Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Shropshire

Unique reference number SC454647 Inspector Hannah Bates Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Cambian Childcare Limited Registered person address Pinnacle House 2 Oakwood Square, Cheadle Royal Business Park CHEADLE Cheshire SK8 3SB Responsible individual Samantha Millward Registered manager Gail Mary Elizabeth Matthews Date of last inspection 03/02/2014 2 of 9 Inspection date 18/11/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness good

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

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Overall effectiveness

The home is good at keeping young people safe and supporting them to decrease risk taking behaviour. It works closely with agencies, such as the police and health agencies, to ensure that young people are kept safe. Staff implement effective behaviour management strategies that help to prevent young people from going missing. This has been successful in reducing the frequency with which they go missing.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people achieve positive outcomes within their lives. They engage within education and gain certificates, awards and qualifications. Young people take part in regular activities. They gain new experiences through attending activities such as the Princes Trust and work experience within animal rescue centres. Young people’s confidence and self-esteem grows as a direct result of this. They have regular key working sessions where they develop their understanding of risk taking behaviours, sexual health and safe relationships. This supports young people develop of a positive sense of identity and enables them to start to recover from traumatic events in their lives. Young people receive regular therapeutic input and the staff team and clinical team work closely together to ensure there is consistency of care. Young people’s emotional wellbeing is promoted and this helps them to develop life skills for

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Overall effectiveness

successful transition. 3 of 9 There is strong leadership and management within the home. There is a robust emphasis on educating the staff team and empowering them with the skills to meet young people’s needs. Specialist Child Sexual Exploitation training is sourced for the staff team. This ensures that staff understand the complexities of the young people’s needs. Young people are provided with good quality care. 4 of 9

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home is run by a private organisation to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It provides an on-site school.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2014 Interim good progress 30/04/2013 Full good 5 of 9

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people make good progress within their lives from their starting points when they first come into placement. They develop an understanding of right and wrong and learn that there are consequences for people who are unsafe and who have harmed them. This helps young people to progress in their lives and to start to emotionally heal from traumatic events. Young people feel listened to and believed by the staff. This is because staff act as an advocate on behalf of young people with other professionals. This supports their sense of positive self-identity and empowers them. Key working sessions and discussions with staff enable young people to understand what makes a safe relationship. This helps to keep them safe. Young people’s physical and emotional health improves as a result of their placement in the home. There is effective management of health issues related to risk taking behaviours. Staff work closely with health agencies and this means that young

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Outcomes for children and young people good

people have good access to all relevant health services such as sexual health and substance misuse services. Young people talk to staff about their health needs and staff respond to their requests. This helps them to feel safe and listened to. Key working sessions focus on improving young people’s health. They develop their understanding about cause and affect which impacts on health. Young people understand how to look after their health and wellbeing which in turn promotes their feelings of self-worth. The in-house clinical team provides one-to-one and group work focusing on the experiences of young people prior to their time at the home. This helps them to overcome feelings of isolation and being misunderstood. Group work shows young people that their peers understand them. This supports young people developing resilience and overcoming traumatic events. In turn, their emotional health improves. Young people actively participate within their communities. They are involved in

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Outcomes for children and young people good

projects such as the Princes Trust and work experience in animal rescue centres. They invest within these projects which encourages them to achieve. This builds their confidence and emotional resilience. Young people achieve in education. They sit exams and successfully complete courses such as Jamie Oliver cookery courses. This equips them for the future and promotes their sense of achievement and resilience. Young people say that they feel proud that they have sat exams for the first time in their school career. This encourages young people to want to continue with their education after their placement with some going onto successfully gain college placements. Young people have a good level of input into the daily running of the home. This centres around negotiation within communal living. This inspires young people and teaches them negotiation skills. Care planning is done in partnership with young people. This gives them ownership of

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Outcomes for children and young people good

their future and enables them to invest in decision making about their future plans. This leads to a successful transition into other placements and increases the chances 6 of 9 of young people succeeding within their lives.

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Quality of care good

Staff know the young people’s needs. They build solid relationships and show young people that they can trust them. Staff say; ‘We are not a secure unit and we won’t stop them physically from going missing – our relationships are crucial to the young people wanting to be here’. Young people respond well to this approach and invest in their relationships with staff. Young people continue to exhibit risk taking behaviours but these are managed by staff within the home through effective and up to date behaviour management strategies and risk assessments. Arrangements for care planning, risk assessments and engaging young people are effective. Young people are clear about the rules and boundaries of the home. This means that they receive consistency within the care they receive. Staff focus on providing a nurturing environment which is consistent with the therapeutic ethos of the home. They offer a warm, caring and non-judgemental

