Children's Home run by Adeza Care Homes Limited in Waltham Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 1 SC032468 Registered provider: Adeza Care Homes Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run home for up to four children aged between 14 and 18 years. The home provides 28 day assessment placements, emergency, short-term and long-term care for children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in 2003, and the manager registered in October 2023.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

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

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 20 November 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/10/2022 Full Good 15/06/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in the home and are looked after by caring staff. Children living at this home make progress in the areas of education, health and social development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in education and learning. Staff work with professionals to ensure that suitable educational provisions are provided to each child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to access health appointments and specialised support services including therapy sessions. Staff are mindful of the children’s emotional state after therapy sessions and provide reassurance as needed. This encourages children to improve their emotional and physical well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to undertake activities inside and outside of the home. However, staff do not always implement children’s ideas when planning activities. This results in children not doing the activities that they enjoy.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children share their views during house meetings, key-worker sessions and informal discussions. This has helped children to confidently express their opinions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain positive relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff work closely with children and their families to promote positive experiences for children. As a result, family relationships are promoted and strengthened.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to develop independent living skills in line with their age and ability. This builds the children’s self-esteem and equips them with valuable skills for the future.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment of the home is not always maintained to a standard that promotes the children’s comfort. The furniture and decor do not present as welcoming or homely. The children’s bedrooms have been decorated considering the children’s views.

p.3

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

Children benefit from having individualised and up-to-date risk assessments. Care plans are reviewed and updated. Staff use key-worker sessions to help children understand risks. These efforts have not been successful with all children. Staff work jointly with key professionals, such as child sexual exploitation workers, to provide support and information to children. Working in partnership with other professionals helps the staff to consider and address the risks posed to children.

p.3

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

Staff follow the relevant guidelines when children are missing from home. Staff keep accurate records and liaise with professionals as required to keep children safe. Return Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 4 home interviews do not always provide information on the reasons why children go missing and how to reduce potential risks.

p.3

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

Children said that they feel safe and settled at the home, and that they have built trusting relationships with staff. This allows them to communicate with staff about any worries or concerns they have. Children know how to make a complaint, and managers take children’s complaints seriously. This ensures that the children feel listened to by staff.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers ensure safe recruitment practices in the home. This means that children are cared for by staff who are vetted and experienced.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers are making significant efforts to improve the service to ensure that staff are well equipped to meet the needs of children. They are undertaking a restructuring programme to ensure clear roles and responsibilities for staff. This will offer more accountability and oversight of the care offered to children. Staff have been consulted throughout the process, and said that they have confidence in the changes planned.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers do not always complete thorough assessments before children move into the home. Some children have moved into the home in an emergency and did not receive care in line with the home’s statement of purpose. This results in children leaving the home sooner than planned. For these children, experiences of moving in and out the home have not been positive. This was a requirement at the last inspection and has been restated.

p.4

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

The manager does not have an organised system for storing children’s documents. This can impact on the manager’s ability to monitor and review children’s progress at the home. The manager continues to make efforts to improve their system. This was previously identified at the last inspection.

p.4

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

Team meetings are effective in sharing and discussing the needs and progress of children. Staff have benefited from the clinical supervision facilitated by managers. This has helped staff to understand and implement better strategies to help children.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers ensure that staff complete their inductions and mandatory training. Not all staff have had training on the specific needs of children within the home, for example training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. Mandatory training is not always completed in due time for new members of staff.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers do not have an effective workforce development plan. The plan does not detail the process for improving practice or the care provided to children. This limits the manager’s ability to monitor and oversee the development of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standards that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.5

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)(a)(c)(e)(f)(h) 9 September 2024

p.5

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.5

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 9 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission; or

p.6

Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(i)(ii)(iii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

 ensuring that staff have the skills, training and experience for their role and records are available to demonstrate this;

p.6

Requirement Due date

 ensuring that children are admitted to the home in line with the registered provider’s statement of purpose;

p.6

Requirement Due date

 establishing effective monitoring and oversight of children’s care and reviewing the quality of care for the children.

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that all children can take part in and benefit from activities, interest and hobbies. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.4)  The registered person should ensure that the living spaces in the home are welcoming and stimulating for children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that they seek to establish a diverse staff team with a range of interests, skills and experiences. The registered person should lead staff to share those interests, skills and experiences with children to enrich the children’s lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.6) Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 7  The registered person should ensure that they have a workforce plan that can fulfil

p.6

Recommendations

the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.7

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: SC032468 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Adeza Care Homes Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Second Floor, Kestrel House, Falconry Court, Bakers Lane, Epping, Essex CM16 5BD

p.8

Inspectors

Nurnahar Bhuniya, Social Care Inspector Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 9 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

http://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted Inspection report for children’s home: SC032468 10

p.9