Children's home run by Ohana Care Homes Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 1 Registered provider: Ohana Care 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 owned and operated by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

It is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/06/2024 Full Good 25/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The quality of care that children receive is exceptional. The relationships between staff and children are kind and nurturing. Children receive highly personalised care from staff who are passionate about helping them to achieve their best. As a result, children make excellent progress. One child spoke about their relationships with staff, and said, ‘I was in a really dark place when I came here, but they are so supportive. I can really open up to them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s education is important to staff. When children have been out of full-time education, staff coordinate with education professionals to create high-quality, individualised home education plans. These have included tutoring and time with an outdoor alternative provision to ensure that any negative effect on children’s education is minimised. Leaders work flexibly with schools to ensure that children have the support they need to thrive. As a result, children are helped to achieve their full potential in school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have age-appropriate responsibilities, and they are becoming more independent in ways that are important to them. One child has become less dependent on staff support away from the home because of a structured plan that introduced them to new people and ways to travel independently. As a result of improved self-confidence, the child was able to visit family locally without staff support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Planning for children to move into the home is exemplary. Leaders have improved their admissions process, so they fully understand how best to help children before they move in. Children visit the home prior to moving in and are asked about their preferences and kept informed of plans for them to move. Staff regularly ask children about their experiences after they move in, to make sure that they are settling in and have everything they need. Consequently, children say that they have good experiences of moving in. When children leave the home, they keep in touch with staff, who offer outreach support when this is appropriate to their circumstances. This demonstrates the strength of the relationships built between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help the children to be healthier. Children independently make more positive food choices because staff take pride in including children in preparing healthy meals. Children are also encouraged to participate in exercise they enjoy, such as going to the gym or walks along the beach. One child has been helped to overcome their fear of the dentist because of the motivation and education they received from staff. As a result of this support, the child’s oral hygiene has significantly improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children live in a well-maintained, safe and homely environment. Children’s artwork is proudly displayed in communal areas, and children’s bedrooms are highly personalised. Staff take pride in the appearance of the home and constantly consider how it could be further improved to benefit children. However, the use of door sensors to monitor Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 4 children’s movement overnight has not been robustly assessed, and there are no clear procedures for reviewing these measures to ensure their use remains proportionate for each child.

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

Leaders have created individualised and highly motivating reward systems for children. Staff understand the importance of children’s achievements and enthusiastically celebrate their successes. This approach has been highly effective at promoting positive behaviour. As a result, the use of consequences is exceptionally rare, and there has been no use of physical intervention since the last inspection.

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

Staff respond well to children’s emerging mental well-being needs. One child experienced emotional difficulties that led to them harming themselves. Staff sought appropriate professional medical support and consulted with mental health specialists. Staff are creative when helping children to talk about their well-being in ways that are most appropriate to them. For example, one child, along with the staff team, wore reversible wristbands that noted whether they were feeling okay or not.

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

The trusting relationships that children and staff have built, play a key part in children having never gone missing from the home. Before moving in, one child frequently went missing from home while living in the same local area. Staff sought to understand the child’s motivations and created plans with the child to help them to safely visit people who are important to them on a more regular basis. As a result, the child has not gone missing since moving into the home.

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

Children receive high-quality support in complex circumstances. One child received extensive help from staff after discovering they were pregnant. Staff worked closely with the child’s family, the placing authority and community services to ensure that the child had a wraparound network of support. Staff helped the child to attend medical appointments and provided education, resources and signposting to help them to be as prepared as possible prior to returning to live with their family.

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

Staff help children to understand the benefits and risks of being online. High-quality resources and learning tasks are created by staff to help children improve their knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. Staff worked with one child to complete a research task to build a training resource about social media. Children’s activity online is appropriately monitored by staff, who understand each child’s individual vulnerabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly experienced, appropriately qualified and passionate about delivering high-quality care to children. The manager works collaboratively with the deputy managers and uses an impressive range of monitoring systems to maintain excellent oversight of the quality of care. This means that managers have a strong Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 5 understanding of both the strengths and any areas for improvement in the care being provided to the children and of the progress that children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is exceptionally reflective and determined in their efforts to understand how the service could be improved. The manager regularly seeks feedback from professionals, makes good use of the scrutiny provided by the independent person and critically reviews a range of events in the home, such as children moving in and out and behavioural incidents, to identify possible learning opportunities. This demonstrates the manager’s ability to deliver the best possible outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has built effective working relationships with partner agencies in the community. Staff work closely with charitable organisations, community health services, local police and schools to ensure that children have access to specialist support. Additionally, the manager advocates strongly for children and challenges professionals when they believe children are not getting the support they need. As a result, children receive the right support for their needs to be met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals are highly complimentary about their experiences of working with the home. One school teacher said, ‘[The home] provide[s] valuable experiences, a safe place to talk as well as a nurturing home that encourages independence in a thoughtful and appropriate way.’ Similarly, children’s families are positive about the impact of the home on children’s progress. One family member said, ‘I see [child] flourishing and becoming a lovely young [person] there.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders routinely demonstrate to children that their voice is important. Children’s feedback is regularly sought, and children have a range of opportunities to share their views and wishes. For example, one child has asked to try a new club, while another has recently asked to redecorate their bedroom. Staff listen to children and take action to achieve their wishes whenever possible. Importantly, on occasions when their requests cannot be met, staff also explain why not.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say they enjoy working at the home and that they are well supported by managers. Staff have received all the training required for their roles. The manager has implemented a variety of events and systems to recognise the contributions of staff and promote their well-being. As a result, staff turnover is incredibly low, and there have been no new staff since the last inspection. This means that children receive more consistent care from experienced and familiar staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any modifications to the environment of the home are made only where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. This is specific to the door sensors currently used on children’s bedroom doors during the night. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: 2684995 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ohana Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Liberty Group Ltd, Paragon House, Ramsgate CT11 9HD

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Inspector

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2684995 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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