Children's Home run by Karenest Ilford Limited in Redbridge

Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 1 Registered provider: Karenest Ilford 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 run home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 8 September 2023. The registered manager left in November 2024. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2024 Full Good 26/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are understood and acted on by the staff. This enables children to be involved in decisions made about their care. For example, one child wanted only female care workers to manage her care due to their religious beliefs. The manager took this on board and the child’s views have informed care planning decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers advocate for children to make sure all their needs are met. When children need additional support, staff challenge other professionals to make sure it is provided. Leaders and managers advocated tirelessly to ensure that one child who needed a specialist assessment received one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know and understand children’s individual needs and speak affectionately about the children in their care. Children are positive about their experiences of living in the home, and staff regularly celebrate children’s achievements. Staff address the issues experienced by children by helping them to work through their problems, fears, and any anxieties. Staff stand by children and do not give up on them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use cultural celebrations to develop children’s understanding of diversity and promote this in the home. Staff support children to celebrate their own cultures when they wish to, and children’s individual identities are well understood by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to overcome any barriers to their education and learning. Staff have regular communication with schools and support children to attend school regularly. If children are not in formal education, staff support them with learning activities in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health and well-being and encourage them to attend routine health appointments. Children have a good relationship with the in-house therapist and engage with them regularly. This supports the children to remain healthy and ensures that their emotional health needs are met. Staff teach children how to take care of their health and hygiene. Children are encouraged to be active and to eat healthy meals. Staff routinely praise children when they make positive choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage children to participate in a wide range of enjoyable activities. This includes supporting children with their personal hobbies, such as beauty, gymnastics, horse riding, cooking, and baking. Children enjoy spending time with staff inside and outside of the home. Children are encouraged to try new things and to visit new places. One child, who had not been on holiday before, enjoyed a holiday to Egypt with staff during the Easter period and is already planning their next holiday to perform the holy pilgrimage. These opportunities contribute to children’s overall enjoyment and personal growth. Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 4 Staff support children to see their family and friends. Staff have good relationships with family members. This means that the children can maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have identified that they need to improve their assessment of the needs of children moving into the home with those of the children already living there. The initial assessments consider the needs of the children and how the staff will be able to meet their needs. However, they lack detail about the impact the children may have on each other and in the group dynamic. One child had higher needs and risks than the other children in the home, which led to an unplanned move for the child. Usually, leaders and staff support children when they move out of the home. They listen to children and work with them to create a plan, which enables children to take ownership of their move.

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

Children’s needs and risks are well known and understood by the staff team. The children’s care plans and risk assessments are clear and detailed and provide guidance for staff to follow. Information is shared routinely with agencies and professionals. This ensures that everybody is working to a plan that is tailored to the specific needs of each child. As a result, staff know how to support children and keep them safe.

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

Staff are trained in de-escalation and therapeutic parenting. They are persistent in their efforts to provide children with stability and security in their lives. One child said, ‘This is my permanent home, and I feel safe here as staff protect me like their own family.’

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

Children have individual positive behaviour support plans, with clear guidance for staff to follow. Staff implement appropriate boundaries and routines and celebrate positive behaviour with incentives and rewards. Staff use incentives to encourage children to participate in educational activities when they are reluctant to do so. Children’s achievements are acknowledged and rewarded, and they are supported to learn strategies to manage their own emotions. Staff also use consequences, which are proportionate, alongside therapeutic interventions in line with the provider’s identified model of care.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. However, when they do, staff respond consistently. Staff actively look for children and work closely with the police to locate children quickly and secure their safe return home. Children become increasingly safe because of the actions that staff take to support and protect them. Record-keeping of missing-from-home incidents is detailed, which helps to give a clear picture of the lead up to the incident and the post-incident needs of the child.

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

Children know how to make a complaint, and their complaints are always treated seriously. A well-established complaints procedure is in place, and the leadership team ensures that all complaints are investigated thoroughly and in a timely manner. Children are consulted throughout the process, and records demonstrate that they are Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 5 satisfied with the outcomes of their concerns. The children are confident that the manager would respond effectively if they raised any concerns.

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

Significant incidents are reported to the relevant authorities to ensure that children are protected from harm. Staff maintain strong partnerships with the police and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The departure of the registered manager and the appointment of a new manager have been seamless and have not compromised the care for children. The new manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective monitoring and review systems in place. This helps the manager to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the service, evaluate the care that staff provide to the children and take swift action to address any shortfalls as they arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong partnership working with children’s families, social workers and health professionals ensures that the children receive the expert help, care, and support that they need. Professionals speak highly about the home. One social worker said, ‘The home is dedicated and committed to the young people in their care, even in highly complex and difficult circumstances, and I feel I have good relationships with staff, which in turn supports the young person as well.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are consistently supported by an experienced and skilled staff team that provides consistency and stability to the children. Leaders and managers have high expectations of their staff and inspire them to feel empowered and fully use their individual expertise. Staff commented about how much they love and enjoy working in the home and how they are encouraged to take on additional responsibility to help ensure that the home runs efficiently and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One new staff member and the manager have benefited from a thorough induction to the home. They have been provided with opportunities to undertake training and shadow shifts. This helps to ensure that children are cared for by staff who can meet their needs and that safeguarding practices and policies are understood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and additional training, which ensures that they care for children safely and consistently. Staff training is specific to the needs of children living at the home, such as deprivation of liberty orders, models of care and criminal and sexual exploitation. This supports staff to consistently develop their knowledge and skills to help them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from good support and have regular team meetings. Team meetings provide staff with the opportunity to share information about children and help to improve staff’s caring practices. They also receive regular practice-related supervision sessions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must fully consider the needs of children moving into the home as well as those of the children already living there. 3 June 2025

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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: 2744586 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Karenest Ilford Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2a, 420 Eastern Avenue, Ilford IG2 6NQ

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Inspector

Sadia Akhtar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2744586 8 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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