Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Nottingham

Unique reference number SC457500 Inspector Catherine Honey Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

p.1

Registered person Advanced Childcare Limited Registered person address Pinnacle House 2 Oakwood Square, Cheadle Royal Business Park CHEADLE Cheshire SK8 3SB Responsible individual Barry Eannetta Registered manager Lucy Victoria Budd Date of last inspection 06/11/2013 2 of 10 Inspection date 11/06/2014

p.1

Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the last inspection.

p.2

Overall effectiveness adequate

Outcomes for children and young people adequate Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe adequate Leadership and management adequate

p.2

Overall effectiveness

The home has continued to make steady progress since the last inspection. Young people are safe, protected and supported to develop. The quality of care offered to young people is improving. Young people have positive relationships with staff who clearly care about them. There are strong elements of well-planned care and there is some effective partnership working to ensure continuity of approach and development of young people.

p.2

Overall effectiveness

Safeguarding young people is given a high priority. Staff recognise the diverse needs of each young person and are proactive at safeguarding them at times when their behaviour become challenging or they engage in risk-taking behaviour. Health and safety policies, systems and risk assessments are effectively implemented in practice.

p.2

Overall effectiveness

Since the last inspection, a new Registered Manager is in post who one stakeholder described as a ‘positive force.' Feedback from placing authorities is positive. Stakeholders are confident of the service provided and feel young people actively benefit from the care they receive.

p.2

Overall effectiveness

Requirements and recommendations have been made to enhance the on-going work 3 of 10 of the home. The Registered Person has been asked to address the clarity of information in the Statement of Purpose to ensure it is clear and unambiguous. In addition, the home needs to demonstrate how it acts on health concerns identified by health professionals; communication with education providers and the police requires improvement to ensure important information is shared and the safety of young people is protected. Although the quality of record keeping has improved, the accuracy of the Registered Provider’s reporting to the regulator requires enhancing.

p.2

Overall effectiveness

Further recommendations have been made in relation to the maintenance and décor of the home and ensuring internal doors do not restrict young people's movement about the home. 4 of 10

p.3

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a large private organisation.

p.4

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2013 Full adequate 19/09/2013 Full inadequate

p.4

Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes monitoring and improving quality of care; ensuring the information contained in the report is accurate (Regulation 34 (2)) 04/07/2014

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) promote and protect the physical health of the children accommodated in a children’s home (Regulation 20 (1)) 04/07/2014

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) promote the educational achievement of children accommodated in a children’s home, in particular by ensuring that effective links are maintained with any schools or colleges attended by children accommodated in the home. (Regulation 18 (1) (c)) 04/07/2014

p.4

Recommendations

5 of 10 To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

p.5

Recommendations

 ensure the children’s home has a clear statement of purpose. This is in relatio reflecting the number of children the home is intending to care for and a clea description of the function of the coach house area (NMS 13.1)  ensure physical restrictions on normal movement within or from the home are not used unless this is necessary to safeguard children and promote their welf and development (NMS 10.4)  ensure the care and support provided to children reduces the risk of harm sho the child go missing. This relates to sharing important information with the po (NMS 5.1)  ensure the home is well maintained and decorated. In addition, ensure bathrooms promote young people's privacy. (NMS 10.3) 6 of 10

p.5

Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people are making consistent progress. They are attending education or alternative provision and are working towards independence goals. Some young people have strong attachments to staff and clearly demonstrate that they want to remain living at the home.

p.6

Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people who have previously had very poor outcomes are managing to maintain a positive day-to-day routine and engage in the running of the home. While they still at times show periods of difficult behaviour these instances are lessening, demonstrating they are beginning to take more control of their lives.

p.6

Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people’s health outcomes are varied. Some young people do not smoke, use illegal substances or misuse alcohol. Other young people are still putting themselves at risk by engaging in substance use; however they are engaging in specialist substance use support and are developing a better understanding of the physical and emotional risks involved. Young people benefit from eating healthy balanced meals and enjoy exercise, especially riding bikes.

p.6

Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Contact and building relationships is given high priority by the home. Some young people have free leisure time when they meet with friends in the local community. Contact arrangements are supported by staff who help young people to develop a positive personal identity and sustain attachments.

p.6

Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people are prepared well for independence. They practise and develop skills in cooking, budgeting and living more independently. A young person commented that staff had helped them understand how to register with the doctor and open a bank account, skills the young person didn't have before moving to the home. This helps young people become fully prepared for moving on from the home to independence or semi-independent living.

p.6

Quality of care adequate

Young people benefit from constructive relationships with staff. A young person said, 'I think the home is good because staff really care for me.' Their views are heard through regular house meetings, key working sessions and one-to-one discussions with staff. This demonstrates to young people that they are listened to. This aids the development of attachments but also increases their communication and negotiation skills and sense of self-worth. Young people have regular key sessions with their allocated worker. This offers young people formal personalised guidance and helps build emotional resilience. An independent reviewing officer stated, ‘My young person 7 of 10 has good attachments and good relationships so staff are able to have those difficult conversations.’

