Children's Home run by Centre 404 in Tower Hamlets

Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 1 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a registered charity. It provides short breaks for up to five children with autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 10 June 2021. The manager of the home resigned on 11 April 2022. A new manager is in post and has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place on 1 November 2022 to address specific concerns received by Ofsted. As a result of the monitoring visit, three compliance notices were issued, under regulation 12 (the protection of children standard), regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard) and regulation 32 (fitness of workers) of The Children’s Homes Regulations (England) 2015. Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 2 A second monitoring visit took place on 21 November 2022 to monitor the provider’s progress in meeting the compliance notices. The compliance notices were deemed to be met and no further enforcement action was taken. Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care and make good progress from their starting points. Care plans are comprehensive and include regular reviews with family members. This ensures that meaningful targets are set to help children to achieve their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and their families enjoy positive relationships with staff. This helps children to settle and have positive experiences at the home. Children enjoy coming to the home and look forward to their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities in and out of the home. Trips include rock climbing, trips to sea-life centres and visits into central London. Creative activities are offered in the home, such as arts and crafts and the use of sensory toys.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Until recently, children have had limited opportunities to express their views about the home and the care they receive. Leaders and managers have introduced creative ways to obtain children’s views, including questionnaires and video recording. This will help children to have more input into the care that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment lacks warmth. Children’s bedrooms have a bed and built-in wardrobe but do not have any other furnishings or items that make them feel homely. The overall decor of the home is in need of update and repair.

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

Risks to children are identified and understood well by staff. Children’s risk assessments are individual to each child. They include relevant information about known risks and behaviours as well as outlining how children communicate with others. Risk assessments give clear guidance to staff about how to keep children safe, and are followed by staff.

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

Significant incidents are managed well. However, the recording and management oversight of incidents could be improved. Some records do not accurately reflect what has happened and what action has been taken in response. This potentially compromises safeguarding practice. However, the new manager is addressing this.

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

Safer recruitment practices for agency staff have significantly improved. Leaders and managers now ensure that all agency staff working in the home have the appropriate checks in place. There is a specific induction process for agency staff, to ensure that they know about the home and the children before they work there.

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

Permanent staff recruitment processes are not consistent. Full employment history and appropriate references have not been sought for all new staff working at the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 5

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good

The leadership and management of the home are improving. In the absence of a registered manager, appropriate management arrangements are in place. The newly appointed manager is starting to have a positive impact on the service. However, a number of shortfalls that need addressing were identified during this inspection.

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good

The monitoring and review systems at the home have improved. However, the systems are not yet embedded or having full impact. For example, there is poor management oversight of records and staff practice. This is partly due to the change of manager and lack of consistency. The lack of robust oversight limits learning and development opportunities for staff and managers.

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good

Leaders and managers respond quickly to allegations and complaints. They complete thorough investigations and ensure that there is no delay. However, on one occasion, they did not consult with the local authority designated officer and on two occasions they did not inform Ofsted as required.

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good

Staff do not receive regular or effective supervision in line with the home’s own policy. The quality of one-to-one supervision is poor, and staff do not discuss individual children or their plans. Furthermore, staff have not received annual appraisals. This limits a review of staff performance and areas for development.

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good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings that provide them with learning and development opportunities and focus on key topics. Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, records of incidents should contain accurate, clear and relevant information. There should be a clear record of any action that has been taken and of management oversight. 26 July 2023

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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

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Requirement Due date

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 26 July 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 7 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, staff recruitment records should include full employment history, explanation of any gaps and appropriate references.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 26 July 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 an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 26 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to and involving and responding to the children they care for. This specifically relates to children’s views being used to inform the review of their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. This specifically relates to updating the tired paintwork and making the children’s bedrooms more comfortable. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 8

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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: 2644282 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ

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Inspector

Leanne Grant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2644282 10 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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