Children's Home run by Supercare Holdings Limited in Croydon

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 1 Registered provider: Camino Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 30 December 2021. The post for a registered manager has been vacant since 24 January 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The Inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious concerns in relation to the care and protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Staff are unable to manage children’s behaviours so that they do not harm each other.  Staff are unable to help children to stop or at least reduce incidents of going missing from home and placing themselves at risk outside the home.  The home has been without a registered manager for over 13 months.

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Findings from the inspection

Following this inspection, Ofsted issued a notice restricting accommodation and one compliance notice in relation to regulation 12 (the protection of children standard).

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The care of children

Staff have failed to provide an environment that promotes children’s safety and welfare. One child spoken to said that he does not always feel safe at the home. Another child had to stay away from the home on the day of this inspection, for his own safety. Some parents gave examples of their children’s behaviours becoming less safe since coming to live at this home, such as starting to misuse drugs.

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The care of children

Children do not experience stability in their lives. Notice was given on one child’s placement 10 days after coming to live at this home. This happened because staff were not able to meet this child’s needs alongside the needs of other children.

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The care of children

The care that children receive is not effective in helping them to make progress. At the time of this inspection, two children were excluded from education.

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The care of children

Children do not receive well-planned care and support. Their care plans and risk assessments are not updated following significant incidents.

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The safety of children

Staff are not able to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Staff lack vigilance and understanding of the risks to children. Despite the high staffing levels, an incident of child-on-child physical and emotional abuse took place in one of the bedrooms at the home. The investigation is in progress but there is a video record of what took place, which was posted on social media.

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The safety of children

Staff are not able to help children to develop safer behaviours. Children who live at the home influence each other in negative ways. Children often go missing from home together. Although staff follow appropriate protocols, they are unable to prevent such incidents from reoccurring. As a result, missing-from-home incidents for children remain high, which significantly compromises their safety, welfare and progress. Staff give consequences to children when they return home after a period Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 3 of being missing from home. This practice fails to encourage them to want to return home.

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The safety of children

Staff are not able to manage children’s behaviours effectively. There was an incident when a child was inappropriately restrained at the home. Allegations of other inappropriate physical interventions being used were also made. Staff do not have the right skills to manage children’s behaviour in a safe and proportionate way.

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The safety of children

Leaders and managers take appropriate action following incidents. However, they have failed to demonstrate that they have created a proactive safeguarding culture. Staff do not have the skills to prevent serious incidents from happening.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The home lacks strong, consistent leadership and management. The negative impact of this shows in the serious incidents that have occurred. A manager has been appointed. At the time of the inspection, recruitment checks were being carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The incidents question if decisions are always made in the best interests of children. The decision to admit another child to the home, at a time when staff were struggling to keep the two current children safe, brings into question the management decision-making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Although staff receive training, they lack the skills needed to keep children in their care safe and to meet children’s other needs. There is no learning from incidents, and staff practices are not reflective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not monitor the quality of care provided. No reviews of the quality of care have been carried out since the home opened. Poor monitoring undermines development of staff practices and the care provided to children. Not receiving these reports every six months compromises Ofsted’s oversight of the home. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take effective action to ensure that children do not harm, intimidate or influence each other in negative ways and that the frequency in which they go missing from home reduces. 11 April 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 6 The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b)) 11 April 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must review and improve the admission procedures and achieve better stability of placements. 11 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2)) 4 April 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 7 In particular, the registered person must review staff’s behaviour management practices in relation to the use of physical interventions and consequences for missing from home and ensure that staff follow best practice.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 4 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

*This requirement is subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Camino Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 to 4 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire SL9 7QE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Coleman

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Inspector

Seka Graovac, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2628367 9 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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