Children's Home run by Care2rise Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 1 Registered provider: Care2Rise Ltd

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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 privately run and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 2

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improvement to be good

There are concerns in relation to the supervision of children, the skills and experience of staff, and children’s plans not being followed to ensure their safety. This has impacted the well-being and experiences of children, and resulted in a requires improvement judgement.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments do not consider all risks, are lengthy and use language that children may find difficult to understand. The length of the risk assessments limits staff’s ability to implement plans effectively and reduce risks. The views of children and staff are not included in the development of risk assessments and safety plans, the result being that the plans do not effectively involve them in understanding and addressing current risks. This is an area which could be improved to ensure children are supported in understanding how they can stay safe and to express their views regarding plans. Risk assessments should be succinct and contain practical strategies to keep children safe, using language which is child-friendly. Children’s involvement in their care planning process would encourage greater autonomy and decision-making skills.

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improvement to be good

Consequences and rewards are used as a means of behaviour management. Four consequences given were not recorded and there are no monitoring systems in place to review the use of consequences or to capture children’s views on them. This can hinder the ability of the manager to develop oversight that promotes the well-being and safety of children.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is warm and welcoming and there is a family atmosphere. Children who have moved to this home have settled in well. Children say they like the staff team and like the home. Children move freely around the home and interact well with staff. Staff care for and pay attention to the children and have a good understanding of their personalities, likes and dislikes.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well and are attuned to their needs. Children know they will be listened to when they express their wishes and desires, and know that staff respect them. This supports children in having a strong and healthy sense of their identity. This is further supported by staff encouraging children to be involved in a wide range of activities. At the time of this inspection, children had planned activities and were excited about an upcoming visit to a theme park.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager advocates for children and works in partnership with external professionals to ensure that children’s educational needs are met. This has ensured that children who have not been in education for a substantial period are supported to receive educational support which meets their needs. As a result, one child is now accessing full-time education. Children also receive rewards to incentivise them to engage with education. The rewards process is effective in encouraging children to engage with the educational support being offered. Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 3 Children benefit from the therapeutic support they are offered. Children are now better able to understand themselves and to make more positive choices. The therapist uses creative means to engage children, focused on their interests.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint and their complaints are responded to.

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improvement to be good

On one occasion, a child was taken to hospital after swallowing unknown substances while at the home. The child experienced a physical reaction to the substances, and the incident could have resulted in serious injury to the child. Staff had not followed the child’s risk assessment, which resulted in the child having insufficient supervision and experiencing harm. Managers have reviewed the incident with staff, however, staff skills can be further strengthened by using what has been learned from this incident in further training and supervision.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have met with local police and discussed concerns in relation to known drug activity near the home. However, they failed to use information provided by the police in their local area risk assessment and did not devise safety plans for the children which addressed local risks. Consequently, incidents of concern occurred where children from the home were exposed to risks locally.

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improvement to be good

When children move to the home, impact assessments completed by managers do not fully evaluate the risks to children in the home and how the behaviours of those children will impact on the child moving in. This does not support staff in understanding how to address the needs of children and could lead to disruption.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents have significantly reduced. When children do go missing, staff make efforts to maintain contact with the children and follow the Philomena protocol. Return home interviews are not consistently requested or carried out. This is a missed opportunity to better understand the risks posed to the children.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not use international vetting to ensure safer recruitment. For example, international police checks were not completed for a staff member who had worked overseas in the two-year period before their employment at the home. The use of such checks would ensure that staff are appropriately vetted and safe to work with children.

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improvement to be good

When children are deemed to be at increased risk of harm, staff conduct room searches appropriately. However, records of these room searches are not routinely kept and this is likely to hinder the manager’s ability to assess effectively the quality of care provided to children in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 4 The in-house psychologist is effective in supporting staff to understand the needs of children. This promotes an informed approach to supporting children and a greater understanding of how children’s experiences impact on their behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that there is appropriate recording of information on all relevant records. When relevant information about children is not received from partner agencies, the matter is not always escalated to support the informed care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings take place on a monthly basis. These are well attended; however, team meeting minutes do not include all staff participation, learning or development. The progress of children is also not consistently discussed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The training and induction programme is detailed and comprehensive. Inductions for new staff are thorough and the training provided is specific to the needs of the children. Most of the staff are new to the home and the registered manager has identified further face-to-face training to support their learning, in line with the needs of staff who have requested this support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say they feel supported and that the team feels like family. This follows a period of staff turnover which could have impacted the home. The home now benefits from a full complement of staff, who are working well together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures staff receive regular supervision. Supervision focuses on staff's professional development and provides feedback on staff progress. However, staff discussions about children’s progress is not detailed in supervision records. This would assist managers and staff in monitoring children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure allegations against staff are taken seriously and managed in accordance with practice guidelines. Children are informed of the outcome of allegations and support is offered to them throughout the process. Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 5

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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)(i)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children from harm. They must ensure that all incidents and risks to children are thoroughly evaluated when updating risk assessments and that staff have a clear understanding of the risk levels and strategies to manage identified risks. They must ensure children receive appropriate supervision. 30 June 2024

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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

promotes their welfare. 30 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 6 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, the registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must respond to feedback received from the police regarding the local area risks and ensure appropriate safety planning is in place to mitigate risks relating to the location of the children’s home. They must ensure safeguarding agencies are consulted when the local area risk assessment is updated. 30 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff work in partnership with relevant professionals to ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. This specifically relates to ensuring children’s voices are reflected in their care plans and risk assessments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. This specifically relates to ensuring language used in risk assessments is child-friendly, ensuring records of consequences are

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 7 kept, and are both accessible and understandable by children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that they only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing or away from home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The registered person should take account of information

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Recommendations

provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that they are maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, the registered person should ensure that international police checks are undertaken where appropriate and ensure the validity of references. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2734276 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 118a Barking Road, Royal Victoria Docks, London E16 1EN

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Inspectors

Angela Reid, Social Care Inspector Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2734276 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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