Children's home run by Anderida Adolescent Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 1 Registered provider: Anderida Adolescent Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home registered with Ofsted in August 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2596008 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff working in this home are known as mentors. The mentors are well skilled, dedicated, and provide good care to children. They understand the children’s individual needs and the importance of building positive and trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend and engage in education. The manager and mentors ensure that children are registered with schools and are supported through a child-focused induction process. This helps them to swiftly integrate and settle into their new schools. Children who have completed their education in school are supported to carry out apprenticeships and employment of their choice in the local area. This helps children to understand the importance of education and prepares them for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a generally clean and well-maintained environment. However, one child’s bedroom is not kept clean and tidy as there are items scattered on the floor, including used plates and food containers. The child chooses not to have a bed base and sleeps on a mattress. This detracts from what is otherwise a homely and nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Mentors give children opportunities to voice their views and contribute to the decisions made regarding their care and changes in the home. Mentors and managers use friendly and kind approaches that allow children to express themselves. Children are encouraged to communicate, using one-to-one key time, naturally instigated conversations, participation in local authority care planning meetings and support from external advocates. Therefore, children feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun attending a variety of inspiring activities. These include playing basketball in the local grounds, boxing, weightlifting through local clubs, dog walking, listening to music and beatboxing. These activities support children to improve their social skills, keep positively stimulated and stay physically fit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop independence skills which are appropriate for their age and capabilities. One child independently drives his moped to travel to places and to visit his friends and family. He budgets, purchases food and cooks his own healthy meals. Consequently, children learn essential life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build and maintain positive relationships with their families and friends, regardless of distance and time apart. Children from further afield are supported to plan and visit their families and friends. Mentors and managers also support family members to visit their children and spend time with them in the local area. This fulfils children’s wishes to spend time with their loved ones and supports them to manage their feelings. Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 4

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improvement to be good

Children are helped by staff to keep increasingly safe. Risk assessments and plans are clear, and mentors know the risks and how to reduce them. The manager holds reflective discussions with mentors regarding keeping children safe. Mentors discuss plans with children and keep them well informed of potential risks while encouraging them to keep safe. However, these assessments lack the manager’s written oversight.

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improvement to be good

Some children go missing from home. Mentors follow well-documented protocols and work collaboratively with other agencies and families to track children and return them home safely. Child-centred reflective discussions that involve helping children plan safe visits to friends and families are held. As a result, missing-from- care incidents are reducing.

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improvement to be good

Children are informed of the home’s rules and guidelines. When children struggle with their feelings and emotions, mentors use a gentle response to support children to calm. This enables children to identify calmer ways to express themselves through self-regulation techniques and positively seeking support from mentors. Actions taken by mentors to support children are clearly recorded. However, these records lack the manager’s written oversight to ensure that appropriate safeguarding practice is adhered to.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment is not always adhered to. For example, although all documents are present, applicants’ identity documents have not been signed off to confirm that original copies have been seen. Completed interview forms do not indicate the evaluation and decision-making processes to recruit individuals. Therefore, stringent measures are not taken to ensure that suitable people care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the home’s model of practice and has embedded it into daily practice. She ensures that a caring and compassionate approach is used by mentors to deliver a good standard of care to children. As a result, children feel cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a positive relationship with the children. She dedicates part of her time to engaging constructively with children and addresses their needs and wishes. She has regular contact with families and professionals and ensures that they are involved in decisions made regarding children’s care needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and mentors use effective measures to assess children’s progress. They use well-informed child-focused processes to gather feedback from children regarding their progress. They encourage children to identify and achieve goals in line with their abilities and age. The manager also carries out a six-monthly evaluation of children’s progress and shares the findings with mentors, families and Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 5 professionals. This ensures consistency in practice and promotes positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On occasions, leaders and managers have not notified Ofsted of serious incidents within the required time frame. However, actions taken following incidents are appropriate. Nonetheless, failure to report incidents on time hinders Ofsted’s oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and mentors receive regular supervision. Mentors are also provided with protected space to engage in group supervision sessions, good-quality reflective debriefs and one-to-one well-being sessions. This supports mentors to explore ways of managing difficult experiences at work and in their personal lives. One mentor said, ‘I feel so supported and listened to by the managers, they have helped me so much in the past year.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Mentors are supported with their professional development. They receive mandatory training and other training that is relevant to the children’s current needs. Mentors are also enrolled on advanced courses to support their professional development and help improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They identify areas for improvement and address these promptly. For example, they have carried out a planned recruitment drive. They have also explored ways to retain mentors, for example by ensuring that the service has adequate staffing ratios. New mentors work across different services to enable them to gain relevant experience in supporting a variety of children and working with different teams. This promotes a consistent provision of care given to children in all services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and mentors promote equality and diversity effectively and conduct themselves respectfully around the children. Mentors help children to understand and appreciate each other’s backgrounds and differences. They challenge negative comments, such as racist and homophobic statements, and ensure that children are aware of the impact these comments may have on others. This promotes a culture that is respectful of every individual. Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 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, the 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

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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, ensure that the manager demonstrates oversight of children’s risk assessment records. 28 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 28 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that good employment practice is maintained, as set out in regulations 31 to 33. They must ensure that copies of identity documents provided by new staff have confirmation and a signature stating that the originals have been seen. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely and domestic environment. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislation. However, in doing so, it should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 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: 2596008 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Anderida Adolescent Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Anderida Adolescent Care Limited, Neville Mews, 6a Neville Road, Eastbourne BN22 8HR

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Inspector

Alphie Khumalo, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2596008 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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