Precious Child Contact Services Ltd – Hornsey

Accreditation Summary

Date: 08/08/2022

Summary:

Precious Child Care Services Ltd was set up in April 2015. It is limited company and is run by the Director operating in Hornsey (London Borough of Haringey) with an additional centre in Chingford (London Borough of Waltham Forest). The centre has local rail (Hornsey Railway Station), underground (Turnpike Lane) and is on the 41 bus route. Priory Park is within a 10-minute walk. ​Parking at the centre is not available during the week but clients can use the side roads nearby.

The Hornsey centre is based on the ground floor with a secure intercom to enter building. Once inside the main entrance of the Hornsey centre the families have to be signed in by a member of staff on duty. At the time of the report on entry to building temperatures were being taken. Sanitisers were also in use before entering door into the centre. A waiting area is available with a corridor leading to the contact rooms. The centre has two good size rooms for use for supervising contacts with good ventilation in both rooms. There is a good variety of toys and equipment for all ages of children available during contact sessions. The centre also provides an assortment of books for children that reflect the languages and cultures at the centre. If they wish and in agreement with the centre and other parties, families may bring their own toys. All the contact rooms are in a very good decorative order and maintained to a high standard. There is one adult toilet/bathroom available, including disabled toilet accessibility for disabled persons. The centre has in place a good cleaning process where staff date and sign the chart when cleaning has been completed.

The centre can facilitate private referrals as well from local authorities. All the information for referrers/clients is on the centre’s website which is very easy to follow and has plenty of information including referral forms, location of centres, answers to questions clients may ask, job and volunteer opportunities, and pictures of the centres. Information is given to all families about the procedures that need to be followed by all clients to ensure the safety of all at the centre, prior to using the services. During the contact planning meeting families are informed of the processes and services they will be getting and by whom along with payment for the contact sessions.

Contact agreements for handovers and plans are available for indirect contact if clients wish to take on this service. When community sessions take place an updated risk assessment is completed, and careful and discreet supervision will be maintained by the contact worker/s. Staff at the centre do not use their own vehicles for transporting children. Children are either brought to the centre by the foster carer or the parent. An allocated taxi firm registered with the local social services borough will also be used. When public transport is used for community contact sessions staff will check the route and transport prior to contact commencing, considering journey times. The centre will provide, if required an interpreter for families but the charge will be met either by the client or referrer.

Where possible the child/ren will attend the pre contact plan visit so they have an understanding of what a contact centre looks like, facilities available along with meeting staff. Books and leaflets are available for the children to look at or read.

Precious Child Contact Services has a team of qualified sessional staff along with the administrator and manager who work between the Hornsey and Chingford Centres. The staff have a range of qualifications including social work, psychology and childcare. Contact supervisors will take an iPad or laptop into the contact session to record the contact and will complete and check the report once the session has been completed. Families are given brief feedback as to how the session went. The centre also facilitates virtual contact sessions.

The director/manager of the service has support from their management team who work in the local authority (children and families), business management, psychology, and counselling. It was a pleasure visiting the centre and meeting the manager, staff member and client with their child during the enhanced accreditation visit. The manager has demonstrated good organisational skills in getting the portfolio ready for the assessor along with producing additional documents that were required for the meeting. Any recommended actions following the visit are now complete meaning the service meets the standards for enhanced (supervised) accreditation.