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Quality of care good

approach and young people respond to this. For example, staff will provide relaxation time at pivotal points of the day where young people have said they needed it. The ethos and theory of the home is one of mindfulness and this runs through the everyday care provided to young people. Young people can see that staff care about them and this promotes young people’s sense of identity and self-worth. A social worker said; ‘The young person had been at the home for three weeks and then made a disclosure. She felt confident enough to make that disclosure at that early stage’. This is testament of the work and commitment staff put into building good quality and trusting relationships with young people. Staff want young people to achieve and do well. They encourage young people’s self- esteem and positive identity to grow. Staff support them to work towards achievable goals. Young people feel a sense of empowerment as they achieve and gain life

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Quality of care good

skills. They take part in activities which gives them new experiences; they grow in confidence. Staff are sensitive to young people’s cultural needs and try to meet them where identified. For example, ensuring that young people have access to ingredients to cook with, getting their nails done and attending church with them. Staff say; ‘In every sense we promote equality and diversity every day. It’s about giving the young people choices and options. Even down to what toothpaste they use. We also can’t forget the young people’s backgrounds’. The home is set in a rural location which provides a sense of tranquillity and links in with the therapeutic ethos of the home. Staff recognise that the setting of the home is often very different to where young people have come from and this can be a difficult transition for young people to make. One-to-one sessions and intensive encouragement supports young people through this. The home is in good condition

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Quality of care good

7 of 9 and provides young people with a warm and homely place to live.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff are dedicated to ensuring young people feel safe and are safe. Professional multi-agency working is strong and professionals work together with the same goal in mind; to keep young people safe. Missing from care protocols are followed efficiently and focus on young people returning quickly. Physical restraint is only used as a last resort. When it is used, the focus is on it being nurturing and non-punitive. Young people’s views are consistently sought after any physical intervention. This means that young people feel safe. Staff do not use physical restraint to prevent young people from leaving. Staff use communication and identified behaviour management strategies instead. Missing from care episodes have decreased for young people. A social worker said; ‘This is the first home that has kept the young person safe. The young person has made four attempts to go missing here and each time they have

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Keeping children and young people safe good

been back at the home within the hour’. There is rigorous monitoring of young people using social media. This helps keep young people safe. There is a focus on giving young people the information and skills to make positive choices which will keep them safe. Staff re-educate young people and help young people to gain a new insight into previous behaviours and risk taking behaviour. Young people respond to this and at the end of their placements are able to reflect on what they have learnt and put this into practice successfully. This keeps them safe. Young people know how to make a complaint. There is a quick response to complaints and young people’s complaints are quickly acted upon. Staff recognise that young people have not been listened to before and are committed to ensuring that they feel listened to now. Staff have supported young people to make complaints regarding their care plans. This empowers them and gives them a voice.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Safeguarding and whistle blowing is regularly on the agenda for team meetings. The staff team maintain a high level of safeguarding knowledge which in turn provides a safe environment for young people to live in. Staff are safely recruited and have a high level of knowledge regarding Child Sexual Exploitation. Young people come into contact with safe adults within the home who understand the complexities of their needs. This keeps them safe, emotionally and physically. There is a high staffing ratio which provides for young people with the supervision and input they need to keep them safe.

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Leadership and management good

8 of 9 The leadership is settled and consistent. The Registered Manager is qualified to NVQ level 4 in Leadership and Management and has extensive experience of working with young people and trauma. She is registered with Ofsted since her appointment as Manager in 2013. The Registered Manager ensures that specific training needed to provide good quality care to young people is provided to the staff team. For example, staff have attended Child Sexual Exploitation level 3 training. The in-house clinical team provide training on ‘self-soothing’ to staff. This equips staff with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the young people’s complex needs. There is managerial monitoring of the running of the home. This is consistently fed back to the staff team so constant improvements to practice and the quality of care provided are made. The Registered Manager invests in the staff team through empowering them and upskilling them. Staff feel valued and this means that there is

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Leadership and management good

a harmonious staff team with the focus being on meeting young people’s needs. There is a high level of monitoring of staff practice. This means that the staff team are always learning and developing their practice and young people receive a good service. Team Around the Child meetings provides a seamless flow of information across the professionals who are involved within the daily lives of the young people. There is a holistic model of care provided to young people. This ensures consistency of care to all aspects of young people’s wellbeing. The therapeutic team work closely with the home saying; ‘The team are good at consistent working. The young people know what boundaries there are, how the home works and nothing is a surprise to them’. This supports good quality care planning and outcomes for young people. Supervision is regular and of high quality. Newly recruited staff members have weekly supervision. Staff say that the Registered Manager gives them extra support

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Leadership and management good

at particularly emotional times such as when young people share traumatic experiences. Clinical support is available for staff and ensures their emotional wellbeing which in turn ensures young people receive consistent high levels of care. The home undertakes an extensive assessment and matching process so as to ensure that the home is the right placement for young people. A social worker said; ‘Before I considered the placement, the Registered Manager was very helpful. The family needs to be re-educated about CSE. The home are happy to do this’. Placing authorities receive a package of care that extends past the needs of the young people and into their families and communities. This helps ensure successful rehabilitation of young people back into their previous lives when they leave. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management good

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Judgement Description

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

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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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.

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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.

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