Children's Home run by Curam Domi Solutions Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 1 Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions 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 home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children with social and/or emotional difficulties. There was one child living at the home at the time of the inspection. The child was not at the home during the inspection and therefore, were not spoken to.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 2 April 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/03/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/12/2022 Full Good 09/03/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have lived in the home. One child has returned to the family home, and another child moved to semi-independent accommodation. Staff help children to develop their independence skills and learn how to budget and cook their own meals and keep a clean environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive relationships with children. They show care, and warmth towards children. Staff spoken to showed appropriate understanding of children’s past experiences and their individual needs. The manager and staff support children and their families to overcome any difficulties in their relationships. This helps children to settle into the home, speak about their worries and to tell staff their views about the care that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with placing authorities when children are not accessing education. They talk to children about their interests and provide educational activities in the home to promote their development and progress and support children’s return to education. One child has recently secured a college course of their interest.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to register with local health services. They talk to children about their health and lifestyles and work with placing authorities to ensure children have access to the appropriate services to improve their emotional health. Additionally, support from specialist services is sought for children where necessary. However, staff are not always successful at supporting children to attend these appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment is safe and well maintained. Children are encouraged to show responsibility for their environment and towards others. However, a child’s bed was broken at the time of the inspection. Managers took appropriate actions when this was identified and ordered a new bed.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers generally follow appropriate procedures, and there are no significant concerns regarding the safeguarding of children in the home. However, the inspection identified some shortfalls in staff recruitment, as the registered manager was unable to provide written references for two staff members, despite having telephone verifications. Although this did not impact the safety of the children and was addressed immediately, the lack of thorough management oversight in recruitment checks has the potential to undermine safeguarding procedures.

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improvement to be good

Staff are clear about how to protect children and show appropriate understanding of safeguarding procedures to keep the children safe. They use proactive behaviour management strategies successfully to reduce situations that can increase children’s Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 4 anxiety. The staff have good awareness of potential emotional challenges and are confident and skilled in helping children feel better. They use positive reinforcement and praise, which some children respond to well.

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improvement to be good

Staff are proactive when children go missing from the home. They contact the children and/or their families and work with other agencies to help ensure that children remain safe. Staff talk to children on their return about risks involved, and as a result incidents of children going missing from care have reduced.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to understand risks through regular discussions with staff. Individual key-working sessions focus on each child’s specific risks, as outlined in their care plans. Staff are creative in encouraging engagement, often using unplanned and meaningful conversations. This helps children to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to complain. Staff manage complaints effectively, ensuring that the children’s views are heard and their concerns addressed. They share the information promptly with children’s social workers to ensure appropriate oversight from the placing authorities. Staff help children to understand and manage conflicts including the use of restorative meetings to support children build positive relationships between staff and children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recruited a new registered manager who is suitably qualified and experienced. The register manager oversees two children’s homes supported by a deputy manager and team leaders. The provider has ensured that this arrangement has been managed smoothly, providing stability for children and staff. The registered manager and staff know children well and are child focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are extremely positive about working in the home and feel well supported. They describe the leadership team as approachable, visible, and responsive to individual diverse needs. Communication is good, supported by regular team meetings and staff supervision, which allow staff to reflect on both their practice and the children’s progress. New staff are promptly enrolled on the appropriate residential childcare qualification following successful completion of their probation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable, committed and highly resilient. They undertake a range of online and face to face training. They undertake more targeted training to meet the children’s needs including understanding trauma and its impact on children’s progress. Staff say they find the sessions beneficial, and they help to develop their practice. The registered manager audits staff’s training and discuss with staff when training has not been completed promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight, monitoring and reviewing systems are not robust. For example, the quality-of-care review does not include feedback from children, staff and parents or professionals. This is a missed opportunity as this area of feedback could make a useful contribution to practice developments. Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 5 Placing authority social workers and an independent reviewing officer provide positive feedback about the care children receive and the quality of communication from staff. Overall, partnership working with professionals is good. However, one social worker shared concerns about inconsistent communication from managers and felt staff were not fully equipped in meeting one child’s complex needs. This child has since moved on from the home. Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 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, 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have written references and all gaps in staff employment histories are checked during the recruitment process. 20 September2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions which the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they include feedback from children, parents and professionals to inform the quality-of-care review. 30 September 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they provide a homely, domestic environment. In particular, the registered person should replace the broken bed in the child's bedroom ('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 work in close partnership with the children's support network. In particular, the registered person should ensure that they maintain effective communication with placing authorities and take actions to escalate concerns where they consider responses to be inadequate. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 11, paragraph 2.5)

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Information about this inspection

Inspector has 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: 1257182 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Curam Domi Solutions Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 86-90, Paul Street, London, Greater London EC2A 4NE

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1257182 9 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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