Children's home run by Action for Children Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 1 Registered provider: Action for Children Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a charity. It provides care for up to four children aged up to 18 years who may have a sensory impairment and/or a physical disability. They may also have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children continue to live in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 5 September 2019.

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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: 8 December 2022

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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: 2537149 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/12/2022 Full Good 27/10/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from staff who know them very well. Staff have built strong, positive and effective relationships with children. Staff demonstrate how much they care about the children and how they strive to get the best outcomes for them. When encouragement or support is needed, this is done in a gentle, nurturing way, sometimes turning it into a game, so the children respond positively and are learning to do things for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making very good progress. One child really enjoyed attending a family wedding and going to a theme park recently, activities that they previously found challenging. Children’s communication has improved; they are maturing and continuing to develop their sense of self and their understanding of their emotions. Staff are skilfully helping the children understand how their bodies are changing due to puberty, using social stories and an extensive range of resource materials that they adapt effectively to suit each child. Staff are rightly proud of children’s achievements and celebrate them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are up to date, reflect children’s current needs and provide clear guidance for staff. In addition, t hey provide evidence of the progress being made by children. However, these plans are lengthy documents and contain a significant amount of historical and duplicate information, which could reduce their effectiveness as working documents. In addition, some of these plans are written in the first person without the children being involved in writing them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a wide range of different activities, including local groups and clubs. Staff use social stories effectively with children to gather their feedback as to what they enjoyed and other activities they would like to try. They then use this information to plan future activities and events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. There has been a review of medical and health records, which aids in the tracking and monitoring of children’s health care needs. There have been some medication errors that have been appropriately addressed and have led to a review of medication systems.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff continue to provide children with a comfortable, personalised, spacious, well- furnished and equipped home. As children have got older, the decor of the home has been changed to reflect this. Children have been involved in these changes, especially in their bedrooms. Throughout the home, there are photos of the children, and their art and craft work is on display.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are doing well in their education. Staff work cohesively and effectively with education providers to support children’s progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 4

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

Safeguarding practices at the home are good. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities as well as the additional vulnerabilities of the children they care for. Swift actions are taken to keep children safe when concerns are identified, including low-level concerns. These actions are supported by comprehensive records. The manager analyses safeguarding events to identify patterns and trends effectively. Appropriate actions are taken in response. Despite taking swift action on one safeguarding event, the manager did not notify Ofsted as required. Typically significant events are reported in line with regulation.

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

Behaviour is managed well because staff understand children’s needs effectively and have built good relationships with them. Staff use social stories effectively to reduce children’s levels of anxiety and prepare them for events that may make them anxious, to reduce their level of anxiety. Most records of behavioural incidents are of good quality, providing all the needed information. However, two records do not provide a clear enough picture of the actions staff took. Staff work cohesively with external professionals to develop their approaches to children’s behaviours. There has been no restraint used since the previous inspection.

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

Staff, including agency staff, are recruited using safer recruitment practices, which helps to protect children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is appropriately experienced and qualified for their role. Staff are complimentary about the registered manager, saying she is ambitious for the children, the staff and the home. Staff find the manager to be approachable and supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the strengths and most of the areas for development in the home. They can provide a realistic overview of the home since the previous inspection. Recruitment of more staff remains an ongoing issue that they are working on. There has been some use of agency staff, but the registered manager strives to use the same agency staff to provide consistency for the children. Some agency staff have moved to contracted work, and there have been three new staff recruited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, supportive supervision. However, the quality of the records written about the supervision sessions varies. Some records are very detailed and provide evidence of the discussion held, while others do not. Supervision records do not consistently show that staff are enabled to reflect on and improve their practice. Regular agency staff also receive regular supervision. Information from staff consultation and staff supervision sessions is used to enhance the staff training programme. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of incidents consistently provide clear information on the actions staff took to support the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.35)  The registered person should ensure that records of staff supervisions sessions are consistently of a good quality and reflect the discussion held to support staff to improve their practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should review the children’s plans and risk assessments to ensure they are clear and relevant. In addition, the registered person should review the ongoing use of writing children’s plans in the first person when the child has not been involved. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted of all notifiable events in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.9)

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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: 2537149 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2537149 7 regulates and inspects 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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