Children's Home run by Anima Residential Care Limited in Bexley

Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 1 Registered provider: Anima Residential Care Limited

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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 children’s home is registered to provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered with Ofsted in October 2024. Since the home was registered, one child has lived at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 2

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improvement to be good

The staff have got to know the child well and have ensured that the child’s day-to-day care needs are met. However, the decision to offer the child a placement was overambitious. While staff have been able to manage the physical and verbal assaults, the allegations have had a blindsiding impact on managers and staff, leading to a breakdown that has resulted in a decision to serve notice of the child’s placement.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff have not been able to form a working relationship with the child’s family, which has significantly reduced the opportunities for the child to spend time with their family.

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improvement to be good

The child is not accessing any formal education. The manager has unsuccessfully tried to secure a school place through the placing authority’s virtual school and the local education authority. To prepare the child to access education, staff have given the child some worksheets that they have sporadically completed. More recently, arrangements have been made for the child to receive electric guitar lessons, although, to date, they have only had two lessons.

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improvement to be good

Support from the child and adolescent mental health service has not been secured for the child. It has not been possible to see how this has been escalated to senior leaders in the local authority or health service.

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improvement to be good

The home environment does not provide a clean, well-maintained or comfortable environment that gives the child a sense that they are valued or cared for. Many of the items of furniture are old, chipped and mis-matched. At the inspection, the curtains were all drawn closed and, when checked, it was found that the windows needed cleaning. The front and rear garden are unkempt. It was also noted that the child’s laundry was transported from the laundry room to their bedroom in a black bin liner. When this was raised with the manager, immediate action was taken.

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improvement to be good

The child is subject to a deprivation of liberty order and requires three-to-one staffing. Staff are well aware of the child’s underlying vulnerabilities, and this understanding has helped to reduce the number of incidents.

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improvement to be good

The child had formed positive and trusting relationships with key staff. However, the decision to give notice on the placement has had an impact on these relationships.

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improvement to be good

There is inconsistency in the quality of records. Some reports appear to be judgmental and place blame on the child, while others are written with kindness, care and a deeper Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 3 understanding of the child. The new deputy manager has started working with staff to improve their recording skills.

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improvement to be good

All incidents, whether involving physical restraint or allegations made by the child, are followed by a thorough debrief for both the child and any staff members involved. These sessions are followed by mediation between the child and the staff member, allowing them to discuss the incident and find a way to move forward.

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improvement to be good

In response to all allegations, the registered manager has responsibly informed the local area designated officer and worked closely with the placing local authority. The manager has ensured that all agreed actions have been carried out carefully, attentively and within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual left their position in March 2025, with a replacement still to be recruited. The responsible individual arrangement is complex in this home, as the registered manager is also the director/owner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A new deputy manager joined the team two weeks ago. There has also been a recent change in the independent visitor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. They value their individual supervisions and the specialist individual and group supervisions that are provided by a community psychiatric nurse and clinical psychologist. The records demonstrate that these are child focused and are aimed at supporting workers to fully understand and respond to a child who has experienced trauma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff who are employed to work in the home undergo robust recruitment and identification checks, which include a review of any gaps in employment. When agency staff are used, they are only used as a third worker alongside two permanent workers. The manager makes every effort to reduce the number of agency workers who come into the home, with the home using eight different workers in the last six months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All staff receive a detailed induction process and an extensive array of training to support them to care for a child who has experienced trauma. Two out of the 12 staff hold a diploma at level 3, with plans in place for the remaining staff to obtain either a level 3 or level 5 diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The independent visitor reports are not always submitted to Ofsted in a timely way. It is not clear how leaders use these reports to measure the quality of care provided or to improve the provision of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has raised concerns with the child’s social worker and her manager about securing formal education for the child and the absence of access to mental health services. However, these concerns have not been escalated to senior leaders when issues have not been resolved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 4

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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 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, the registered manager should ensure that the impact and matching assessment for future children includes an analysis of what care can be provided in terms of this being a new home with a newly manager and a newly appointed team. 31 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. 31 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 5 A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the reports should include the oversight of the registered manager and responsible individual and be submitted to Ofsted in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a home with another individual or other individuals, otherwise than in a partnership, if that individual and each other individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

A partnership may only carry on a home if each partner satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

An organisation may only carry on a home if—

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Requirement Due date

each director of the organisation, except for a director who is the responsible individual, who is involved in the carrying on of a home by that organisation satisfies the requirements in paragraph (6); and

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Requirement Due date

the organisation has notified HMCI of the name, address and position in the organisation of the responsible individual. (Regulation 26 (1) (2) (3) (4)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the director who is holding the position of registered manager must appoint a responsible individual and arrange to receive regular supervision for herself in this role. 31 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a welcoming environment that is nurturing and supportive of children’s needs. In particular, the home needs to be in good decorative repair, of a clean standard and be furnished to a high standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that their key role includes seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons, which may include services, individuals (including parents), agencies, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community, e.g. police, schools, health and youth offending teams (regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). These working relationships will also be key to success in delivering the care planning standard (regulation 14). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising

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Recommendations

way that distinguishes between fact, opinion, and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('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: 2797308 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Anima Residential Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 50 Holmleigh Avenue, Dartford DA1 5AS

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Inspector

Jenny-Ellen Scotland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2797308 8 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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