manager and a GP appointment was arranged by staff.

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

The home environment is generally safe for the children but action is required to improve fire safety. The lint trap in the home’s tumble dryer was full, which poses a risk of fire. The manager assured the inspector that this will be addressed without delay.

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good

The manager has been in post since May 2022 and registered with Ofsted in September 2022. Although there have been changes to the staff team, the manager works hard to provide consistency for the children. The use of agency staff is sporadic.

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good

Staff report that they feel well supported by the manager, who is available and approachable. Staff benefit from induction, regular supervision and appraisals. However, records of staff supervision lack a focus on children’s experiences, needs and progress. This compromises the management oversight of staff practice and development needs.

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good

Leaders and managers do not use monitoring and review systems effectively to make improvements to the quality of care provided to children. For example, the training matrix is not up to date and room searches are not recorded appropriately. The language used in some of the children’s records is disrespectful and child- blaming. This compromises the continuous improvement of the home.

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good

The quality of the children’s records needs improvement. For example, not all relevant plans have been obtained from the placing authorities; this includes a care plan for one child and education, health and care plans. This compromises staff’s understanding of the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 4 Leaders and managers have failed to complete a quality of care review since the home’s registration with Ofsted, which is a breach of regulations. This means that the manager and staff have not had an opportunity to formally reflect on the quality of care experienced by the child.

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good

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure the appointment of an independent person from the moment the home was registered. Consequently, there was no independent quality assurance of the home until June 2022. This was a missed opportunity for independent scrutiny and challenge.

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good

The home’s updated statement of purpose has not been shared with Ofsted. The manager was unable to demonstrate that the home is at all times conducted in a manner that is consistent with the statement of purpose. For example, the statement of purpose states: ‘The home uses an assessment tool every three months to measure the progress for each young person drawing on events, academic progress, feedback from families and professionals and consultation with therapists.’ However, this assessment tool is not used at the home. 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

The recruitment processes need to improve to ensure that all relevant checks are undertaken. For example, two candidates did not provide precise dates of their employment history and the provider did not explore this. Consequently, leaders and managers are unclear about any gaps in their employment history. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 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

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

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; and

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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)(a)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to the registered person ensuring that the monitoring and review processes improve the quality of care provided. 25 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 6 The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 25 November

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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

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 25 November

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

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b) (7)(a)) 25 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 11 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 7 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice as set out in regulations 31–33. In particular, this relates to ensuring that details provided by candidates allow for any gaps in employment to be explored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, this relates to staff ensuring that all fire safety precautions are taken, including Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 8 ensuring that the lint trap in the tumble dryer is emptied as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2642537 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Creating Care Choices Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Castle Drive, Ilford, Essex IG4 5AE

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Inspector

Aneta Wasilewska, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2642537 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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