Children's Home run by J & R Care Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 1 SC065684

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to six children. It is owned and operated by a private organisation. There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

The children living at the home attend the organisation’s school, which is located on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2023 Full Good 05/10/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good 10/12/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is presented well and has a warm and welcoming feel. Children’s bedrooms are personalised according to their individual tastes. Family photos are seen on the children’s bedroom walls, and children have been able to rearrange their bedroom furniture as they wish. This helps children feel in control of their own environment and take some ownership of their personal space.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide individualised care and support to the children. They also help children to develop important independence skills, helping children to grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff form secure relationships with the children, allowing them to talk about their feelings and past experiences. Key-work sessions are used to have meaningful conversations with the children about important issues to them. This helps to further strengthen relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers make child-centred decisions about children coming to live in the home and ensure that the staff team has the skills to meet their needs. When the last child moved in, leaders ensured that a robust transition was planned, at the child’s pace, taking their wishes into account. They also ensured that the wishes and needs of the children already living in the home were considered. This resulted in a successful move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are gained in a number of ways, including daily children’s meetings, one-to-one sessions and everyday discussions. Consequently, children’s voices are heard and considered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about their relationships with staff. One child spoke highly of the staff and how they consider them as their ‘second family’. The child was also able to explain why they feel that the staff genuinely care about them and how happy they are to live here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are attending full-time education and are progressing well. The home collaborates well with the school staff. Managers speak highly of the new headteacher and how they plan to work even more cohesively with him and his team in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to spend time with their families and work closely with children’s parents when this is appropriate. Staff listen to the children and observe their behaviours before and after visits and liaise with other professionals effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s achievements are celebrated by staff, and this can be seen in the children’s monthly reports and photos. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 4 Managers and staff proactively advocate for children and challenge other professionals when this is required. This ensures that decisions are taken in the best interests of children and that they remain a focus.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a clear understanding of children’s backgrounds and their current needs. Children come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, and this is mirrored in the staff team. The manager and staff support children to learn about and celebrate differences in society and learn about their own heritage.

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

Staff work in line with safeguarding policies and procedures. Managers have been highly responsive to emerging safeguarding concerns and have kept risk assessments and safety plans under regular review. They escalate their concerns to external safeguarding agencies, including the police and other specialist services when this is required. This ensures that children’s risks and vulnerabilities are clearly understood by the professional network.

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

Health and safety processes are effective. This includes fire safety. Children learn how to lead fire evacuation drills, helping them to keep safe in an emergency. The home is well maintained by a dedicated maintenance team, and any remedial works are completed in a timely fashion.

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

Strategies to help children stay safe are clearly set out in individual behaviour support plans. Children are also supported to identify their own behaviours and triggers and how staff can support them to feel safe through detailed safety plans.

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

Behavioural incidents are well managed, and staff appropriately attempt to de- escalate situations through distraction, verbal reassurance and kindness. Staff only use physical intervention as a last resort. All incident reports are shared with the placing authority, which demonstrates transparency and effective joint working.

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

Managers do not always carry out post-incident reviews with the children and staff involved. As a result, there are missed opportunities to explore what happened and to look at ways to reduce the risk of further incidents occurring.

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

Knowledgeable staff understand the processes and procedures to follow when a child discloses a concern or allegation. All necessary action and appropriate steps are taken in a child-focused and timely manner.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff take swift and effective action to ensure that they return safely. One child’s parent praised the staff team for keeping in touch with them when their child had been missing and described how they often work together to ensure the safe return of the child to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 5 Staff work hard to support the children to build and maintain positive relationships with each other. Children learn social skills that benefit them now and will help them in the future.

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

Staff treat children with respect and understanding and provide them with consistent boundaries. However, sometimes, a more restorative approach could be used to support children to have a positive experience of learning how to make amends for their mistakes. Managers have recognised this shortfall and are addressing it through discussion in team meetings and supervisions.

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

Safe recruitment processes reduce the risk of unsuitable adults being employed to work at the home. However, the safety of the recruitment process is undermined by some incomplete records.

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good

The registered manager knows the children very well and has strong and trusting relationships with them. During this inspection period, there have been some serious incidents involving children, and these have been managed effectively by the registered manager.

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good

The registered manager has invested time and energy into prioritising the safety and well-being of staff during a challenging period. This has had a negative impact on the quality of management monitoring and oversight of the home. Additionally, senior leaders, including the responsible individual, do not provide sufficient oversight at times when the registered manager is absent.

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good

The registered manager has not completed a review of the quality of care provided to children. This means the registered manager does not have a well-rounded view of the experiences of the children and the impact the care is having on outcomes for them.

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good

The managers role model effective, proactive collaboration with other professionals. This has resulted in excellent partnership working that supports good outcomes for children.

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good

There is great focus from the registered manager on ensuring that staff feel well supported. She ensures that staff receive regular supervision and team meetings. In addition, reflective practice sessions, both in groups and individually, are available twice a week, supported by the on-site psychologist.

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good

Staff vacancies are actively being addressed by the leaders and managers. Recent recruitment initiatives have been successful after managers identified patterns in incidents and behaviours during the late evening and overnight. This will help to provide a more settled period for children leading up to bedtime. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 6 Staff are appropriately trained and can incorporate their training and knowledge into daily practice. This ensures that children are cared for consistently by experienced and well-informed staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 7

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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 robust post-incident reviews take place to identify actions that reduce the risk of a recurrence. 12 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 12 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 12 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 8 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2) (a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records demonstrate how recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 9 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: SC065684 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ash House, South Centre Road, New Ash Green, Longfield, Kent DA3 8JF

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Inspector

Emma Haskell, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC065684 11 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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