Children's home run by Action for Children in Watford

Inspection report children's home: SC432331 1 SC432331 Registered provider: Action for Children

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A registered charity operates this home. It provides a residential short-breaks service for up to eight children at any one time. The conditions of registration allow for one child to live at the home permanently. The children have learning disabilities and some additional complex physical and health-related needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living permanently at the home at the time of inspection and 23 children access short breaks on a rotational basis.

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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 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: 30 January 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC432331 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2024 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 08/07/2021 Full Good 24/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC432331 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, eight children have started to access short breaks, with 23 children in total accessing short breaks on a rotational basis. One child has moved into the home permanently. At the time of the inspection, there were two children at the home. The inspector spent time and spoke with both children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have positive relationships with children. They know the children well and understand and meet their individual needs. One child said, ‘I like the home so much that I have asked to live here permanently.’ Staff are nurturing and provide excellent care for children. Children feel well cared for and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have built positive relationships with children’s parents. The manager provides emotional support to families. One parent said that having support from the manager has made her more resilient and able to manage personal issues. Families feel confident in the care provided and they feel included at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager understands that families and children need to feel reassured before children’s short breaks. Before children visit for short breaks, they and their families have a tour of the home. The children start with short visits before they progress to longer day visits or overnight stays. Parents and children feel well prepared for the short breaks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of activities including day trips, visits to the zoo, football matches and inclusive theatre productions. Two children have been on a holiday to a holiday park. The children thoroughly enjoy these fun and enriching experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff organised an inclusive festival for the local community, children and families. The staff went held several fund raisers to support the event. Two staff climbed Mount Snowden and one staff member skydived. The festival was a huge success and there was a British sign language expert to interpret the various performances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children all attend education placements that meet their specific needs. One child is attending college and has high aspirations for her future. The manager works closely with schools. Consequently, children have good education outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and staff have donated toys and books to children in Ukraine who have been affected by the war. There is a lovely video of children in Ukraine receiving the gifts. The children were excited and grateful. Staff and children take pride in giving back to children who are living in devastating circumstances. Inspection report children's home: SC432331 4 Staff encourage children to develop independent living skills. The staff help children to learn and develop important life skills at an appropriate level. Promoting independence skills means that children are prepared for when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has a robust system for oversight and auditing of medication. The staff have medication training and the manager checks staff competency before allowing staff to administer medication. This level of oversight has prevented any medication errors.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s records are generally of good quality. However, the manager has not ensured that one child’s placement plan includes all relevant information. Consequently, staff may not have all the information they need about the child or understand the specific targets that they may be working towards.

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

The staff have excellent relationships with children, who benefit from high staff ratios and close supervision. Staff have appropriate safeguarding training. One child was very proud to communicate with the inspector how safe she has felt since living at the home.

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

One child has an individualised behaviour support plan. Staff have good guidance with strategies to help children to safely manage behaviour. Since the plan has been implemented, there has been no further unwanted behaviour.

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

There have been five low-level physical interventions since the last inspection. These have been appropriate and necessary. Children are given reassurance following interventions. The manager ensures that staff are debriefed following an incident. However, on one occasion, the manager delayed her review of a physical intervention and parents were not informed promptly.

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

The manager has ensured that there are clear safeguarding protocols and procedures to guide staff. However, on one occasion, staff did not follow the safeguarding policy or procedure. The staff did not immediately report a safeguarding concern about a child to the manager or social worker. This caused a delay for the manager and social worker to respond to the concern.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She has managed the home for over four years. She has high aspirations for children and is nurturing in her approach. She models this positive practice and staff have the same nurturing approach. Staff benefit from the manager’s experience and they meet the needs of the children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent staff team. The manager has increased the short-break packages to more families because of the need for the service. The manager has worked hard to recruit new staff and reduce the need to use agency staff. Agency staff are Inspection report children's home: SC432331 5 appropriately trained and inducted. The agency staff are always supported by core staff, ensuring consistency for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff hold a relevant level 3 diploma or are working towards the qualification within agreed time frames. Some of the children have complex health needs. Nurses have provided bespoke training to enable staff to meet children’s health needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s reports are of good quality and include a good range of feedback from children, parents and social workers. The independent person makes recommendations to help the manager improve the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an excellent advocate for children. For example, she complained on behalf of one child about the child not being able to use the Wi-Fi and resolved the issue. The manager investigates and responds to complaints from parents effectively. She takes complaints seriously and, because of this, children and parents feel understood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel fully supported by the manager and said that the manager is approachable and open to ideas. The staff are happy and fulfilled in their roles and morale is high. Full- time staff receive regular supervision, however, agency staff do not. This means that opportunities for staff development may be missed. Inspection report children's home: SC432331 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff implement the home’s safeguarding policy and procedure and report safeguarding concerns promptly. 6 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 6 December 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC432331 7 In particular, ensure that placement plans include all relevant information about children, the care provided and monitoring progress; and

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Requirement Due date

children’s plans include clear targets that staff can help them to achieve and enable staff to monitor children’s progress.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff, including agency staff, receive regular supervision. 6 December 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all reviews of physical interventions are prompt and that when appropriate parents are informed in appropriate timescales. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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 children's home: SC432331 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC432331 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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