Children's home run by The Drive Care Homes Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 1 Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Ltd 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 three children. The home cares for children with learning disabilities and other associated complex needs, including some physical difficulties. The home provides planned and emergency short- and long-term placements.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in August 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at 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 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 for children’s home: 1257101 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Good 04/12/2019 Full Good 08/01/2019 Full Good 06/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. Children are in education, and staff support them to improve their independent living skills. They receive individualised care that meets their needs. However, the work completed by staff with children to support them is not fully demonstrated in children’s records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children’s transition to adulthood needs to improve. One young person turned 18 years old on the day of this inspection. The plan for the young person is for them to remain living at the home. However, the young person’s care plan does not include details of this or demonstrate why this is in the child’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop strong and trusting relationships with staff. All three children are non-verbal and reliant on staff understanding their needs. Staff are attentive and skilled in interpreting what children are conveying.

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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 and the home. For example, children express their preferences about activities, meal choices and the decoration of their bedrooms. Children are helped to express their wishes and feelings through communication methods specific to their needs, such as symbols and pictures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met well by staff. Staff support children to attend medical appointments and ensure that they have access to specialist advice, including child and adolescent mental health services or hospital specialists. Staff also ensure that children take their medication as prescribed. Staff manage children’s medication safely.

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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. Parents and other family members are warmly welcomed into the home, and staff support and arrange for children to spend quality time with their family when it is safe for them to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite their complex needs, the children are encouraged to participate in activities in the home and the community. During school holidays, children have enjoyed trips to Southend-on-Sea and a theme park. Staff capture these moments by taking photos that are kept to contribute to the children’s life story.

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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 receive one-to-one support, which significantly minimises the risk of harm. Children’s risk assessments are reviewed regularly. They include all known risks and set out specific actions regarding how staff should respond to and manage these risks. Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 4 Staff try to understand the triggers for challenging behaviour and effectively de- escalate situations as they arise. Children benefit from the consistent boundaries that the manager and staff provide. Subsequently, incidents of unwanted behaviour are infrequent. Incident records are detailed and provide a clear description of what happened and the action taken by staff to manage the incident. Staff are trained to restrain children safely when required.

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

Staff have received safeguarding training and demonstrate a good understanding of the safeguarding policies and procedures. Although no allegations have been made since the home was registered, staff know what to do if allegations are made. This means that staff are able to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns. However, some staff members do not demonstrate a good understanding of the home’s whistle-blowing policy.

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

Safer recruitment and employment practices are followed and ensure that only suitable staff are employed. For staff who have recently arrived in the United Kingdom, reference checks are robust. However, more could be done to assure the provider of staff’s suitability when overseas police checks cannot be obtained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced, qualified and skilled registered manager. The leaders, managers and staff demonstrate a genuine commitment to the children in their care and strive to make a positive difference to their lives. The number of staff working at the home is sufficient to meet children’s needs, and agency staff are not used. This provides a consistent level of care and a family-style home environment for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records show evidence of management oversight. Furthermore, leaders and managers use learning from practice and feedback to improve the experiences and care of children. For example, the manager has strengthened the daily recording process to enable staff to report better on the work they carry out with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work well with children’s families and other agencies to support the day-to-day care of children. However, children do not have up-to-date local authority care plans. This compromises staff’s understanding of the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they feel well supported by leaders and managers, who are available and approachable. Staff receive training that is relevant to the needs of the children in their care. They benefit from induction, regular supervision and appraisals. However, records of appraisals provide a one-dimensional view of staff’s practice with very few targets set. This potentially limits the impact of appraisals on improving staff’s practice and development. Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 5 Leaders and managers consider carefully new referrals to prevent them accepting children whose needs cannot be met in the home. However, records of placement and pre-admission risk assessments do not seem to reflect all of the information gathered. These documents fail to consider the impact a new child moving into the home will have on the children already living there. Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 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 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, audits should lead to consistent improvement in the quality and consistency of documents, such as key-work sessions. 12 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; 27 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 7 manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that impact risk assessments consider all known risks as well as the impact a new child moving into the home will have on the children already living in the home. Additionally, transition plans should be in place for all children reaching adulthood, and children should have up-to-date local authority care plans.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to respond appropriately when an allegation is made about a senior 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)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice, as set out in regulations 31 to 33. In particular, this relates to the consideration of what additional safety measures could be taken for staff who have recently arrived from outside of the United Kingdom. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the appraisal enables an in-depth review of staff’s performance, including the views of the supervisor, supervisee

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Recommendations

and, when appropriate, others. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 1257101 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cyrinus House, 18 Hatherley Road, Sidcup DA14 4BG

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Inspector

Aneta Wasilewska, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1257101 9 inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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