Children's Home run by Caridon Young Living Ltd in Sutton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 1 Registered provider: Caridon Young Living 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

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who have social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This home and the manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. One child was spoken to.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive relationships with staff. Staff are committed to engaging and developing rapport with children and maintain consistency in their approach. This provides good opportunities to develop positive relationships and increases the likelihood of children accepting specialist support. As a result, children settle into the home and make good progress. One parent said, ‘They have come a long way since they moved in.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s education. They have meaningful discussions with children about the importance of going to school and work together with professionals and parents to address concerns around attendance. Staff provide help for children to undertake their homework. They encourage children to think about future education opportunities and accompany them to open days at colleges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. All children are registered with local GPs, dentists, and opticians, and attend their routine appointments. Staff arrange for specialist services to become involved when children have additional physical and emotional health needs. This means that children’s health improves while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their independence skills. They work with children to learn how to travel on public transport, cook, do their laundry, and keep their bedrooms tidy. Children are encouraged to participate, and a reward scheme is used as an incentive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a range of activities. These include playing football and spectating matches, getting their hair and nails done, go-karting, swimming and trips to theme parks and youth groups. This means children have good opportunities to have enjoyable experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, tidy, spacious, and well maintained. It is a physically safe environment with all its safety checks in place. There are two living rooms, and one has been turned into a games room, which includes a basketball game, table football and gaming equipment. This provides a comfortable space for children to engage in fun activities with their family members when they visit. One social worker said, ‘It’s a really good home and I wish there was more homes that could be run in that manner.’

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

Children’s vulnerabilities are well understood. Staff work closely with external professionals and parents to plan the response to identified risks. Risk assessments clearly identify triggers for unsafe behaviours and actions to reduce the risk. These are kept under regular review. As a result, staff take effective action to safeguard children.

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

Incidents are well managed. Staff take proportionate action when children’s behaviour becomes heightened and use de-escalation techniques to help them. Leaders provide Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 3 debriefs for staff involved, although debriefs for children are not always recorded on their files. Key-work sessions take place following incidents, which support children to reflect on and learn from what has happened.

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

Staff support children to be safe. Key-work sessions engage children in helpful discussions about issues including substance misuse and healthy relationships. However, key-work sessions that focus on children’s known risks do not take place frequently. Staff arrange for children to have additional specialist help where needed.

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

Staff are alert to discriminatory behaviours. They consistently address derogatory views and behaviours and help children to consider the impact. This means that children are supported to develop respect for others.

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

Recruitment is safe. All the required checks are completed and any gaps in employment are addressed. Staff do not start working in the home before all their recruitment checks are returned and references are verified.

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

There has been one allegation against a staff member since the home registered. Leaders and managers shared this with the local authority designated officer and undertook an internal investigation as recommended, taking effective action to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good leadership is in place. The responsible individual is involved in the running of the home and provides strong support for the registered manager. They each bring substantial experience to their roles and understand children’s needs and experiences well. This means that effective decisions are made in children’s best interests. For example, when considering new admissions to the home, leaders ensure that the needs of children moving into the home do not disrupt the stability of the children already living there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team has positive working relationships with parents and external professionals. Communication is excellent. Staff are diligent in providing regular updates on children’s progress and well-being and responding to emails and phone calls. One social worker said, ‘Communication is amazing. They send constant emails, I’m always updated, they are never too busy for a phone call, they are always working together to touch base.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home. They feel well supported and value the guidance and expertise of their leaders, and the caring ethos of the home. Staff are provided with regular, good-quality supervision. Children’s needs and any safeguarding matters are always discussed, which ensures that managers have robust oversight and concerns are addressed. These subjects are also addressed in the weekly team meetings, which means staff have an up-to-date and shared understanding of the children’s well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained. They have a comprehensive induction programme that includes mandatory training and prepares them well for working in the home. Staff either already Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 4 have the required level 3 diploma or are currently enrolled. The provider has recently appointed a training and development manager, who will deliver bespoke in-house training on physical intervention and the home’s therapeutic approach. This means that efficient arrangements can be made to provide face-to-face training for new staff to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of case records is variable. While some records capture children’s experiences and the work staff undertake with them well, others lack detail and, in some cases, are unclear or incomplete. For example, one missing record was not completed when a child returned home. As a result, the opportunity to gather information that may contain important details about the child’s experiences was missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety by helping them to understand their individual risks and how to protect themselves from significant harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, accurate, objective, and clear recording. Staff should also include the work they do with children in their case records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2786780 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Caridon Young Living LTD

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Kings Avenue, London N21 3NA

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Inspector

Jo Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2786780 7 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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