Children's home run by D & J Care Services-Residential Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 1 Registered provider: D & J Care Services-Residential Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to three children. The home is registered to care for children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

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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: 2557141 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s ability to build positive relationships with children is the strength of the home. Staff show care, empathy and warmth towards children. This helps children to settle into their home and make good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children engage in education. Staff are ambitious for children and actively encourage their independence, such as supporting toileting, attending to their personal care, cooking and improving their language skills. Consequently, children’s independence skills improve.

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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. Staff ensure that children take their medication as prescribed. However, some medication administration records do not include staff signatures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views about the care they receive are regularly sought. Children can express their views about their menus and activities. Staff understand how to communicate with non-verbal children through a variety of tools, including using short stories that describe social situations and body language.

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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. Staff also arrange children’s birthday celebrations and involve their family and friends in these.

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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 the last summer holidays, children enjoyed a holiday camp.

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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. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their tastes. There are photos of the children displayed throughout the house. This adds to the homely environment.

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

Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are well understood by staff. Staff manage the children’s behaviour well and work closely with other agencies to ensure that appropriate action is taken to keep children safe. As a result, incidents in the home are infrequent. Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 4 Staff have undertaken safeguarding training and demonstrate a good understanding of the policies and procedures to follow, including the home’s whistle-blowing policy, if allegations are made against staff.

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

Safer recruitment and employment practices are followed to ensure that only suitable staff work at the home.

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

Staff work collaboratively with families and key professionals to safeguard children who go missing from the home. However, on one occasion, there was significant delay in a child being reported missing to the police. The manager addressed this shortfall with the staff involved.

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

Children have personal emergency evacuation plans, and there are regular fire evacuation practices. However, the inspector noted during this inspection that the fire doors, including the doors to the kitchen, were not kept closed as recommended in the fire risk assessment. Furthermore, they were kept open with a door stop which would not allow the door to close in the event of fire. This poses a risk to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong leadership team in the home. An experienced and qualified registered manager manages the home. The responsible individual and deputy manager support her. 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.

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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 benefit from induction, regular supervision and appraisals. Team meetings are held regularly and are child-focused. The training provided to staff builds their confidence in meeting some of the children’s most complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work well with children’s professional networks. Feedback from professionals regarding the quality of care provided, children’s progress and communication from staff is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that transitions to and from the home are carefully considered and well supported. The admission process involves pre-admission visits to the home which allow the new child to become familiar with the environment and staff. This helps children to settle when they move in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has identified shortfalls in the quality of records. Some incident records do not include the name of the author and precise information of what strategies were used to intervene during incidents of physically challenging behaviour. Furthermore, some children’s care plans do not set appropriate targets in each area of children’s lives. The manager is introducing a new recording system and is working hard with staff to improve the quality of records. Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 5 The statement of purpose is kept under review and clearly sets out the ethos and objectives of the home. However, it does not contain all information required by regulation, such as the home’s approach to restraint or the monitoring and surveillance in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the fire doors are closed at all times as recommended in the fire risk assessment or that an appropriate fire door retainer is fitted. 28 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose indicates how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. In particular, this relates to including information about the approach to restraint and monitoring and surveillance in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, records should include the name of the author and precise information of what strategies were used to intervene during incidents of physically challenging behaviour. Furthermore, all children’s care plans should set appropriate targets in each area of children’s lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62,

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Recommendations

paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 7

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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: 2557141 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: D & J Care Services-Residential Ltd

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Inspector

Aneta Wasilewska, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2557141 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 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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