Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Walsall

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:

 All five children placed have stable long term placements and are achieving consistently improved outcomes in all areas.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff provide exceptionally high quality and insightful care as good parents would. This means children’s confidence, and sense of how to behave appropriately, are improving significantly.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The quality of relationships between staff and children is inspiring. The home feels extremely happy, warm, well-organised and purposeful.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The long-standing deputy, recently appointed to the role of manager has the complete confidence of both children and the staff team. She is competent and insightful and ensures good quality safeguarding and care planning.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff and managers have strong and effective relationships with placing authorities, parents, schools and local safeguarding services.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 However, the manager and staff have not followed up a referral they made to the local authority safeguarding service regarding concerns about a medical professional. Points for improvement include: that the registered person prioritises stability of staffing for the children in this home; sharing of practice between care, education and clinical staff, and issues relating to the statement of purpose.

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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

12: The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

(vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (2)(a)(vi) and (vii)) 20/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

Ensure that where positive relationships exist between children and staff this is respected and maintained as far as possible when making any decisions to alter staffing arrangements. The registered person should respond to children's views about changes to staff and be aware of the potential impact this may have for the child's stability and emotional well-being. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 39, paragraph 8.12)

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Recommendations

Work closely with health and education professionals to ensure that outcomes identified and progress made by children in building relationships and achieving socially acceptable behaviours can be recorded and measured. This is with particular regard to staff, managers, therapists, teachers and life story workers sharing their insights and learning about successful practice more effectively, both in meetings, and in relevant plans, assessments and records, so that children's progress and participation are maximised. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 38, paragraph 8.4)

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Recommendations

Ensure that the information set out in the Statement of Purpose forms an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child's assessed needs. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.6)

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children currently placed are aged from eight to twelve years.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

27/02/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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good

Staff provide a very high standard of individualised care. They create a homely, nurturing family atmosphere in which every child thrives. All five children have lived together here for at least a year now, with a core group of seven staff who have been with them all the way. Key-carers in particular, provide enormous support and care, akin to that of a good parent. For example, they accompany each child to every weekly therapy and life story session. They also settle their key child to sleep using individualised routines chosen and created together. Key staff bring items for children when they come back on shift and sometimes leave cushions or toys with recorded messages to remind their child that he or she is missed and is being thought about. Staff take children on individualised holidays and appropriately share experiences, such as walking and playing with their own dog. Staff plan and shop with children

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good

to change and equip their bedrooms in ways that ‘grow with them’, helping them feel cossetted and safe to sleep or to spend private leisure time. Every child says it is good here and they like being in this home. For example, one child said: ‘Yes, they help me when I struggle, they can’t do anything any better and I like them all the same’. Mature, insightful, devoted members of staff empathise with children and help them be the best they can. Staff’s concern and understanding at times of crisis is unwavering. It enables children to trust adults and talk about the worries that distress them and prevent them sleeping; concentrating in school; or behaving appropriately with one another or adults. Staff are there, even if this means sitting on the ground in the pouring rain, or staying up in the middle of the night helping children clean things until they are able to say the things that are on their minds.

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good

As a result, each child here is recovering, maturing, and overcoming their emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children’s educational, social, emotional, and psychological well-being is progressing significantly. All placing social workers remark on this progress, as do children’s relatives. Not only are the relationships between staff and children, and between children and children, meaningful caring and reciprocated, but these are leading to a realistic prospect of family life. Since the last inspection, the organisation’s school has improved and changed so that children receive a far more positive learning environment that better supports their emotional needs. Equally, children in mainstream school enjoy an excellent level of pastoral support where there is regular and effective communication and information sharing with the home. All children are continuing to receive regular therapy and life story work with consistent practitioners. All this really contributes

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good

to children’s progress. In addition, children are experiencing many clubs, activities and sports in the community and are enjoying improved social interactions with peers. However, previously identified missed opportunities to share practice insights and strategies persist. Staff meet regularly with clinical staff and talk about how the children have been. Records of these meetings and many other reports, such as staff handovers and child debriefs, contain little analysis, critique, or ideas about what practice has gone well and less well. The whole staff group does not capitalise on inspirational practice or learn from occasional unsuccessful strategies, to achieve consistently outstanding care.

