Jamma Umoja

Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 1 Jamma Umoja Jamma Umoja (Residential Services) Limited 94 Plaistow Lane, Bromley, Kent BR1 3JE Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre provides parental assessments for up to nine families at any one time and is staffed on a 24-hour basis.

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre was registered with Ofsted in January 2004.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of this inspection, there were six families living in the centre.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 6 October 2021

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

This lively centre provides a warm and welcoming environment for families. Staff provide parents with varied opportunities to support, develop and further their parenting capacity while undertaking sensitive, fair and robust assessments. Families receive individualised care and support tailored to meet their needs. Staff demonstrate kindness and empathy towards parents. One parent said of the centre and staff: ‘I have come a long way. They have changed my life. I wanted to be a good mum, but I didn’t know how.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The positive relationships developed between staff and families are a strength of this centre. Parents who leave, even those with a negative outcome, continue to access support, such as the women’s group held online. Parents value their relationships with staff. Parents described staff as honest, non-judgemental, caring and ‘going the extra mile’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Managers and staff are able to work flexibly within the assessment process. One social worker described the adaptability and tenacity workers have shown in seeking new ways to work meaningfully with a parent as ‘impressive’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents benefit from a well-structured assessment process which focuses on safeguarding and on parents’ capacity to meet their children’s and their own social, emotional, educational and health needs. Assessments are well written, and evidence-based. They are measured and fair in evaluating parents’ capacity to meet their children’s needs and promote their welfare. In undertaking their assessments, workers effectively consider parents’ strengths as well as their challenges. Parenting assessment findings are derived from explicit and varied evidence, gathered through observations, key-work sessions, group work, specialist reports, the use of parenting tools and the triangulation of historical and known information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Assessments come to realistic and clear recommendations for the court. Workers are mindful of pressures that parents may experience when leaving to return home, and they consider this fully in their recommendations. An independent reviewing officer said that workers’ practice of liaising with wider family members to ‘build a safety network’ as part of transition planning for families was very important. They commented that ‘Often, this work is left out by residential assessment units, which can make the process a bit patchy.’ They described the parents as being ‘appreciative of this and finding the assessment process fair, balanced and informative. They have gained a lot through this intervention and a shift is seen.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff consistently gain the views of parents, including through in-house and external sessions, formal and informal parenting and support groups, key-work sessions and weekly and planned reviews. Parents receive weekly updates on their progress which help them to see what is working well and what they can improve. Family plans are detailed and comprehensive, including risk management plans with Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 3 appropriate mitigation strategies identified. The centre provides weekly progress updates to placing social workers; these are helpful and reflective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

A holistic and dynamic overview of the assessment process helps managers and staff to ensure that all parents have fair and equal access to help and that bespoke support is put in place for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff ensure that their assessments are fair. Parents with additional needs are supported in their understanding. Workers use suitable tools to understand parents’ learning styles and they adapt key-work sessions accordingly. This includes providing more visual prompts, giving more emphasis to modelling and/or shortening key- work sessions to aid parents’ concentration. Staff use suitable tools and approaches to support their work with parents who have identified learning needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents are encouraged to take part in various activities, such as the Friday baby group, the freedom programme, practical skills sessions, Tuesday chats, rhyme time, cooking, arts and crafts, and well-being walks. Recreational activities take place to celebrate cultural and personal milestones. The centre hosts varied social events, including talent shows, karaoke, pamper nights, movie nights and the annual festival. At the time of the inspection, children were excitedly waiting to visit Santa in his grotto in the play cabin magically transformed by staff. Parents enthusiastically put forward ideas for social activities at the regular residents’ meetings, such as Christmas Jumper Day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents know how to complain, and managers respond promptly when they do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre is a large house with family accommodation arranged over three floors. Families are provided with appropriate furniture, baby equipment and bedding. Family rooms are spacious, and some have their own bathrooms and kitchenettes. The home is generally clean and tidy, and communal areas such as the living room are warm and cosy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Overall, the centre is decorated well. While some areas of paintwork and skirting boards show wear and tear, some refurbishment work is ongoing and managers have plans in place for further work to come. The centre is suitably resourced with toys, books and opportunities for children to play safely inside and outside the building.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

There is a thorough safeguarding culture at the centre, with a commitment to protecting and promoting the welfare of children and parents. Parents learn how to keep themselves and their children safe. Staff have undertaken appropriate training to safeguard both adults and children. They have a satisfactory understanding of safeguarding and whistle-blowing processes. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 4 Incidents are recorded in families’ files. While these records detail the relevant incident, they do not consistently capture management oversight and analysis, or all the actions taken in response. This makes it harder for managers to identify any gaps in the centre’s safeguarding response.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families’ risk assessments are updated regularly. The team around the family model used ensures that staff and parents are regularly updated about any risks. Any safety planning needed is discussed with them.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff have a good understanding of families’ historical patterns, keeping them in mind and being alert to any emerging risks. Parenting work and key-work sessions are thorough and responsive. They align to court directions and any new risks identified.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff ensure that parents give consent to the supervision and scrutiny that are in place at the centre. However, the monitoring and surveillance policy, and the subsequent agreement, do not explain clearly enough the retention period for visual and audio surveillance expectations.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Thorough safer recruitment arrangements mean that staff are appropriately experienced, qualified and vetted.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The staff team’s communication with other professionals is clear, frequent and effective. Workers promptly communicate any risks they identify to the network, and help to ensure that plans to address them are put into place. The local authority designated officer and social work professionals do not have any safeguarding concerns about the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The centre’s leaders and managers are aspirational, determined and enthusiastic, and committed to children, parents and staff. The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified. The senior management team comprises experienced and qualified social care practitioners who work well together. Managers ensure that they are visible and easily available to both residents and staff. There is a clear ethos of working ‘with’ rather than ‘doing to’, which the management team exemplifies and which aligns with the centre’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team shares an ambitious vision for the centre and continuously reflects on future development. Staff are well qualified and suitably experienced. Managers invest in workers’ career development, and in their personal development and well-being. Because of this, staff retention is good, and staff say that they feel valued and are proud to work for the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff performance is recognised and rewarded in various ways, including through the Employee of the Month Award, being voted on also by residents and in the giving of vouchers at Christmas or on birthdays. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 5 Staff receive regular and good-quality supervision and appraisals that enable reflection and support their resilience. Managers create opportunities for career development through internal promotion or by supporting staff to achieve further qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Weekly case management meetings give the staff opportunities to reflect on their practice and their work together. Separate staff meetings provide another forum for workers to raise ideas and discuss the centre’s operations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and management team provide effective oversight and quality assurance of parenting assessments and reports. They have put monitoring trackers in place and they hold quarterly quality assurance meetings to ensure a good overview of the centre’s practice. They plan for the future, as reflected in the registered manager’s six-monthly review reports. The requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they review and monitor, in line with the Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002, as amended, all records kept by the centre to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends. This is specifically in relation to incident recording. (Residential family centres: NMS 19.2)  The registered person should review and clarify the centre’s surveillance policy so that it is clear about how the information, specifically audio recordings, will be retained and for how long. Staff should follow the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. (Residential family centres: NMS 10.5)  The registered person should ensure that the centre continues to provide a comfortable and homely environment that is well maintained and decorated. Avoidable hazards should be removed as is consistent with a domestic setting. (Residential family centres: NMS 11.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Jamma Umoja (Residential Services) Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: Mazars Llp Apex 2, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5HD

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Residential family centre details

Email address: r.crosbie@jamma-umoja.org

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Inspector

Amanda Burrows, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Jamma Umoja 8 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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