Children's Home run by Care2rise Ltd in Croydon

Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 1 Registered provider: Care2Rise Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. This home provides care for up to three children aged 10 to 17 with social and emotional difficulties, providing medium- to long- term care on a planned basis.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in December 2023. The manager was registered at the same time.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since registration.

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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: 2754809 2

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improvement to be good

Staff have positive relationships with the children. However, staff do not have enough understanding from key information to take account of a range of factors that can have an impact on children’s experiences and progress.

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improvement to be good

The child’s voice is not always captured. Although children prefer to have separate conversations with staff rather than having children’s meetings, these discussions are not recorded in children’s files. In addition, children’s views are not always evident in their care plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have access to all relevant information to inform them about children’s needs. For example, children’s most recent education plans, minutes from care reviews and their health plans are not all up to date. The registered manager has chased the placing local authority for the missing information but has not escalated this when delays have continued.

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improvement to be good

Children’s care plans do not contain accurate information. For instance, details about family time are incorrect in both children’s care plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend medical appointments. When children are reluctant to attend, staff offer additional help, including rearranging the appointment.

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improvement to be good

Children are offered a range of activities, for example, going ice skating, visiting the zoo and going on shopping trips. However, children’s daily records are inconsistent and do not accurately reflect their daily routines or positive experiences. For example, one child struggles with daily routine. Despite this being known, the daily logs do not reflect how staff should support the child to have structure in their day.

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improvement to be good

One child is enrolled at school and the other child is taking an online course while waiting for a school placement.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop their life skills in line with their age and abilities. For example, children are supported to learn about self-care.

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improvement to be good

Children sometimes go missing from the home. Feedback from the police highlights that staff do not always provide them with enough information to help them secure a child’s safe return home. After children return, they do not routinely receive independent return Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 3 home interviews. The registered manager does not have sufficient oversight of the missing-from-home records. Consequently, staff go unchallenged when they fail to properly record essential details.

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improvement to be good

Staff are required to carry out searches of one child’s bedroom when the child has been missing from the home. However, these searches rarely happen. This leaves the child vulnerable, especially given that there is a potential risk that they could be storing sharp objects.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not regularly reviewed and updated to reflect children’s changing needs. This leaves staff without up-to-date information on how best to keep children safe as their needs change.

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improvement to be good

When incidents happen, staff know how to de-escalate the situation so that the child feels more settled. However, incident reports do not highlight whether a conversation has taken place with members of staff involved in the incident to check on their well- being.

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improvement to be good

Staff use consequences as a way of managing children’s behaviour. However, records do not detail whether the consequence has been effective in helping children to understand how their behaviour can improve.

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

The registered manager cares about the children. However, they do not always give enough focus to the importance of monitoring. This creates a missed opportunity to help them to fully assess the standards of practice in the home.

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

The registered manager has not identified that staff training records do not show that all staff have received all their mandatory training.

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

The manager found it difficult to locate all the records that make up one member of staff’s recruitment file.

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

Staff do not record sufficient details to evidence the support they have given to children. This shortfall is not routinely identified by the manager.

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

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. These sessions provide all members of staff with the opportunity to discuss the care of the children and their own personal development. However, records often lack detail and staff do not always sign their supervision records. In one case, a member of staff signed a supervision record that belonged to another member of staff.

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

The registered manager has ensured that there is a workforce development plan and statement of purpose in place. However, these are not being kept up to date to reflect staff qualifications. Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 4 Working relationships with children’s professional networks are positive. Feedback from the virtual school confirms that the manager attends relevant meetings and that staff are supportive in their care of the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and

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Requirement Due date

the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent. (Regulation 34 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the missing-from-home policy includes details about return home interviews. 22 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c)) 22 July 2024

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. 22 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 6 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risks to children are well understood by the staff and they are clear about to how to respond to such risks.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

other records (see regulation 37). (Regulation 38 (j)) 22 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose includes information about the experiences and qualification of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences are reviewed to ensure that children understand the concerns around their behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns home after being missing, the local authority provides the child with an opportunity to have an independent return home interview. Information from the interview is important to ensure that risks are reviewed and that measures are in place to protect the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they challenge the local authority when it does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should ensure that they take into account police protocols for when children go missing in the area. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.29)  The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan includes the necessary information about staff experience and qualifications. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 7  The registered person should ensure that staff are appropriately trained and maintain the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2754809 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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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2754809 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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