Children's Home run by My Tribe Homes Ltd in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 1 Registered provider: My Tribe Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff are referred to as adults in this report.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/04/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences in this home are varied. One child has made significant progress from their starting points. They are no longer at risk of criminal exploitation, and the adults who work in the home have worked creatively to draw on this child’s strengths and engage them in pro-social activities that improve their safety and well-being. This has had a positive impact on the child’s self-esteem and sense of belonging. This child describes the adults as ‘family’ and the provider as ‘home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The other child who lives in the home also has positive and supportive relationships with most of the adults. This has helped the adults to develop a good understanding of the child’s strengths and vulnerabilities. This has supported the child to make some progress. However, after a short period living in the home, it became clear that the adults were not equipped to meet this child’s complex needs or keep them safe. This became more apparent after the child moved in. Leaders and managers were proactive in their response and worked closely with other professionals to help them to better understand the complexities of this child’s needs and risks. The needs of the child were so complex that they could not be fully met in the home. This resulted in the child moving to a more specialised provision while further assessment of need is carried out. The adults remain part of this process and continue to support the child in the specialist provision to ensure

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

that the child has some continuity from adults who know them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One other child has moved on from the home. This child was due to move on at the time of the last inspection. Leaders, managers and adults made every possible attempt for this to be a planned ending, including extending the leaving date significantly. However, due to delays beyond their control, the child needed to move on in an emergency. Since this occurred, there has been a new manager and a new staff team put in place who have focused on learning from this situation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before the most recent child moved into the home, leaders did consider all available information and consulted with relevant professionals to assess whether they could meet each child’s needs. Their assessment was, however, optimistic and did not fully anticipate the challenges that could occur. Specifically, these were the impact of this child’s learning and health needs, as well as the potential impact on the other child living in the home. Despite the assessment, the full extent of the child’s complexity of need could not have been foreseen or identified before they moved in. Once this did become evident, the response from leaders and managers was child focused and appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults are skilled at seeking children’s views in a variety of ways and use this to guide their practice and shape the running of the home. When children raise concerns, these are promptly shared with relevant individuals, and the responses from managers and adults are creative and support the children. This supports children’s sense of autonomy. Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 4 The adults hold education in high regard and are tenacious in their efforts to secure appropriate provision. They facilitate and support children’s attendance at their identified provisions. They challenge other professionals appropriately when advocating on behalf of children. However, the adults do not consistently provide structure or informal opportunities for learning when there is space to do so, such as learning about independence skills. These are missed opportunities to further support children with their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults are curious and seek advice and support with regard to children’s physical health needs. They are adept at using their secure relationships to have open and honest conversations about a variety of health needs, including sexual health, consent, hygiene and mental health. Health professionals are quickly employed for support where necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them, and the adults work hard to develop relationships with parents. This is reflected in feedback from one parent who said, ‘I have nothing but praise for them. They are highly skilled, lovely, warm, funny people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. There are photos of the children and adults displayed throughout the home. Children are encouraged to personalise their space, and there is a clear sense that children live in this home. Some areas of the home look tired and could be improved with a stronger cleaning routine.

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

Children benefit from clear and consistent boundaries implemented by adults who are well informed by the model of care that is used.

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

There is now a positive culture of safeguarding in the home, led by the manager. As a result, the adults have a clear understanding of their responsibilities in this context. They show diligence when responding to complaints or concerns from children.

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

When children make an allegation, all appropriate notifications are made, and detailed recordings show good communication with partner agencies. Where investigations are required, these are carried out promptly and effectively, with an emphasis on supporting children and learning.

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

Risk assessments and plans clearly describe children’s needs. While these assessments are regularly updated, it is not always easy to see what the current strategy is to keep children safe, as existing information is not removed or dated out. Furthermore, some risk ratings do not match what is described. This has had no detrimental impact on children’s safety but could prevent the adults from taking swift action when risks occur.

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

Physical intervention is used to support behaviours for one child. These interventions are only used when necessary, for the shortest time possible and as a last resort. The quality Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 5 of the recording of these incidents is generally strong and usually reflects a conversation with the child and adults to facilitate learning and repair. However, in two records, the hold used was not clearly described, and the language used did not align with the overarching model of care. This had not been identified by managers. That said, the adults focus on de-escalation and use strategies to ensure that the least level of intervention is used.

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

There have been occasions where children have gone missing from the home. There are clear protocols in place to manage this, which adults understand and follow. These include effective communication with parents, known friends, the police and local authorities. This means that children are returned home as soon as possible. As a result, incidents where children have gone missing from the home have reduced significantly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified registered manager. They are directly supported by a similarly qualified and enthusiastic deputy manager. Together they have successfully implemented significant change in the home’s culture and have embedded their chosen model of care. This is because the new staff team are committed in their shared ethos of what matters most to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the manager’s systems to monitor the quality of care provided are strong, further embedding is required to ensure robust oversight. Managers appropriately use the support of the responsible individual and external professionals to appraise the effectiveness of their practice and are aware of gaps in this process, such as the quality and consistency of the independent person’s reports. There are plans already in place to address and improve this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults are entirely positive about the support and guidance they receive from leaders. Adult supervision sessions and appraisals are valuable and beneficial. Practice is reviewed, safeguarding matters are discussed and professional development and well- being are explored during supervision.’ Actions in response to any identified shortfalls are appropriate and monitored for timeliness. Any staff conduct issues are addressed promptly and appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults have access to a varied programme of training, which is monitored by managers for compliance. However, more specialised and relevant training was not identified or provided when a new child moved into the home. This meant that the adults did not have a full understanding of the child’s needs or how to best support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals are largely positive about the quality of care that children receive and the progress that is made. One professional said, ‘It feels like a home not an establishment. Adults only have children’s well-being as their top priority.’ However, there have been a small number of complaints raised by neighbours and external professionals. These have been resolved quickly and comprehensively by management. Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children have positive experiences when moving on from the home. In particular, they should ensure that adults help each child to fully prepare for any moves out of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person should ensure that adults have the required training, skills and experience to meet children’s needs consistently. In particular, leaders and managers should fully consider the training needs, skills and experience of adults before any new children move into the home and ensure that relevant training is carried out where required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.2)  The registered person should ensure that adults take every opportunity to support children’s learning outside of more formal education provision. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should fully consider the impact that a new child moving into the home will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that the cleanliness and maintenance standards of the home are consistently high. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all records relating to physical restraint include details of the intervention used and that the language used reflects the chosen model of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: 2682262 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Bromley Lane, Chislehurst BR7 6LH

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Inspector

Becky Paradise, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2682262 8 regulates 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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