Children's Home run by Deborah Pacquette in Waltham Forest

Inspection report children's home: SC007290 1 SC007290

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider to care for up to 4 children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in October 1998. The manager registered in 2007.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The provider has nominated a new responsible individual who is yet to have their suitability to be assessed.

p.1

Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC007290 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/03/2024 Full Good 27/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC007290 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Some children only stay in the home for short periods of time. The home accepts emergency placements for children, and children are subject to a period of assessment to determine whether they will remain at the home over the longer term. This has resulted in a successive number of children moving on from the home following a temporary stay. Some children have returned to their families or moved to semi-independent provision. However, others have experienced unplanned departures from the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

The admissions process at the home is not sufficiently robust. The 2 children currently living at the home were both placed on an emergency basis. Leaders and managers do not ensure that all care planning information about a child is promptly requested from local authorities following an emergency placement. They do not develop comprehensive care plans or behaviour support plans that are individualised to children's needs, primarily due to having insufficient information about the child. This compromises the ability of staff to fully understand and meet the needs of the children in their care. Leaders and managers also do not sufficiently ensure that the assessment of children moving into the home takes into account the impact on the children already there.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. On one occasion, staff held birthday celebrations for a child that included their family and friends coming to the home. Another child was accompanied by staff to family time, despite the family living at a considerable distance from the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children's health needs are promoted. The registered manager has good relationships with the local GP surgery and advocates for children's health needs.

p.3

improvement to be good

Managers and staff advocate strongly for children to attend the most suitable educational provision. They work in partnership with teachers and the virtual school to ensure that children's educational needs are met. Both children have been out of formal education for some time. Staff have ensured that their interests are noted and they encourage them to explore vocational courses aligned to their interests. One child is due to start college later in the year and is receiving face-to-face tuition in the meantime.

p.3

improvement to be good

The home is in need of repair in the hallways and bathroom. The wall in one child's room has been damaged, and the room is in need of redecorating to promote a sense of warmth and comfort. Managers have initiated a programme of redecoration to address some of these issues.

p.3

improvement to be good

Inspection report children's home: SC007290 4 There is steady reduction in the frequency of the children going missing from the home. Staff have been able to encourage one child with a history of going missing to return to the home. Professional meetings are requested when children are deemed to be at risk and remain missing for a period of time. Multi-agency safety plans are effective in mitigating risks to children.

p.4

improvement to be good

When children are emotionally vulnerable and experiencing distress, staff request placement stability meetings to access more support for them.

p.4

improvement to be good

One to one discussion with children demonstrate that staff seek to understand the children's experiences and work to reduce risks. Children have benefited from informal and formal sessions targeted to their individual safety and development needs. These include detailed and sensitive exploration of healthy relationships, how to keep safe and how to regulate their emotions. One child said that, 'I know I have some people around me that are not good for me and I am working to change that; staff have shown me that.'

p.4

improvement to be good

Children's risk assessments vary in quality. Staff do not ensure that these records outline all of the risks that the children face, or document changes in children's vulnerabilities. This means that staff do not have access to current information to help them to promote the children's welfare and mitigate risks to them, and they are unable to identify patterns that could support them in ensuring a consistent response to children at risk of harm.

p.4

improvement to be good

Most incidents are managed appropriately. However, incident records do not sufficiently detail de-escalation strategies that are used to promote positive behaviours. One incident, when a child was missing for 8 days, was not reported to the regulator.

p.4

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

The home has gone through several organisational restructures. This has had an impact on the consistency of practice, in particular, management oversight of case records and identifying shortfalls in practice. For example, training records are not up to date.

p.4

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

Since the last full inspection, several staff have left home. However, a core group of staff remains, who have worked at the home for many years. This has ensured that staff know the children and are able to build close relationships with them.

p.4

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

Staff find the management team supportive and approachable. Supervision meetings are used to discuss the progress of children and the professional development of staff.

p.4

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

The registered manager is experienced and has the relevant qualifications. She is a supported by an external consultant to reflect on practice and the home now has a new independent visitor to drive further practice improvements to the home. Inspection report children's home: SC007290 5

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 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.5

Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

p.5

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

p.5

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.5

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

p.5

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 30 May 2026

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 30 May 2026 Inspection report children's home: SC007290 6 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.5

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies.

p.6

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vii)(e))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children from harm. Leaders and managers must ensure that all incidents and risks to children are thoroughly evaluated when updating risk assessments and that staff have a clear understanding of the risk levels and strategies to manage identified risks. Leaders and managers must ensure that they consider staff skills and training when admitting new children to the home.

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child's assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The statement of purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all care planning documents are requested in a timely way when considering emergency placements ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.4)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 15, paragraph 3.7)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the recording of incidents is clear and detailed and includes management oversight. This specifically relates to ensuring that reports fully capture all the facts and staff strategies to manage incidents. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 46, paragraph 9.31) Inspection report children's home: SC007290 7

p.6

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 children's home: SC007290 8

p.7

Inspector

Angela Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC007290 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.

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