Children's Home run by Restoration Care & Services Limited in Barking and Dagenham

Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 1 Registered provider: Restoration Care & Services Limited 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 five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 16 February 2018. The manager registered with Ofsted on 4 September 2020.

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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 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: 19 October 2021

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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: 1269966 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/10/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/07/2019 Full Good 07/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive relationships with staff who show genuine care and compassion towards them. Staff know children well and understand their behaviours. This helps children to feel accepted and settled in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good social and emotional progress. They are supported to reflect on and understand their feelings and emotions. Staff maintain consistent boundaries for children. This helps children to manage their own behaviour and improves their relationships with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in education. Staff and managers support children who have been out of education to re-engage. They give children encouragement and help them to build their confidence. This supports good attendance and academic achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s cultural needs and identity are promoted well in the home. Staff support children to attend places of worship and observe religious festivals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in regular house meetings. This gives them opportunities to share their views and participate in their care. House meetings are also used as an additional way to talk about particular topics and are educational.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities. Staff ensure that children have lots of things to do at weekends and in their spare time. This helps to keep children stimulated and reduces negative behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills. Staff help children to learn how to cook, budget for shopping and do their own laundry. This support helps children to learn and develop important life skills and plan for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children achieve positive outcomes and successful transitions. As a result of the quality of care in this home, some children have been able to move on to foster care, return to family or move into semi-independent accommodation.

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

Staff and managers have a very good understanding of the individual risks for children and the impact the risks have on them. Risk assessments are kept up to date and include effective strategies to help staff to mitigate risks. Staff and managers work closely with other agencies and family members to ensure that appropriate action is taken to keep children safe. Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 4 Key-work sessions are creative and effective. They focus on children’s individual needs and risks and are in line with their plans. Staff adapt key-work sessions when incidents occur or when children’s risks change. They use tools to support the key- work sessions that help children to learn how to keep themselves safe and reduce their risks.

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

Allegations are taken seriously and reported as required. Leaders and managers appropriately consult with the local authority designated officer. Thorough investigations are completed when allegations are made.

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

Despite the good safeguarding culture at the home, not all staff are aware of whistle-blowing policies and procedures. This limits staff’s understanding of how to respond to and raise a whistle-blowing concern.

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

Safer recruitment practice generally ensures that staff are suitable to work with children. However, one member of staff’s recruitment file does not demonstrate that they have up-to-date Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) information. This potentially compromises children’s safety.

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

The home’s location risk assessment does not contain up-to-date information regarding crime in the local area. This limits the leaders and managers’ ability to assess the suitability of new children moving into the home and the ability of staff to effectively safeguard children .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably experienced and qualified registered manager and deputy manager lead and manage the home. Leadership is strong, and staff value and respect the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that the plans for children comprehensively identify their individual needs. They take into account the local authority care plan for each child. Care plans are kept up-to-date and include children’s views. This ensures that they are relevant and that staff are working towards the same targets.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The assessment process for new children moving into the home is effective. Assessments are robust and take into account information about the child, their needs and other children already living in the home. This has led to improved placement stability and a reduction in unplanned endings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers work proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals. They build effective working relationships with parents and social workers to secure positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers receive regular and effective supervision. Supervision is focused on children’s experiences, needs and plans. Supervision is recorded effectively and demonstrates effective management oversight of staff practice and the progress that children make. Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 5 Staff and managers receive effective support and the appropriate challenge to ensure that their professional development results in them creating the right environment for good practice to thrive. The emotional impact of the work on staff is recognised and managed well by leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that notifications of all significant events that relate to the welfare and protection of children living in the home are made to the appropriate authorities. The registered person takes the necessary action following incidents to ensure that the child’s needs are met and that they are safe and protected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff appraisals are completed annually. However, they do not include feedback from children and other professionals. This limits the leaders’ and managers’ review of staff performance and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is sufficient. However, there are poor systems in place to ensure that managers review staff’s compliance with training. As a result, some staff have not completed important mandatory training. This compromises the skills and knowledge of staff to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted since the home registered. This limited the preparation for this inspection and is a breach of the Children’s Homes Regulations. Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is evidence of DBS checks for all staff. 14 April 2023

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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. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 14 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that performance appraisals consider the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and the views of the children in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s internal whistle-blowing procedures through the induction process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.9)  The registered person should ensure that, under regulation 46, the review of the

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Recommendations

appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home includes up-to-date information and identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 1269966 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Restoration Care & Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 53 Levine Gardens, Barking, Essex IG11 0UH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christina Addison

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Inspector

Leanne Grant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1269966 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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