OneOneCoCo

Oasis Places Limited Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is owned and managed by a private provider and offers care for up to six families. The centre offers residential parenting assessments exclusively for women and girls and their children.

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2021. The centre consists of two houses located across the road from one another.

p.1

Information about this residential family centre

At the time of the inspection, five families were undergoing parenting assessments.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

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

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2023

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

During the inspection, the inspector spoke with three parents.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Children and their parents receive services that meet their individual assessment needs. Families settle in well following their arrival at the centre. Parents are aware of the purpose of their placement, the nature of assessments, and staff’s expectations of them. Parents say that they have very good relationships with most staff members. A parent said, ‘My key worker is really supportive. She understands me, and I understand her. We have a laugh. Any worries, I can ask her or other staff.’

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff warmly welcome new families to the centre. The care planning process is effective. Parents, centre staff and local authority social workers attend placement planning meetings to ensure that everyone understands the purpose of the assessment, the areas to be explored, and how this will be achieved.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families feel listened to and have good opportunities to express their views and provide feedback on the assessment process. For example, staff regularly hold key- work sessions, weekly feedback sessions and house meetings. These are good opportunities for families to express their views. Parents receive very frequent feedback from staff about how their assessment is progressing.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents are aware of the centre’s complaints procedures but generally do not make complaints; they prefer to discuss any issues they have with staff directly. When complaints are made, managers address them promptly and sensitively, in line with the centre’s complaints procedures.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff help families to live healthy lifestyles. Families have good access to primary care services. Assessment programmes encourage regular baby checks, immunisations, play, and stimulation classes. Staff ensure that families’ contact with healthcare professionals is regular. This is to help promote children’s and parents’ good health.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents and staff receive bespoke specialist training to help them provide safe care to children with complex health needs. For example, staff have recently completed training in tube feeding to meet the specialist healthcare needs of a baby. Staff routinely receive training on paediatric first aid and medication. However, some records of the administration of medication are inconsistent and inaccurate.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families receive good support that meets their learning needs. For example, the centre supports parents in accessing classes to enhance their English skills. An older child from another family that recently stayed at the centre was not attending school. The staff secured a local school placement for the child and provided homework support once they enrolled. Staff also ensured that the child participated in age-appropriate play and leisure activities.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families’ identity needs are very well met. For example, interpretation and translation services are readily available for families who speak English as an additional language. Staff receive training to use the Parenting Assessment Manual Software to carry out assessments. This ensures that parents with learning disabilities can fully engage with their parenting assessment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff modify the assessment programme to cater to families’ specific needs. For example, for one teenage mother, the staff ensured that her mother could visit regularly so that the young person received good family support while at the centre.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Staff carry out detailed parenting assessments. These are tailored to meet the assessment needs of individual family members. Assessments are thorough and realistic about what parents can achieve. Final assessment reports are of a very high quality. They are evaluative and analytical, thoroughly exploring all concerns that the courts or placing authorities have regarding parents' ability to safely care for their children.

p.3

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and their parents are protected from abuse, harm and neglect. Due to staff’s close supervision and monitoring of families, very few critical incidents occur. Staff understand the centre’s detailed adult and child protection policies, which they adhere to.

p.3

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Assessment information is consistently focused on the welfare and protection of children and their parents’ ability to care for them safely. Staff’s use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) helps them observe parents’ skills.

p.3

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff carry out individual risk assessments, which are appropriately detailed and include strategies to help reduce risks to children and parents. When safeguarding incidents occur, managers take swift and appropriate action to ensure the safety of children and parents. For example, staff responded effectively to a recent incident when a parent did not return to the centre when expected. Staff and managers ensure that when there are safeguarding concerns, they regularly communicate and share information with the professional network.

p.3

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff promote families’ positive behaviour. They handle incidents in which parents display challenging behaviours well. Staff learn how to manage conflicts and work with adults who exhibit difficult behaviours. They work well together in providing consistent messages and setting boundaries to support parents’ learning and the safe care of children.