p.6

Quality of care adequate

Young people benefit from assistance and encouragement from staff to attend all appointments ensuring that their health care needs are identified. However, where the child's general practitioner (GP) has identified concerns about a young person's health, the home cannot demonstrate how that concern has been followed up or monitored and have not always been proactive in requesting follow up appointments with the GP.

p.7

Quality of care adequate

Staff work proactively with most external agencies to achieve continuity of care. This includes social workers and youth offending services. A social worker stated, ‘Staff will push and advocate on my young person’s behalf.’ The majority of stakeholders contacted during the inspection remarked on the good quality communication from staff. This ensures consistent and effective partnership working which promotes good outcomes for young people. However, where concerns have been raised by an education provider about the quality of communication from the home, it is not clear how this has been proactively followed up. This risks information being lost and care provided by the home and school becoming inconsistent.

p.7

Quality of care adequate

Staff work creatively in considering young people's equality and diversity needs. Young people regularly learn about other cultures and foods. Stereotypical views are challenged; for example, pictures of men and woman are displayed in non-typical gender roles such as a female soldier and male nursery worker. This means needs relating to the cultural backgrounds or the identity of young people are identified and positively addressed day-to-day.

p.7

Quality of care adequate

Efforts have been made to make the home feel homely and ample pictures are displayed of staff and young people, giving young people a sense of belonging. On occasion, internal doors in the home are locked. This means young people do not always have free movement around their own home. Young people benefit from bedrooms that are highly personalised to their individual identities. Although efforts have been made to decorate the home, it is suffering from wear and tear and requires some maintenance to ensure young people are living in a comfortable and homely environment. In addition, one bathroom door does not have a lock following replacement of the door.

p.7

Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Young people say they feel safe living in the home. Staff demonstrate a sound awareness of safeguarding policies and procedures including whistleblowing procedures.

p.7

Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Young people generally show positive behaviour, however there are incidents of challenging behaviour and damage to the home. Appropriate staffing levels are in 8 of 10 place in accordance with assessments of potential risks and the diverse needs of young people living in the home. Behaviour management plans supplement individual risk assessments and provide information about how staff support young people with their behaviour. Staff competently deal with these occasions using skills of de- escalation to help young people calm down. A restorative approach is adopted to support young people with developing appropriate behaviour. Each young person has a reward system in place. Restraint is rarely used in the home, although staff are appropriately trained should the need arise. The home has a proportionate and appropriate response to managing criminal behaviour.

p.7

Keeping children and young people safe adequate

At times, some young people go missing from the home. If young people are absent or missing staff are proactive in searching the local area or known addresses to help ensure young people's safety. Safeguarding procedures and the home's missing from care procedure are followed appropriately by staff. However, although the home contacts the police when worried about the welfare of a child, there has been a lack of consultation with the police when new placements, who are at increased risk of going missing, are being considered. In addition, the home does not effectively use other resources available, such as the children in care police officer, to consider strategies and share important information which may be useful to the police in protecting young people. The home works proactively with the placing authority to consider the reasons why young people go missing.

p.8

Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Young people know what to do in an emergency through regular drills. This provides young people with a physically safe environment to live in. Checks are in place to ensure that only suitable people are recruited to work with young people.

p.8

Leadership and management adequate

Since the last inspection, the manager has registered with Ofsted. She is providing strong management and leadership and is committed to continuing to raising the standards of the home following a difficult year. The manager holds a level 3 qualification and is working towards a level 5 qualification. She has a number of years' experience of working in residential care meaning she is well experienced to provide residential care.

p.8

Leadership and management adequate

A recommendation made at the home's previous inspection has been met. Where physical intervention is used to ensure safety, young people now have the opportunity to discuss the event with an adult who was not involved in the incident. This helps ensure young people's views are listened too. The manager is aware of the home's strengths and weaknesses. She and the staff team have worked hard since the last inspection to embed practice and create a home with more consistent boundaries and care for young people. In addition, the home has instigated a voluntary reduction on the number of young people being admitted.

p.8

Leadership and management adequate

The home's statement of purpose clearly describes the home's aims and objectives. 9 of 10 The document contains some inaccuracies in relation to the number of children the home is currently set up to accommodate and contains potentially misleading information about a coach-house on the site which is currently not in a habitable state. These inaccuracies were corrected during the inspection.

p.8

Leadership and management adequate

A consistent and suitably trained staff team is in place. Staff have faith in the leadership provided by the management team and describe increasing morale and team spirit. Quality monitoring systems are in place and completed regularly. Good attention is paid to learning lessons from inspections or monitoring visits. As a result, action is taken to address identified shortfalls and helps to drive forward necessary developments. There has been a noticeable increase in the quality of record keeping in documents produced by the staff team. However, a report submitted to the regulator demonstrating the manager's monitoring of quality of care had some inaccuracies. This means the regulator may not have a clear overview of how the home is functioning. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.9

Leadership and management adequate

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

p.10

Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

p.10

Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

p.10

Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

p.10

Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

p.10

Information about this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

p.10

Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

p.10