Children's home run by Essex County Council in Chelmsford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 1 SC068929 Registered provider: Essex County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides short breaks and respite care for up to eight children. The aim of the short-breaks service is to provide support to enable children to remain with their families.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2017.

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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: 7 February 2023

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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: SC068929 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Good 19/04/2021 Full Good 25/09/2019 Full Good 29/11/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, 26 children were accessing short breaks on a rotational basis. One child was having a short break during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how to prepare the home for children’s short breaks and have a good understanding of the children’s needs. Consideration of each child’s needs makes the stay as welcoming as possible. The feedback from parents and professionals is that the children enjoy coming to the home for short breaks. The short breaks have a positive effect on the rest of the child’s life and that of their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Changes to the outdoor space offer a wider range of activities for children to enjoy. An outdoor building converted into a games room provides more leisure space and opportunity to have fun. This popular area enables children to socialise and interact with an appropriate degree of autonomy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in interesting and stimulating plans throughout the year. The children have recently been able to participate in activities which help their understanding of what resources are available to them in their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children being able to communicate in their preferred way. Staff respond spontaneously to non-verbal cues from children. A symbol-based application is one of the methods used to help children converse with staff. This improves the flow of communication by allowing for more expressive communication from the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop friendships during their time in the home. The management team understands the importance of these friendships and considers them when planning for the children’s stay. This allows the friendships to develop and helps the children to maintain good relationships with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the needs of the child relating to culture, religion and ethnicity. Staff work in partnership with professionals and families to agree individual arrangements for children to ensure that these needs are met in a way that allows the child to have positive experiences at the home.

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

All staff are appropriately trained to support positive behaviour. The techniques are regularly reviewed and practised in team meetings. Staff use intervention techniques, such as de-escalation, distraction and diversion, to reduce the risk of harm to the children. There has been no use of physical restraint since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 4 A member of staff attends statutory meetings for every child to ensure that there is collaborative working with family and other professionals. Staff provide input to these meetings and share their understanding of the children’s needs. Updates are regularly shared with the rest of the team to ensure consistency across the child’s life.

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

Children’s transitions to staying overnight at the home are carried out at a pace that suits the child and family. The child’s link worker works with the family and other professionals to provide the right service for each child. The staff listen to and address any concerns from the child and the family about the plans for the stay. This helps the children and their families to feel safe and reassured.

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

Staff advocate for children, which helps to ensure that they have good opportunities to express their wishes and feelings. Staff understand what process to follow if they are aware that a child’s needs are not being met in line with their care plan and risk assessment.

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

Staff understand that online safety and internet use are important for some of the children. Staff work with children and use child-friendly communication methods to explain the risks of being online. This helps children to understand how to use the internet safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced. She has a suitable qualification in leadership and management and has managed the home for six years. She is supported by a competent deputy manager and has high expectations of herself and the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers attend national forums and network with comparable services to learn from other providers. The information is used to make improvements to the service provided for the children staying at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager takes any complaints from parents seriously. The learning from complaints results in positive changes across the service. Since the last inspection, there is better preparation for the return of children to their parents’ care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they are well supported by managers. There is regular supervision, which includes clear guidelines about the expectations of staff working with vulnerable children. Specific training helps to ensure that staff understand the expectations and boundaries when working with children with disabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team understands what support and services the short-breaks service can provide to meet the individual needs of the children. The staff help children to develop their potential and help individual children to prepare for moving on. This allows changes or transition to be planned with the child and their family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The number of children who will have short breaks in the home is expanding. The managers are preparing for the capacity of the home to double. This is to ensure Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 5 that there is minimum disruption to the children currently accessing the service. Transitions for new children and the planning for new staff are underway. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 6

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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: SC068929 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Chelmsford CM1 1QH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Osagioduwa Igbinovia

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Inspector

Eileen Bultitude, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068929 8 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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