Children's Home run by Better Families Social Work Services Ltd in Croydon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 1 Registered provider: Better Families Social Work Services

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to 3 children with social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in April 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 16 October 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 3

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Summary of findings

Staff have created an environment in which children can settle. Children are able to develop trusting relationships with staff and make informed choices. Staff promote children’s independence and autonomy and they celebrate their achievements. Staff support children’s education and work in partnership with external professionals. The children are supported to keep in touch with their families, both at the home and in the community.

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Summary of findings

Staff understand the children well and are aware of the risks. However, some bedroom searches have not taken place, despite known risks. Management oversight of this and records are not always consistent. Managers have not ensured that all staff have completed mandatory training and staff have not had training regarding the specific needs of the children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 7 children have left the home, some of whom came to live at the home for planned short periods of time. Since that time, changes have been made to improve admissions arrangements at the home. The registered manager has implemented matching impact assessments; these have helped to ensure that children are able to settle and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a welcoming environment for children. Some children choose to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their interests, and staff exhibit the models children have made around the home to celebrate their achievements. There are planned ongoing improvements to be made in the garden and inside the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their skills in building positive relationships, and they support them in day-to-day tasks, such as preparing meals. More widely, staff help the children to make informed choices through discussions and direct work, enabling the children to develop self-awareness and autonomy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend health appointments. Staff encourage children to attend educational settings, following plans coordinated by external professionals. Staff engage in activities and trips out with children, helping to develop trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to keep in touch with their families and other people who are important to them if it is safe to do so, with visits taking place inside and outside the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 4

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

Staff follow plans and assessments to reduce risk for children when in the home and out in the community. Staff help children to understand and manage risk through discussions and debriefs. Children’s risk assessments include relevant history and consider the emerging risks for children. Most records are written directly to children; this promotes a child-centred approach.

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

Staff and leaders work in collaboration with other homes and professionals to safeguard the children and their peers. Working together helps to promote children’s safety while in the community.

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

However, managers and staff have missed some opportunities to safeguard children in the home. For example, bedroom searches have not taken place, despite known risks for some children.

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

Missing-from-care protocols are followed by staff. They are aware of local procedures for when children go missing. Debriefs and discussions take place between staff and children. However, return home interviews are not requested from external professionals when some children go missing from home.

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

The registered manager works with partner agencies and external professionals to create safe plans for children to ensure that they develop and make progress.

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

Feedback is obtained from parents, external professionals and staff through a digital platform. The registered manager uses feedback to drive improvements in practice. They have discussions with the staff team about areas of development and work together to implement change.

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

The registered manager operates systems to monitor children’s progress; this allows for trends and patterns to be analysed. From this, the registered manager creates annual and quarterly review letters written directly to children, promoting a child-centred approach. In contrast to monitoring, management oversight is not always consistent in all children’s records, particularly regarding incidents and room searches.

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

Staff undertake a training programme through induction and ongoing development that is discussed in staff supervision. However, not all staff members have completed all of the mandatory training courses, despite working at the home for some time. In addition, no training has been considered in relation to some of the current risks regarding the children and their needs.

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

Leaders and the registered manager follow safer recruitment protocols to minimise the risk of employing unsuitable staff. However, some staff had not provided a full employment history when they came to work at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 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, 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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff complete key training that meets the needs of the children living in the home. 7 November 2026

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s bedroom areas are checked and monitored as required when there are concerns in relation to risks. 31 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 6 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the full employment history of applicants who come to work in the home is obtained prior to employment. 31 October 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with each child. In particular, they should maintain management oversight of incidents and room searches. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing or away from home without permission, they contact the responsible local authority to request an independent return home interview for the child. The registered person should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and

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Recommendations

in good condition. Staff should also continue to support children to maintain a suitable living environment in their personal spaces. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 7

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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: 2808196 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Better Families Social Work Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 10 Stone Street, Gravesend DA11 0NH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tarisai Kadungure

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Inspector

Andrea Ulett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2808196 9 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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