Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Unique reference number SC456911 Inspector Clive Lucas 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 Victor Takadiwa Registered manager Sally Belinda Nurse Date of last inspection 17/12/2013 2 of 8 Inspection date 19/11/2014

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Previous inspection inadequate 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 provides good outcomes for young people. Staff support and encourage them to attend and take part in education. Some young people do very well and go on to study in their chosen areas of further education. Young people are also effectively supported to develop independence skills and to look after their health. This helps them to do better when they leave the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff listen to young people and act upon their views and any concerns they express. Staff are committed to the young people in the home and work hard to engage them and build strong relationships. The home has been redecorated and refurbished to a good standard to provide a nice place for young people to live. They have been involved in influencing this process. There are limited resources such as books and other reading materials to encourage young people to read outside of their education.

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Overall effectiveness

There have not been any compliance cases since the previous inspection. All of the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection have been addressed by the Registered Manager to help improve the quality of care. She has been in post for a year. There are good relationships with other agencies so that they can provide a joint and consistent approach to working with the young people. Staff receive good supervision that looks at their practice and how they work with young people. This 3 of 8 helps to ensure good and effective practice. 4 of 8

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Information about this children’s home

This home is able to accommodate six young people. It is privately owned and provides care for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2013 Interim inadequate progress 22/08/2013 Full good

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 ensure that children have access to a range of educational resources to support their learning and have opportunities beyond the school day to engage in activities which promote learning. This relates to the provision of reading material in the home. (NMS 8.2) 5 of 8

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people who live at the home achieve good outcomes based on their starting points. They learn to look after their health through a good diet and an understanding of their individual health needs. For young people of sufficient age and understanding, this includes making their own medical appointments and managing their medication. This will help them to live healthy lifestyles and be aware of health risks when they live more independently. Young people are provided with information on health and activities that pose a risk to their health, such as drug use. This helps them to develop an awareness of the consequences of engaging in such activities. Where appropriate, young people have access to CAMHS and agencies who can help with specific health related areas.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people receive good support and encouragement to attend and engage with their education. Their responses to this are mixed, but some young people are able to achieve beyond what is expected of them and progress to their chosen areas of further education. As a consequence they are more likely to achieve their educational potential and to have better chances in adult life. Young people also develop in areas that will help them in their future independence and adult lives. They have very effective independent skills development plans which help them learn how to manage their money, use public transport and care for themselves. An external professional spoke of how well a young person is doing in his current placement because of the support he had to prepare for it while he lived at this home.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are listened to by staff in the home who take their views seriously. They are able to be involved in decisions about the home, such as décor and furnishings, as well as in the plans for their care, including contact with families. They are also listened to if they express any anxieties about their plans. For example if they are concerned about moving to more independent placements, staff listen to them and where necessary amend plans so that young people can move at a pace they feel comfortable with. This allows them to feel more confident and increases their chances of succeeding in their future placements.

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Quality of care good

Staff are tenacious in their attempts to build positive relationships with young people and to engage with them. One placing social worker spoke of staff being 'very creative' and 'leaving no stone unturned' in their attempts to get a young person to engage with them. They respond well to young people's expressed wishes in order to try and get them involved in activities in the community. This gives young people opportunities and encouragement to develop interests, which in turn can help them 6 of 8 to develop friendships and build their self-esteem. A social worker described staff as really committed to young people and able to pull out he smallest of positives to try and build on. For young people who have limited or little trust of adults, this can help them to feel valued and help to build strong relationships between staff and young people. An external professional spoke of a young person having fond memories of

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Quality of care good

There has been an extensive programme of refurbishment and redecoration in the home, so that it provides a pleasant and comfortable environment for young people to live in. The exterior of the home is well maintained and is in no way distinguishable from the other houses in the street. The home is furnished and equipped to a good standard. However, the range of books and other reading material available to young people is limited. They do not provide encouragement for young people to take an interest in them. This in turn can limit the encouragement for young people to read, either alone or with staff.

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Quality of care good

Staff work positively and communicate well with other agencies and professionals which helps them work consistently to meet young people's needs. A police officer described 'great interaction' and 'good relationships'. The plans for young people include details of how their cultural needs can be met and take account of young people's views in this area. Staff make strong efforts to implement this area of young people's plans. The organisation employs a clinical consultant who visits the home regularly and helps staff to look at ways of working with individual young people. This arm's length input helps staff to consider the impact of their work and how they can improve it.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff take pro-active action in response to young people going missing from the home in order to reduce the risks that they are at. They regularly speak to young people about the implications and risks of going missing. They take action when young people are missing to try and contact or locate them and encourage them to return to the home. Police officers say that staff work well with them and follow the agreed procedures when young people are missing. Over time the frequency or the length of time that young people go missing decreases and this reduces the risk they are at while missing. The progress for some young people is slow and when the Registered Manager has concerns about their safety she requests strategy meetings so there can be a multi-agency approach to trying to keep them safe. The Registered Manager is involved in local community meetings with representatives of other homes and other agencies to address inappropriate or anti-social behaviour in the

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Keeping children and young people safe good

community. Incidents of young people from the home being involved in anti-social behaviour have reduced significantly.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff are sensitive in their approach to helping young people to manage their behaviour. There are clear and informative behaviour management plans to support 7 of 8 staff in their work. Placing social workers and other professionals described staff as very calm in dealing with disruptive behaviour. They say that they work well with young people, manager their behaviour well and are not confrontational. There is good use of restorative approaches which help young people to understand the consequences and impact of their behaviour.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff use clearly recorded risk assessments and plans to identify areas of risk for young people and help to keep them safer. These include warning signs and triggers to inappropriate or risk taking behaviour and guidance on what staff can do to address the behaviour or reduce the risk. Staff make strong efforts to engage young people in work to address risk taking behaviour. When young people are reluctant to engage with outside agencies, staff may engage with the agencies themselves so that they are in a better position to help the young people.

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Leadership and management good

The Registered Manager has been in post for a year. She was previously the deputy manager and has suitable experience in working with young people. She has a National Vocational Qualification at level 3, but is working towards a level 5 qualification which will be appropriate to her role. She provides good management and leadership of the home. Staff receive regular and frequent supervision which has a strong focus on staff development. Supervisions are also used to discuss young people's progress and staff practice. Staff describe their supervisions are 'extremely productive'. This all helps to support staff to provide good care of young people.

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Leadership and management good

The Registered Manager monitors the quality of care in the home and has a good awareness of the strengths of the home and areas for development. This feeds in to a written and challenging development plan. An external professional said that the home has improved vastly and that staff should be commended on their efforts to improve. There is regular external monitoring of the home by an independent visitor. The views of young people, placing authorities and where appropriate, parents are gathered as part of this process. This helps to identify areas for development. The requirements and recommendations made at the previous inspection have been addressed, to further improve the quality of care.

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Leadership and management good

The home has good relationships with its immediate neighbours. The regular community meetings also help to address any issues within the wider community. Such issues have decreased significantly since the previous inspection. Young people from this home are involved less in anti-social behaviour and this helps to reduce the chances of them becoming involved in criminality. There is good and productive communication with other agencies. 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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