Children's Home run by Solace Care Partners Limited in Enfield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 1 Registered provider: Solace Care Partners Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted on 10 April 2019 and is privately run. It provides care for up to 4 children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since May 2026. A new manager is in post and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home. Both children were spoken to by the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector was aware during this inspection that serious child protection allegations are being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspector’s judgements.

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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: H Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/06/2025 Full Good 14/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 3

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Summary of findings

Children make good progress from their starting points. They form positive relationships with staff and each other. Children are helped to keep in touch with their families.

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Summary of findings

Children are kept safe by staff who understand their vulnerabilities and adhere to safety plans and restriction of liberty orders. Managers and staff work collaboratively with safeguarding partners to ensure children’s safety remains paramount.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have high aspirations for the home and for children. Recent changes to the management team have not impacted negatively on the care provided to children. Leaders and managers work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure children’s plans are implemented.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build meaningful relationships with staff, leaders and managers. They have also formed a positive relationship with each other. A social worker for one child wrote that a strength of staff was ‘the ability to build and repair relationships with the child’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. Both children living in the home have not been in education for some time. Staff have worked hard to engage them in online and face-to-face tuition, leading to positive steps towards obtaining formal qualifications. Children are helped by staff to develop independence skills and take pride in their appearance and personal care. Staff support children to attend significant health appointments, such as the dentist and opticians. This helps children to develop positive self-esteem and a sense of achievement and promotes their health and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to consider and manage their emotional responses to boundary setting and find appropriate ways of expressing their emotions. Staff have observed a noticeable difference in how children are expressing their feelings, vocalising their views more often than resorting to other ways of communicating their distress. The in-house psychotherapist is impressed by the engagement of the children in clinical sessions, which they feel is due to staff supporting children and maintaining a positive approach to these sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite the restrictions imposed by deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders for both children, staff provide opportunities for them to enjoy activities and social time. This includes going to cadets, swimming and to the cinema. One child said that when they decide that they want to do something, staff always try to make it happen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children staying in touch with family and friends. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 4 Managers and staff nurture positive relationships with family members. Staff supervise family time in the home and in the community. One parent said that she was happy with the home and the care provided to their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers are aware that the actions taken to make the home safe for children and the staff caring for them has resulted in an environment that is not warm and homely. Managers are working to address this.

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

Managers and staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities in ensuring that the children’s DoL orders are adhered to. Despite the similarities in orders for both children, safety plans and risk assessments are individualised, outlining key information for staff and how they should respond to reduce the risk of harm to children. An in- house psychotherapist provides information in line with a trauma-informed approach, which enhances staff’s understanding of children’s emotional responses to boundary setting.

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

Staff undertake searches of children’s rooms when concerns regarding their safety are brought to their attention. Children’s welfare is monitored regularly when there are concerns regarding self-harm. Managers and staff ensure that the home environment and any activities in the community are safe and do not provide opportunities for children to harm themselves or others. Children’s safety remains paramount for staff, who constantly assess risk.

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

Managers and staff demonstrate resilience and empathy when supporting children when they present with behaviours that are challenging. All staff have undertaken appropriate training in de-escalation and the use of physical intervention when this is required.

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

When incidents occur in the home, there is effective management overview, with appropriate debriefs for staff and children. One child has gone missing from the home on several occasions. The independent reviewing officer for the child wrote, ‘I accept that this has been really difficult for the home to manage and they have tried a number of different strategies. Aside from this, I feel the staff do keep the child safe.’

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

At the time of the inspection, an investigation was ongoing into serious child protection allegations. Leaders and managers have worked collaboratively with safeguarding partners and closely with the local authority designated officer to ensure the child remains safe, and safety plans have been updated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A recent change in the home’s manager has not impacted on the care and support provided to children. The manager acknowledges the good work undertaken by the previous manager and demonstrates a strong commitment to developing the home. Leaders and managers communicate a shared vision, the aim of which is to achieve the Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 5 best possible outcomes for children. Leaders and managers are visible and accessible, spending time with the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided to children. The manager has made changes to the administration and recording of medication following a review of practice and is formulating a development plan to consider other areas of the day-to-day operation of the home. Leaders and managers have addressed the recommendations made at the last inspection. However, they have not updated the statement of purpose to reflect changes in the home or provided a copy to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. They say they receive effective induction and training. One staff member said that the manager was bringing in changes that provided staff with greater clarity on roles and responsibilities. ‘Everyone knows what they are doing and why.’ The manager has introduced ‘lead’ roles for staff, such as leads for training or maintenance. Staff can specialise in these roles and share their expertise to improve practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision from the manager that helps them to reflect on the work they do with children, as well as their own welfare and development. However, during this inspection, supervision records were only available for review from the last month. The supervision matrix provided was incomplete. Consequently, leaders and managers were unable to show that regular and effective supervision has been taking place. Staff receive clinical supervision from a psychotherapist linked to the home, which supports the trauma-informed model of care that leaders and managers promote for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers develop effective and collaborative relationships with a range of agencies, including youth justice, the police, child and adolescent mental health services and local authorities. The social worker for one child wrote, ‘The staff and management team have consistently demonstrated professionalism, dedication, and a genuine commitment to the child. I have every confidence in the care being provided and would describe the service as one that consistently strives to deliver the best possible outcomes for the young people in its care.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the maintenance of the home is ongoing, with effective monitoring, to provide, as far as possible, a warm, family-like home environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose is kept under review and that, within 28 days of that review, a copy is sent to Ofsted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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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: 2503142 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Solace Care Partners Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Solace Care Partners Limited, Unit 2A, 420 Eastern Avenue, Ilford IG2 6NQ

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Inspector

Colin Bent, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2503142 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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