p.3

How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre’s physical environment requires some attention. For example, not all bedrooms have appropriate window coverings to keep people outside from seeing inside. In addition, there are protruding nails in the floor in one bedroom that pose a hazard. This does not provide families with safe, well-maintained accommodation.

p.3

good

The monitoring systems used by leaders and managers do not lead to prompt resolutions in the areas identified for improvement in the environment. For example, managers have long known about the need to replace a broken dryer and kitchen unit in one of the centres, cover some bedroom windows appropriately, and decorate key areas of the centre to make them more presentable and homely. Furthermore, despite staff regularly inspecting bedrooms, hazardous flooring in one room appears to have gone unnoticed.

p.4

good

Under normal circumstances, managers ensure that staffing levels are appropriate and safe. However, staff and some parents say that when unexpected events occur, such as staff sickness or emergency medical appointments, staff are ‘stretched’, and other planned activities sometimes fail to take place as a result. Leaders and managers are reviewing staffing levels with a view to considering further staff appointments.

p.4

good

Staff training was identified as an area for improvement at the last inspection. Records do not show that all staff have completed key training related to their work at the centre, including training on domestic violence, mental health and learning disabilities. The statement of purpose highlights the centre's specialised areas. These include working with asylum-seeking women and those experiencing ‘honour’- based violence. However, records do not indicate that training in these areas has been provided.

p.4

good

The staff are very well supported by their line managers, and they enjoy working with families. Staff receive regular and meaningful supervision; they participate in reflective team and case management meetings. Each year, managers evaluate the staff's performance to identify and plan for their development needs. A staff member said, ‘I receive regular supervision. My manager is supportive and always available. She gives good advice. I also love working with the team.’

p.4

good

Record-keeping has improved and is now of a high standard. However, leaders’ and managers’ oversight of medication records is not sufficient, and some records are incomplete and inaccurate.

p.4

good

Staff make use of surveillance equipment, including CCTV, to help monitor parents’ care of their children. Families and other stakeholders are aware from the start of parenting assessments of the centre’s use of CCTV. However, leaders and other staff have access to CCTV coverage off site. This does not ensure that families’ rights are fully maintained or that their confidentiality is guaranteed.

p.4

good

Managers and staff work effectively with other professionals. There is close partnership working with guardians, children’s social workers, independent reviewing officers and others. This ensures that families’ identified assessment needs are met and any safeguarding concerns are fully explored. Leaders are ambitious for the centre, and they prioritise the needs of children and their future care.

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the physical design and layout of the premises to be used as the residential family centre meet the needs of families;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the premises to be used as the residential family centre are of sound construction and kept in a good state of repair externally and internally;

p.6

Requirement Due date

all parts of the residential family centre are kept clean and reasonably decorated;

p.6

Requirement Due date

adequate private and communal accommodation is provided for families. (Regulation 21 (2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that: key communal areas of the centre are redecorated; there is appropriate covering for all bedroom windows; the broken dryer is repaired or replaced; the lock to the broken buggy shed is repaired; worn kitchen units are replaced; and bedroom floors are not hazardous. 1 June 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive appropriate training. (Regulation 17 (5)(a))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 1 June 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that there is, having regard to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the statement of purpose of the residential family centre, its size and the numbers and needs of its residents; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of residents, 1 June 2025 a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working for the residential family centre. (Regulation 15 (a)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make arrangements for the recording, handling, safe keeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the residential family centre. (Regulation 11 (2)) 1 June 2025

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there is a clear and effective policy on the use of surveillance in parenting assessments. The policy should set out how legitimate privacy will be protected and how residents will be protected from potential abuse of such measures. This relates to managers reviewing the use of remote CCTV surveillance systems. (Residential family centres, NMS 10.1)

p.7

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 Centres Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards.

p.7

Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Oasis Places Limited

p.8

Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, Social Care Inspector 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9