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good

Children say, ‘I love it here and know I am safe’; ‘I am kept safe’; ‘grown-ups keep me safe’. This is central to the care and recovery that staff strive to see children achieve. ‘Safe’ is a word often used in everyday conversation here. Good touch, appropriate cuddles and kisses are how staff demonstrate good parenting and model safe care. They continuously make clear to children how this is different from sexualised, inappropriate, or abusive behaviour. Staff work daily with each child and the group to enable them to see each other as children rather than sexual objects. They give children materials to write or draw on and dream boxes and story cubes to help them communicate things that are difficult to say. They use nurturing activities, like washing hair or massage, to help children express their thoughts, feelings, memories, and worries. This means that children know what is right and appropriate and feel safe enough to disclose and talk to adults. As a

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good

result, children are now much better at verbalising how they are feeling without resorting to aggressive or sexualised behaviours. Staff mostly manage situations of risky behaviour and loss of control really well. They are clear, consistent, gentle, and skilled in guiding, addressing, and de- escalating children’s anger or frustration. They constantly emphasise positive outcomes, reward, and recognise all successes. Staff talk about the things that go wrong without making unhelpful or punitive sanctions. They spend quality time as part of rewards, perhaps taking a child for their favourite drink, magazine, or pastime. Overall, incidents where children exhibit behaviour difficulties are far fewer and less severe and long lasting than at the outset of placement. Restraints are rarely used and children are not running away from staff. Positive sibling type relationships have developed very well between the five children.

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good

Staff and managers understand that children’s difficulties have not disappeared, despite their overall progress. Anger, aggression, bullying and sexualised behaviours are still expressed in unsafe ways on occasions, both in the home and in the community. Staff and managers respond skilfully each time and proactively help children talk about incidents afterwards. They find ways to reinforce discussion and learning about safer behaviours, using child-friendly materials in ‘children’s chat’ meetings and by regular visits from the local police officer and specialist children’s nurse. Overall, staff and managers continue to face children’s behaviour difficulties with them, working to empower them to manage better next time. They recognise that this works best when all staff are well known to children and when adult to child ratios are highest.

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requires improvement

Since the last inspection in March 2015, the manager who started the home and oversaw all the children’s admissions has resigned. Despite a well-planned handover and induction, a newly appointed manager lacked experience in residential childcare and left just two weeks after starting in the home. The organisation made a poor appointment. During this time, children were anxious and a few incidents of aggression towards staff resulted in injuries necessitating time off for both the deputy manager and other senior staff.

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requires improvement

The deputy manager’s decision to apply to manage the home was welcomed by staff, children, and social workers alike. One social worker said, ‘It gives a better sense of consistency and continuity and she knows the children well’. However, April and May 2015 saw further instability in the home and changes in staffing, necessitated by pressures in another home. The manager was also instructed to use agency staff for a few days. The deputy post has not been filled for over four months. The impact of these staffing and management changes was minimised by enormous commitment from the core group of seven continuous staff, including the new manager. She quickly took decisions, such as ceasing all use of agency staff, in the light of incidents occurring in the home and children’s obvious concern, especially at night, not knowing all those who were caring for them.

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requires improvement

The new manager has a good capacity for leading the home and is well organised and practised with all the systems in use in the home. She is shortly to start the leadership and management diploma level 5 for health and social care and children and young people’s services with the residential management pathway. She has well established working relationships with placing authorities and other professionals, including in safeguarding. However, despite her monitoring and supervision of the home and staff, she has not followed up a referral made to the local authority safeguarding service regarding concerns about a health professional. Staff making the referral have not kept a copy of it and no one has ensured that appropriate action is taken and documented. Six weeks later, the local authority safeguarding service say they have no record of the referral. This shortfall has the potential to affect the safety

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requires improvement

of children generally, although it is known that no child in the home has been harmed. The owner organisation has devised a template for each home to revise its statement of purpose in line with the new children’s homes regulations. The new manager has completed this but has not emphasised the individual qualities provided and created by the home’s location, the staff group, and the group of children. She has not understood that the statement of purpose forms an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in her home is the right one for that child, and that her home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs.

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requires improvement

The manager is aware that children’s files contain assessments and planning documents that are rarely referred to; have become out of date; are not helpful to staff or children, and do not reflect children’s views or the high quality, innovative practice that staff demonstrate daily in their work. She is eager to ensure that staff’s individual ideas, analysis and successful practice are set out more clearly in relevant plans and assessments to maximise children’s progress and ensure outstanding consistent care whatever management, staff or other challenges come along. She has started to address this by reporting back to children after each ‘team around the child’ meeting. Children now know what the staff and clinical team have been talking about and have a chance to say their views and feelings.

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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, work based 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

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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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