Children's home run by Seva Childcare Ltd Assurance visit report: 2548794 9

Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 1 Registered provider: SEVA CHILDCARE LTD Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. This home provides accommodation for up to five children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The service was registered with Ofsted in July 2020. The manager registered in August 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 14 October 2024. Two inspectors returned on 5 November 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: The home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 10 and 11 July 2024. As a result, one compliance notice was issued under Regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, of The Children’s Homes Regulations (England) 2015. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 2 A monitoring visit was carried out on 28 August 2024 to monitor the progress made against the compliance notice, and inspectors found that leaders and managers had taken appropriate actions to make improvements and the compliance notice was deemed met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/07/2024 Full Inadequate 15/05/2023 Full Good 29/06/2022 Full Good 10/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Due to the concerns raised at this inspection, two new compliance notices have been issued: one under Regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and the other under Regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff use a range of communication skills to establish trust and rapport and to adapt their communication to suit the age and ability of the child. However, the level of communication skills between the staff varies. Children are supported to make choices about their day-to-day care by staff who know them well. Staff use positive story boards and mood diaries to help children understand their care and to gather their views. However, evidence of children contributing to their care planning is not consistently well recorded. For example, although children’s meetings take place, the minutes of these do not reflect children’s views and feelings and have information copied from previous meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and the manager have not ensured that they have the most recent local authority care plans, health plans and education plans for all the children. This raises a concern about how easily staff have access to this essential information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

All children attend school. Staff consult well with children’s schools to ensure that children maintain good school attendance and are helped to thrive educationally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are registered with health services. Staff support children to see specialist health services as needed. Staff use social stories to prepare children for their appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to participate in varied activities. These include in-house activities such as going swimming. This could be strengthened further by the home demonstrating how they help children choose activities tailored to their specific interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff understand the importance of family relationships and support children to stay in touch with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is warm and friendly. There are photos of the children displayed in the corridor, and there is a noticeboard where pictures explain to the children the plan for the day. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and clean.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Safeguarding practice in the home is weak, and oversight of safeguarding incidents is inadequate. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 5 There have been times when leaders and managers have failed to report safeguarding concerns promptly and taken the necessary action to ensure that children are safeguarded. When allegations about staff are raised, these concerns are not always reported to the local authority designated officer (LADO). In one incident, leaders and managers failed to provide the LADO with all the information relating to concerns raised about a child’s injuries. This compromised an external professional’s ability to assess all the information and determine the safety of a child. When parents, the police or members of the public raise concerns about staff practice, including serious allegations raised against members of staff, these are not always shared with the appropriate agencies to ensure that the necessary actions are taken to keep children safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Internal investigations are not thorough. Leaders and the registered manager have failed to ensure that the feelings and views of children are captured and understood after an allegation is made. The registered manager does not have access to these investigations to take learning and to improve safeguarding practice in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The responsible individual completes all internal investigations. Records fail to show the learning from these investigations or what action has been taken. The limited details make it hard to see that everything is done to protect children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The recruitment of staff is not safe. Leaders and the registered manager do not consistently explore gaps in applications, including employment histories or the reasons why a person left their previous employment when they worked with children or vulnerable adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s vulnerabilities are captured in risk assessments. Some, but not all, risk assessments are kept up to date to reflect incidents and children’s changing needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Records of incidents are not always clear. One incident that involved the staff using physical restraint to support a child has not had the appropriate oversight from the registered manager despite them signing off the incident report. This compromises the home’s responsibility to hold an accurate record of all events that have an impact on children’s welfare and safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are rewarded for positive behaviour. Each child has a reward chart in their bedroom, and their achievements are celebrated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and the registered manager do not have sufficient oversight of significant incidents to safeguard children effectively. They were unable to provide several records requested by the inspectors during the inspection. The registered manager is not adequately aware of all significant incidents. For example, the registered manager had reported that there had been no incidents of restraint with a child, despite receiving a report from a member of staff who had used physical restraint during an incident. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 6 report was signed off by the registered manager. Leaders and the registered manager were unable to account for this discrepancy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

While it is positive that the home has not needed to use agency staff who children do not know, the registered provider has not ensured that staff rosters accurately reflect the shifts that staff work. Some members of staff have not worked within the requirements of their visa restrictions, and this information is not recorded on rotas and timesheets. The registered manager was unable to explain why the records were not accurate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring systems are not effective, particularly in relation to setting and reviewing actions, oversight of incidents and subsequently how learning from incidents is captured in supervision and appraisals. Supervision does take place regularly and covers a range of issues, including personal reflections, training and development needs and individual children’s progress. However, actions are not specific or given timeframes. Supervision for those with line management responsibilities does not capture discussions about those line managed and do not indicate whether managers have clear oversight of staff practice. Team meetings are well attended and a place where members of staff can share good practice, learn and share ideas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and the registered manager are inconsistent in their reporting of significant incidents to the regulator. Some incidents are reported late with limited information, and other significant incidents are not reported. The failure to adequately report serious incidents is a breach of regulation and compromises the regulator’s oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are provided with a range of online and face-to-face training. However, not all staff have received training in first aid. This means that there is not always a suitably qualified member of staff on duty to provide first aid to the children if required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Most professionals and social workers spoke positively about the care provided to children and the progress they have made. One social worker and one school reported good communication from staff at the home. However, most professionals and some parents also raised communication as being poor or needing improvement. Staff do not consistently update parents about their children’s progress. This means that not all significant people in children’s lives are kept well informed about their progress, and this undermines their confidence in the provider. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 7

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 15 December 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;

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 15 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that gaps in staff employment histories are checked during the recruitment process. 31 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that all children’s records are reviewed, updated and contain all 31 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 9 necessary documents. The registered person must also ensure that children’s records are readily available for staff to access.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plan. (Regulation 5 (a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that they maintain effective communication with professionals and parents and ensure that they are well informed about the child’s safety and progress. 31 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")— 31 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 10 has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that records of restraint include full details of the method of restraint used and its duration, as well as confirmation that staff and children have been spoken to about the incident, capturing their views to inform their review of the incident. As such, records of restraint must demonstrate management oversight and review of practice.

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Requirement Due date

The children's views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are appropriately explored and well evidenced in records and that action is taken as a result. 31 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 31 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 11 there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure that notifications of serious events provide clear information about the incident that took place to the regulator and to other professionals as required.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the registered manager must ensure staff supervision includes target-setting and that discussions reflect staff responsibilities. The registered person must also ensure that yearly appraisals reflect staff practice and that staff are appropriately supported to improve their practice.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 December 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)) 31 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 12

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that notifications of serious events provide clear information about the incident that took place. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, 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: 2548794 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspectors

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Jo Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2548794 14 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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