Children's home run by Action for Children Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 1 Registered provider: Action for Children Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a charity. It provides care for up to four children aged up to 18 years with a sensory impairment and/or a learning disability and/or a physical disability. Three children continue to live in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 5 September 2019.

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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: 27 October 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/10/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from being cared for by staff who know them very well. Staff have successfully built strong and nurturing relationships with the children. Consequently, children are happy and relaxed in staff’s company. Staff are ambitious for the children in their care and strive to help each child to develop the skills they will need in the future to live as independently as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have an in-depth understanding of each child’s needs and how these are to be met. This knowledge is supported by the children’s plans, which are current and helpful. Children are making good progress at meeting their individual goals. However, the record kept of these goals does not consistently reflect this progress. Children’s communication skills continue to develop. One child is reluctant to use his picture exchange system, but staff are persevering with this and encouraging him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s day-to-day records provide a good reflection of their life at the home and confirm that children take part in a good range of activities. Staff use social stories effectively with children to prepare them to take part in new activities and trips. Children are supported to join local groups and clubs. One child attends a dance class, and recently performed in front of an audience of 200 people. During this inspection, children were seen to be happy and content in the home and with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. Work is being done with the children on puberty. The staff have adapted resources and materials relating to puberty effectively to suit each child. They also use social stories to help the children to understand what is happening to their bodies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a comfortable and well-furnished home. Currently, children are choosing new décor for their bedrooms so that these are more age- appropriate. One room has been completed. Children’s photographs and art and craft work are on display around the home. Leaders and managers have removed several health and safety signs, which has enhanced the homely environment.

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

Children are safe at the home. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and their duty of care to protect vulnerable children. Safeguarding concerns are appropriately reported, with swift action taken to safeguard the children.

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

Behaviour is managed well because staff have a good understanding of the children and how they communicate. Staff use social stories effectively to prepare children for events that may make them anxious. A good example of this was the work undertaken with one child on the death of their grandparent and attending the funeral. There are clear, positive behaviour support plans in place, which provide staff with good guidance on how to meet each child’s behavioural needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 4 Restraint is rarely used and has only been used to keep children safe. The quality of restraint records has improved, but further improvement is needed because staff are not consistently recording the duration of each hold. Staff continue to improve the quality of meaningful conversations with children after restraint is used. They are currently developing a bespoke system for one child. There have been no restraints

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

The recruitment of staff and the use of agency staff follows safer recruitment practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is appropriately experienced and qualified for their role. Very positive feedback was received from the staff about the registered manager and the new team leader regarding the support that they provide and how much they care about the staff team. One member of staff said she had never worked for a manager with so much commitment to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the strengths and areas for development in the home. They have improvement plans in place, that have been developed with staff, to aid in the ongoing development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing levels have significantly improved. Leaders and managers have effectively recruited staff. This has led to a reduction in the use of agency staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from receiving good-quality training and supervision. Staff feel well supported in their roles. Records of staff supervision are very detailed, reflecting the discussions held. When required, appropriate action is taken to address poor staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from parents is very positive about the staff and the home. They praise the staff for the care that their children receive and the progress they have made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since March 2022, six of the visits by the independent visitor have been announced. More consideration is needed about the benefits of visiting the home unannounced. In addition, some reports have limited information on the independent visitor’s interaction with the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(b)(i)(ii) (5)) 31 January 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review the independent person visits in relation to visits being announced/unannounced In addition, they should ensure that the reports of these visits have consistent detail on the independent person’s time spent with the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 6

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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: 2537149 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Action for Children, 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, WATFORD WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 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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