Children's Home run by Elite Children's Care Group ltd in Bexley

Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 1 Registered provider: Elite Children’s Care Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered on 8 February 2022. It has not had a registered manager since 26 April 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection and they spoke with the inspectors.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 3

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improvement to be good

The help and protection that children receive, as well as the leadership and management of the home require improvement to be good. The weaknesses in these areas undermine the quality of care that children receive.

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improvement to be good

Although staff want the best for children, they have not achieved stability for all children who have lived at the home. Since the home was registered, none of the children who have moved out of the home have left in a planned way. Their experiences of moving on from the home have not been positive.

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improvement to be good

The child who currently lives at the home has formed positive relationships with staff. He said that he likes the home and the staff. He feels that staff help him and listen to him. The child’s mother appreciates how quickly staff were able to gain her son’s trust.

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improvement to be good

The child benefits from having access to a wide range of recreational and cultural activities. This includes visits to famous attractions, as well as using community resources, such as going to a local boxing club.

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improvement to be good

Staff organise varied learning activities to help children to gain knowledge and practical skills when they are not in education. The management team has been advocating within the network of professionals for the current child to receive formal education. However, the child remains out of education.

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improvement to be good

Staff use creative ways to help children to get in touch with their feelings and express their individuality. How staff promote diversity and equality in the home is also a strength. For example, to help the child to learn more about different faiths, staff displayed an informative visual presentation about a forthcoming Buddhist festival.

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improvement to be good

The physical environment of the home is maintained to a high standard. The current child was very pleased that staff fitted a special tent on top of his bed to make him feel comfortable and safe. He had told staff that he would like this and they surprised him with it.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff are aware of all the risks to children in their care. Staff’s limited understanding of the risks undermines their ability to safeguard children effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always show enough curiosity when considering the risk of criminal exploitation to children. This includes a child who has a history of being involved in Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 4 county lines. For example, staff are not proactive at finding out more about who the child regularly meets with in the park and why those children asked for their bicycles to be kept at this home.

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improvement to be good

The incidents that led to children being moved from the home showed that, at times, staff’s behaviour management approaches and practice were not effective. However, there have been several new staff appointed and improvements are evident in behaviour management.

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improvement to be good

There has been one physical intervention since the last inspection. On this occasion, staff appropriately intervened to safeguard the child. The child and all staff involved received a debrief following the incident and satisfactory records were made.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing from this home. When they do, staff follow local reporting protocols and work closely with the police to help them to locate and safely return the children home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have established professional links with the local authority’s designated safeguarding officer (LADO). All allegations are reported to the LADO and dealt with appropriately.

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good

There have been some significant changes in leadership and management since the full inspection. The new responsible individual started in that role in September 2022 and the manager was appointed in October 2022. The manager’s application to register with Ofsted has been delayed due to a delay in obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The manager is working towards obtaining a relevant qualification.

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good

Leaders and managers have focused on addressing issues identified at the previous inspection. This has led to improvement in some areas of the home. For example, after a very high staff turnover, there is now a full staff team and they no longer need to use agency staff.

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good

The manager has created a supportive working environment for staff and they are appreciative of this. New staff receive satisfactory induction and regular supervision. They have good training opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. Those staff who do not have a relevant qualification have been enrolled on a suitable course and are working towards obtaining the relevant qualification.

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good

Staff have caring attitudes and are developing their knowledge and skills. The home is improving, but staff were unable to demonstrate that children have received consistently good care since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 5 The monitoring of the home is insufficient and the manager was not aware of the weaknesses that were identified at this inspection. The manager provided incorrect information about the home on a number of occasions during the inspection.

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good

Some inaccuracies in the home’s statement of purpose and shortfalls in records, such as the children’s register, further highlight weaknesses in the manager’s monitoring systems. Additionally, the records of individual risk assessments sometimes contain confusing information about the level of the current risks. Referring to offending behaviours instead of criminal exploitation in the risk assessments is insensitive and shows the lack of understanding of the context in which children’s behaviours happen. Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are aware of the risks to children’s safety, know how to protect them from harm and are more effective at enabling children to engage in safer behaviours. 15 June 2023

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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

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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, the registered person must ensure that they have effective oversight of the home, so that all shortfalls are 29 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 7 identified and resolved, all records are kept as required, and there is continued learning, for example, from unplanned endings.

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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)) 29 June 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should advocate for children more effectively to ensure that they receive formal education. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose provides accurate information about the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2657553 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Elite Children’s Care Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor, 120 Baker Street, London W1U 6TU

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Inspectors

Seka Graovac, Social Care Inspector Amena Begum, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2657553 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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