Children's home run by Ja Nailah Limited in Waltham Forest

Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 1 SC028598 Registered provider: Ja Nailah Limited

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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 home that can care for up to five girls who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home can also provide care for up to two young mothers and their babies for a specific time, with babies sharing a bedroom with their mother.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in May 2002.

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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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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A restriction of accommodation notice was issued on 21 August 2024, together with two compliance notices, under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, of The Children’s Homes Regulations (England) 2015. Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 2 Following a monitoring visit on 16 October 2024, the compliance notice under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, was deemed met and the restriction of accommodation notice was lifted. The compliance notice under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, was not met and it was reissued. Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2024 Full Inadequate 04/03/2024 Full Good 16/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/02/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s overall progress and experiences have improved since the last inspection. Children are making good progress from their individual starting points. One child attends school and is doing very well. They have ambitions to pass their GCSE exams with good grades, because they want to study for a medical career.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s relationships with staff have significantly improved. One child has developed positive relationships with staff, and they now speak more openly about their feelings. Staff recognise that the child needs lots of support and encouragement and are working closely with them to identify college courses that they are interested in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children talk to staff about their views, wishes and feelings. This is done through planned meetings or informal chats. One child said that they really like the home and they get on well with the staff. This child also spends time with their family, and they said that, during these periods, staff phone them twice daily without fail and they visit them weekly. This is a good way for staff to maintain a close relationship with the child, which makes it comfortable for them when they return to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another child is also supported to visit their family members, as agreed with their social worker. Children can have friends visiting them at the home. Some children who have left the home visit occasionally and this demonstrates the good relationships they had developed with staff. Staff are really proud of this and they said that developing lasting relationships with children in their care is what they do best.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a range of activities. Sometimes children need prompting to take part in activities and staff have conversations with them to regularly check what they enjoy doing. One child enjoys cooking and baking and staff support them to do this when they are motivated to do so. Children and staff have conversations and laugh with each other as they prepare food together. The two children in the home get on well and they spend time together when possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met by staff. Staff take children to health appointments and they encourage them to maintain healthy lifestyles. Staff are working closely with health professionals to support children with specific health needs. Further training regarding specific health conditions is helping staff to understand what more they could do to support children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The condition of children’s bedrooms has improved. New furniture has been bought to ensure that children have enough space to keep their clothes and other personal items. However, staff need to do more to ensure that children’s bedrooms are kept tidy and clean. Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 5

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

Safeguarding practice has improved and there are now effective systems to monitor the risks to children. Further training has helped staff to understand how to support children more effectively when risks to their health and well-being are identified. There are good working relationships with other agencies to protect children from harm. Staff understand the importance of working closely with different agencies to keep children safe.

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

There is an improved process to manage risks. Children’s risk assessments have been updated to better reflect their current needs. Managers have now contacted local external professionals to ensure that they have adequate information about local risks. The registered manager said that they will use the information they get to update the location risk assessment.

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

The processes to manage incidents when children go missing from the home have improved. There is now a record that staff complete to show what action they took when a child did not return home at the agreed times. Staff are working with one child’s social worker to see what more can be done to help them to stick to their curfew times. Staff now have conversations with children when they return to the home. However, these records need further improvement as they are not always detailed.

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

There have not been any incidents involving harm to others or damage to the home since the last inspection. Consequently, physical interventions have not been used. Staff said that they benefited from further training and they feel more skilled to manage incidents effectively.

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

When incidents happen, staff have conversations with children to help them to reflect on their behaviour. However, planned conversations that staff have with children could be managed better so that children have more opportunities to talk about a range of issues. These conversations help children to learn how to manage their emotions better and to develop skills they will need for adult life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have done the work needed to make improvements to the quality of care provided to children living in the home. All the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. The compliance notice under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, of The Children’s Homes Regulations (England) 2015 was reissued following the monitoring visit, and it is now met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has considered the shortfalls found at the last inspection and has improved the quality monitoring processes. Leaders and managers now have effective oversight of the records kept in relations to children’s care and give feedback to staff. This helps staff to keep clear and detailed records about children’s care and Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 6 experiences. One member of staff said that the quality of the care records has improved, and they are doing more to continue to improve this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following the last inspection, staff received further training to help them to better understand the needs of the children living in the home. This included training in conflict resolution and de-escalation, physical intervention, attachment and complex trauma. A senior member of staff said that they also had training on how to supervise other staff, and they found this helpful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is now a clear process for assessing children before they move into the home, so that the home only accepts children whose needs staff have the right skills to meet. Also, this helps staff to ensure that any new child who moves in can safely live with the children already living there. This reduces the likelihood of conflict and escalating risk between the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been improvements to the home, with work being done to make it more welcoming and comfortable for children to live in. All the required repairs have been completed, including to a fire door that has been fitted as recommended in the fire risk assessment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The communal areas of the home are clean and tidy. Bedrooms that are not occupied have been tidied up and broken furniture replaced. The back garden has been cleared of broken furniture and it can now be safely used by children. There are plans to repaint some parts of the home. One child said that their bedroom would be repainted soon.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and staff take part in discussions about important issues. These include children’s needs and risks, and staff practice and how staff can work well with others to keep children safe. There are now effective senior staff meetings, and issues discussed at these are promptly shared with staff. Staff receive regular supervision and the quality of supervision and records of these has improved. Staff said that they feel supported by managers. Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. In particular, conversations with children should give them opportunities to talk about a range of issues that promote their development and prepare them for adult life. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, staff should ensure that children are supported to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC028598 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Pentire Road, London E17 4BY

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Inspectors

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Christine Kennet, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC028598 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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