Children's Home run by Benecare Limited in Kent

Inspection report children's home: SC357981 1 SC357981 Registered provider: Benecare 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

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 4 children who experience social, emotional and learning difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2025.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC357981 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/06/2025 Full Good 14/10/2024 Full Good 03/10/2023 Full Good 19/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC357981 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living at the home are making steady progress. Staff are relentless in seeking to provide high quality care for the children. Overall, children said that they like living at this home and that the staff are good at meeting their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between staff, children and external professionals are strong and effective. All professionals indicated that children’s needs are met well because they and the staff work together with the children in a transparent manner. One social worker described the home as the best that they had ever come across and another said that they would be happy to place another child there in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, there has been an unsettled period in the home. Four new children were accepted into the home within a month, with some arriving at very short notice. In some cases, the required information about children’s needs has not been received and children have not had enough time to settle into the home. This has impacted negatively on children’s experiences at times. Nevertheless, staff remain committed to the children’s welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children are enrolled in education provision. Staff make significant efforts to support children with alternative education plans and they devise creative solutions when needed, such as incorporating learning independent living skills into education plans. Managers and staff also work closely and effectively with external professionals to ensure that appropriate longer-term educational arrangements continue to be sought.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of family time is understood by staff. They encourage the children to spend time with their families and seek to support the children to have positive experiences with them. Staff also listen to children’s views and make enjoyable arrangements, such as one child staying in bed and breakfast accommodation over their birthday weekend to enable them to spend plenty of time with a close family member.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are highly regarded. Children are invited to participate in decision-making about the home environment. Their rooms are personalised and reflect their interests and hobbies. Children also said that they know how to make complaints. However, children’s backgrounds and cultural identities are not consistently given sufficient priority.

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

Inspection report children's home: SC357981 4 Staff identify, understand and address children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities, as they know the children well and have formed strong relationships with them. This has led to a significant reduction in the number of allegations and in the need for physical interventions. Staff also seek to educate children about their vulnerabilities and risks in the wider community.

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

Missing from home incidents are frequent. Staff consistently adhere to agreed support plans and risk assessments and are diligent in seeking to locate children and return them to safety.

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

Multi-agency networking is at the heart of the home’s safeguarding culture. The registered manager works transparently with external professionals and consults the local authority designated officers when concerns about staff conduct and children’s safety are brought to their attention. However, the expected procedures and safeguarding protocols have not always been followed consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about children’s welfare and progress. They have high expectations regarding the quality of individualised care that staff should provide for children. Their expectations have been disseminated to staff so that managers and staff hold a shared vision of care. Staff respect the registered manager’s commitment and dedication and say that the manager is supportive and has time for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good oversight and ensures consistent monitoring. This includes daily checks and monthly monitoring; children’s progress is analysed and future goals for children are captured. The registered manager advocates for children’s voices to be incorporated into plans for their future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager applies reflective practice to all aspects of care. They bring relevant research into staff meetings and workshops, covering issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff complete the training that is deemed to be necessary by the organisation and is in line with the presenting needs of the children. Staff are supervised and appraised on a regular basis. This promotes the positive professional development of staff. Inspection report children's home: SC357981 5

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; (Regulation 12 (1) (2) (a)(v)(vi)(vii)) In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the authorised person does not carry out investigations and question children and staff before consultations with the local authority designated officer and placing social workers have

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 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. (Regulation 14 (1) (a)(b)) In particular, the registered manager must ensure that care is planned effectively for children placed in emergencies and all required information about children's needs is received before 29 June 2026 Inspection report children's home: SC357981 6 placing children. Furthermore, each child should be given reasonable time to settle in before new children join the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff play a full role in the understanding of who children are and where they come from, as this is recognised in good social work practice. In particular, staff should show genuine interest in children's backgrounds and consistently support their cultural identities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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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 children's home: SC357981 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 212 Ballards Lane, London, N3 2LX

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Inspector

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC357981 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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