Children's home run by Action for Children in Watford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 1 SC020675 Registered provider: Action for Children Services Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care for children who have learning and/or physical disabilities. This is for up to three children to live permanently at the home, and for one child to stay for short breaks.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent manager who became registered in September 2024, who is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection there were two children and one young adult living at the home. They were all present and spent time with the inspector. One child stays at the home for short breaks, they were not present.

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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 outstanding

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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: 27 February 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Outstanding 14/02/2023 Full Good 16/11/2021 Full Good 05/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living or staying at this home have a good experience and are making progress. For those who live here permanently this has been their home for a significant period. As a result, they have a true sense of belonging. The staff provide high quality care that they approach with high energy and enthusiasm. For example, when children arrive home from school, staff delight in greeting them and children reciprocate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise that progress is different for everyone. For one child enjoying an outing outside of the home is significant progress, for others it is contributing to cooking meals for the household. There is a strong focus upon helping children to develop their independence skills, in line with their abilities. Staff help children to enjoy a range of activities in keeping with their interests. Highlights include caravan holidays, attending a festival, camping, sensory play and a trip to an ice cream farm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children go to school, and this is clearly embedded into their routine. Staff have regular communication with school staff. This enables sharing of day-to-day information about children’s wellbeing and joint child centred decision making. For example, to support a child’s transition to and from school the manager agreed that it was in their best interests for staff to provide the transport. As a result, the child now accesses school with greater ease.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at communicating with children in their preferred method. Children’s wishes and feelings are actively sought and acted upon at the home. A bespoke approach is used for consulting with each child in line with their individual needs. Children contribute to the review of the quality of care at the home and are asked their views, to be shared at each team meeting. The manager provides feedback to children about how their choices and requests will be acted on. As a result, children are making choices and their views are understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home provides a nice environment for children to live. It reflects the children who live there, with artwork and photo displays throughout. The addition of a new sensory path has enhanced the extensive garden space. However, there are some areas of the home that are quite worn and in need of maintenance, such as bathrooms with staining to the floors and bath. This reduces the overall quality of the living environment.

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

Staff provide consistent care to children in line with their plans. Staff understand what action to take to keep children safe in their care. They are attuned to children’s wellbeing and are responsive to their needs. For example, staff actively use planned Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 4 strategies to reduce one child’s self-injurious behaviour, systematically trialling the range of techniques to eliminate the cause of the distress.

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

There has been one allegation made by a child, and this has been taken very seriously. There has been a full investigation, and most of the actions have been completed. One action was for recording and reporting training to be completed by the staff team. There has been a delay in this taking place. However, this is somewhat mitigated by discussion in the team meeting about the importance of accurate recording.

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

There have been no incidents of children being missing at this home. However, staff know what action to take. This was recently revisited in a team meeting to promote staff knowledge and confidence. Managers identified the need for this refresher, due to staff not having exposure to this process.

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

There have been no complaints at the home, and staff help children understand how to make a complaint. The manager follows up any parental feedback or concerns and resolves matters swiftly.

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

Children’s plans indicate the need for nighttime audio monitors, due to their specific care needs. However, there is a lack of detail about the arrangement, and no explicit consent or review of this monitoring. This could impinge upon a child’s privacy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There has been a change of manager at the home. This transition has been exceptionally well managed, enabling the staff and children to adapt with relative ease. Furthermore, the previous manager has continued to have a supportive and mentoring role to the new manager. This has enabled the home to sustain the high quality of leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is an inspirational role model for the staff team. They spend quality time with the children and model a nurturing approach. Staff morale is extremely positive, and this creates a happy atmosphere at the home where children laugh and have fun. The manager and staff are aspirational for children and highly motivated to create opportunities and experiences to enrich their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a consistent staff team at the home, while there have been some changes, a core staff team has remained. New staff are gradually introduced at a pace that is in keeping with children’s needs. Staff benefit from a high-quality introduction to working at the home. Furthermore, staff have excelled in mentoring those who are new to the home, enabling them to get to know the children and become confident in their roles. This has helped to minimise the impact of staff changes upon children and enabled the development of a competent workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are trained in a range of relevant topics, and this equips them well for their roles. This includes bespoke training to meet children’s individual needs; this is Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 5 delivered by specialists such as nurses and occupational therapists. There is a strong reflective and learning ethos at the home. For example, following any incident or concern for a child the staff team reflect together and identify any learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is proactive in carrying out research to explore innovative ideas to enhance staff practice and children’s experiences at the home. For example, sourcing specialist resources to expand the strategies to manage a child’s self-injurious behaviours. Furthermore, staff are keen to discuss and generate ideas to help children make progress. For example, staff identified a specialist plate to promote a child’s independence for meals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders at the home are effective in their partnership working with professionals and families. The manager is highly respectful of children’s families and the importance of their role in children’s lives. The manager actively reaches out to provide practical and emotional support to them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the home being appropriately furnished and maintained. 26 June 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there is a policy for surveillance and monitoring equipment, describing how this will support the safeguarding and well- being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. The registered person must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority. This should be kept under review to ensure it remains the least intrusive option. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16) Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 7

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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: SC020675 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC020675 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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