Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Sandwell

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 This is a good home in which young people make steady progress from their respective starting points.  Young people’s education is of central importance with staff encouraging, supporting and valuing learning.  Relationships between young people and their families are valued.  Individuality of young people is nurtured with respect for their diversity, heritage and culture.  Safeguarding young people takes priority. They are kept safe through good safeguarding practice.  Young people have become safer through reducing difficult and risk taking behaviours.  Safeguarding and effective care planning takes place through good multi- agency practice. This is marked by good coordination and communication between agencies.  Staff are dedicated and committed, forging nurturing, caring relationships with young people.  There are few shortfalls that require improvement. These include ensuring the physical environment is comfortable and personalised to the needs of

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The children's home provision is good because:

young people; ensuring young people have sufficient support with stopping smoking to ensuring staff consistency is achieved. Lastly, the registered individual has not ensured there is a registered manager in post.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard with particular reference to the physical conditions of the home the registered provider must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortable;

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Requirement Due date

(viii) provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding. 28/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the health and well-being standard with particular reference to providing healthy lifestyles information and smoking cessation the registered provider must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(ii) understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well- being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

(iii) take part in activities, and attend appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child's health and well-being needs. 28/08/2015 The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children's home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)) 28/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children's home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1)) 28/08/2015

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Information about this children's home

This section should outline: The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people between the age of eight to eighteen who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The service is privately owned.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

28/01/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people make good progress in relation to their starting points. They benefit from a dedicated and committed staff team. Particular strengths include securing services quickly to meet identified needs. The dedication and commitment of staff to work through difficult and challenging times with young people is apparent. This means young people experience care from staff they know persevere, nurture and care for them. A young person said, ‘staff take time to listen and help, they care well for me’.

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good

The staff team understand the importance of education. One young person was at the time of their admission refusing to attend. The staff have completed individual work with the young person and managed to secure an educational placement for starting following the summer holiday. The young person is now excited about education and looking forward to starting back to school.

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good

Young people maintain generally good health. Attendance at all routine health appointments is good with access to a range of primary health care professionals. Despite this, smoking is not being robustly tackled and has become common place and routine for young people. Efforts to address smoking and support young people to reduce or stop smoking have been minimal. This means they receive an implicit message that smoking is tolerated. Healthy eating in relation to portion control and snacking is not effectively monitored. This hinders young people maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

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good

Young people’s emotional and mental health needs are met. An example, being one young person who was refusing to attend therapy is now attending regularly, making good use of the service. This has led to improvements in the emotional, mental health and the behavioural needs of young people.

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good

Young people are well supported to maintain good contact with their family. The staff team have supported and promoted increase contact. This means young people are able to maintain enduring relationships.

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good

Young people are treated with dignity and respect by the staff. The care and placement planning are individualised and fully recognising individuality. Needs arising from culture and background are understood, valued and promoted. Progress is being made towards improved social skills. Young people are better able to regulate emotional responses to situations. This means that aggressive outbursts are becoming fewer. Improved interactions in the home and community are evident. This means they will understand what acceptable behaviour is and what is not. Skills in negotiation, compromise and patience have developed.

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good

Staff create an environment of trust and form caring relationships which helps young people to feel safe and protected. High levels of monitoring and good ratios of staffing to young people mean staff know their whereabouts. They know their friendships and whom they can associate with.

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good

Safeguarding and meeting the needs of young people takes precedence. In order to achieve this, the acting manager and staff members ensure robust multi-agency working takes place. Admissions meetings, network meetings and looked after reviews take place regularly. These forums enable information to be shared. The resources required to support young people are identified and implemented. For example, following the admission of a young person a placement planning meeting was quickly held bringing together crucial services. This meant the young person benefitted from services being implemented immediately.

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good

Incidents of missing from care are rare. The few incidents that have occurred relate to one young person. The staff team have taken effective action in a timely manner in response to these incidents. This has resulted in a notable decrease.

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good

There are no concerns with child sexual exploitation. Staff members are well aware of the signs and symptoms. They are aware of any changes in young people and ensure that computer use and digital technology have adult controls. This helps to ensure young people are protected from harm.

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good

Improving behaviour is a priority for the staff team. Negative behaviour displayed by young people is addressed robustly with consequences and sanctions. Positive behaviour receives praise and reward. The scale of challenging behaviour presented by young people, at times has proved difficult to manage. The staff group have sought to develop their practice in relation to managing behaviour. This has included seeking support from specialist agencies and their own clinical team.

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good

Physical intervention takes place rarely. Where it has been necessary appropriate records have been made in accordance with policy and procedure. Young people are supported after an intervention to look for ways to prevent further behaviour escalating in the future. The physical environment is not homely. The home is not personalised to reflect young people and the property is in need of repair. The flooring is unsecure and parts of the property damaged. For example, the living room ceiling is damaged and a curtain rail has been pulled down. Furniture from empty rooms is being stored in the dining room providing a cluttered space. These weaknesses leave young people without a comfortable environment in which to live.

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good

Allegations are dealt with appropriately. The acting manager and the staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the event of a young person making an allegation. The acting manager has clear links with the local Designated Officer (DO). The acting manager and staff understand when and how to make referrals and to report concerns.

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requires improvement

The registered manager left the home on the 6 th February 2015. Following this, a new manager was appointed. They were in the process of submitting an application to Ofsted to become registered. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the manager has had to take time away from work. This has delayed the registration process. In the interim, an acting manager is covering the post. He is receiving support from an experienced registered manager from a neighbouring home. He is knowledgeable with substantial experience, showing determination to manage the service well.

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requires improvement

The service does not benefit from a stable staff team. There has been a significant number of new staff members join the service over the past three months. The home currently has two vacant posts. Staff members have been temporarily transferred to the home from other services to meet gaps in staffing. This hinders young people’s ability to develop secure attachments to those caring for and prevents consistency in care practice.

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requires improvement

The recruitment and vetting of new staff members is good. Robust processes are in place and reduce the possibility of young people being harmed by those in a position of trust.

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requires improvement

New staff are well supported. Good quality induction, training and supervision taking place regularly. This enables staff to bring to bear their own strengths into work yet working safely and consistently. The staff team meet regularly. They reflectively review practice issues and share ideas. The staff team are relatively new working together but have significant collective previous experience.

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requires improvement

The acting manager wishes to improve the service. He monitors the home and acts on information arising from this and consultations. The acting manager seeks the views of other professionals and parents. There is overall excellent feedback. Two professionals and a parent provided good information regarding their views of the service. One professional commented, ‘that the staff are excellent and the level of care is excellent’. The acting manager values and uses advice from the home’s independent monthly visitor seeking to improve the service.

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requires improvement

The statement of purpose is updated and comprehensive. This accurately reflects the recent changes to staffing and is informative. This provides a good level of information to stakeholders.

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requires improvement

The acting manager takes health and safety seriously. Risk assessments for the home including the location assessment, fire and hazards being comprehensive and reviewed regularly. This ensures young people live in a safe environment were any risks are pro-actively addressed.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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