Children's home run by Kent County Council in Ashford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 1 SC439282 Registered provider: Kent County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This short-breaks service is jointly funded by the health authority and the local authority. The home provides short breaks for up to four children with physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were staying at the home. One of the children had come to stay at the home in an unplanned emergency a few days before the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 19 December 2023

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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: SC439282 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2023 Full Good 16/08/2022 Full Good 02/12/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who stay for short breaks have positive relationships with the staff who support them. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and individual interests. Staff are responsive to the children’s individual communication styles and support them to engage in a range of daily activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to reach personal targets. These can range from learning independence skills to making choices about what activities they would like to do when coming for their stay. One child has been supported to manage their own medication and write their own daily records. This is a fantastic achievement that fully involves this child in their care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children in the home are listened to and their feedback is welcomed and valued. Staff share written and pictorial feedback with the children detailing the actions they have taken following feedback. Staff celebrate children’s individual and group achievements, using memory books, photos and wall displays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Stays for children are usually well planned. Any new children staying at the home are well prepared. Staff meet with the child and their family. Following this, the child is offered a range of visits to the home and a sleepover. This helps children to be ready for their regular stays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning records show a high level of collaboration and consultation with the children about what is important to them. Their views, wishes and feelings are incorporated into all aspects of their care planning, which helps staff to focus on what matters the most. Children are supported to develop independence skills in line with their individual child-in-need plans. However, some children’s care plans are not informed by an up-to-date education, health and care plan (EHC plan) to ensure that children can be supported to achieve the targets set out in these plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child, who has come to stay at the home in an emergency, has not experienced consistency and good care. Temporary agency staff supporting the child have not unpacked the child’s belongings from plastic bags or arranged for them to have access to suitable hygiene equipment. This was addressed by managers during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Senior leaders ensure that any concerns regarding children are escalated appropriately and are thoroughly investigated following consultation with the relevant professionals and parents where appropriate. Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 4 Staff record all incidents and concerns in comprehensive safeguarding logs that demonstrate how they safeguard the children. Risk plans for children who use the short- breaks service on a regular basis are updated to reflect any changes in their care needs. This ensures that staff have the most relevant and up-to-date information to support children’s care.

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improvement to be good

The home is welcoming, bright and clean. It has a range of appropriate resources for children to enjoy their stays, such as a sensory room and playroom. However, some risks have not been considered in how parts of the building are accessed. Codes for keypads have been written and placed next to doors for temporary agency staff who are supporting one child. There has been no consideration of the other children’s safety and who has access to these areas. Additionally, risks for this child have not been mitigated to ensure that the staff supporting this child know how to keep the child safe.

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improvement to be good

There are continued shortfalls in the registered provider’s safer recruitment processes. For example, agency staff have been used to temporarily support one child’s emergency stay at the home despite there being no evidence that these staff have been safely recruited. Additionally, some staff files contain gaps in employment history and do not specify that Disclosure and Barring Service certificates have been verified.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in the management and administration of children’s medicines. Staff did not recognise when one child’s dose of medication had changed. Additionally, not all staff responsible for the management and administration of medication have received the required training and competence assessments as detailed in the provider’s policy to carry out these tasks. Some staff do not have a first-aid qualification. This is not reflected in the shift planning to ensure that a first-aid trained member of staff is available on each shift.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is proud of the developments made to the home over the last year. This includes enhancing children’s experiences and independence skills and making improvements to the building to provide a more home-from-home atmosphere. Changes have also been implemented to improve the monitoring and oversight of children’s care to support children to make continued progress and receive care from a dedicated team of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are supported by an experienced manager and senior leadership team. They provide constructive supervision to staff, and managers have recently refreshed their supervision skills training as part of their development. The team meets on a regular basis and uses these opportunities to discuss all the children and their targets.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from families and professionals is positive about the care and support the children receive. One parent said, ‘It is an amazing place.’ A professional commented, ‘Staff members are always positive and develop good relationships with children.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 5 One child has come to stay at the home as an unplanned emergency. This was not managed in line with the registered provider’s statement of purpose to ensure that this child was given consistent good care. Furthermore, other children’s stays were impacted, with some stays having to be cancelled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Comprehensive records for permanent staff are well organised. However, the agency staff duty rotas and records do not identify the full names of the staff working in the home or if they are suitably qualified and have the skills to support the child. Action was taken by managers during the inspection to rectify this. Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 6

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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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children who stay at the home in an emergency receive consistent and safe care.. 22 November 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

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 22 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 7 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff are competent in medicines management and administration as per the provider’s policy requirements.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, ensure that children staying at the home are admitted and cared for in a way that is consistent with the provider’s ethos in the statement of purpose and provides continuity to all the children staying at the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d)) 22 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first-aid qualification. (Regulation 31 (2)(a)) 20 December 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that up-to-date EHC plans inform children’s care planning as staff need to have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps for learning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.11)  The registered person should ensure that accurate rotas detailing the required information are maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC439282 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kent County Council, Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone ME14 1XQ

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Inspectors

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC439282 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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