Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Bradford

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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:

 Young people are provided with very stable placements. This allows them to develop secure attachments to adults they know and trust.  This emotional stability enables young people to begin to accept the help they need and move on in their lives.  Care planning is good and as a result young people’s educational, emotional, health and social needs are met. Overall, young people make good progress at this home.  Strong leadership, a committed, caring and skilled staff team and effective partnership working keeps young people’s needs focussed in everyone’s minds. This helps young people to get the best out of their time at the home.

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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

16 Statement of purpose (1) The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. Ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (1)(5)) 30/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

44 Independent person: visits and reports (1)The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the home at least once each month. The independent person must produce a report about a visit (the independent persons report) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether- (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)) 13/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (The Guide to Quality Standards, page 42 paragraph 9.5). This is with specific reference to explaining decisions to admit children to the home following impact risk assessments.  The processes the registered person puts in place to enable such a review to take place should allow for a report to be generated at least once every six months. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be

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Recommendations

used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 65, paragraphs 15.3 and 15.4)

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately run children’s home. It is registered to take up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is commissioned to provide these six places specifically to one local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/02/2015 Interim Sustained Effectiveness

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people living in the home are

The majority of young people have lived at the home for several years. This stability allows them to develop secure attachments to staff and make good progress from often very difficult and complex starting points.

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people living in the home are

One professional noted that staff are, ‘very knowledgeable about the needs of the children they look after.’ There is particularly good support and understanding for young people’s religious and cultural needs. For example young people have been supported with their fast through Ramadan.

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people living in the home are

Progress is not always straightforward; there are dips in young people’s emotions, school attendance and attitude for example. These set-backs are managed well and staff work hard to get young people back on track. As a result, the behaviour, health and education continue to change for the better and in some cases are significantly improved.

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people living in the home are

Things work well for young people because of the determination and perseverance of staff. Advice and guidance from a clinical psychologist supplements the work that staff undertake with young people. This helps to effectively address the psychological complexities that may be proving a barrier to young people’s emotional well-being, engagement and achievement.

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people living in the home are

Young people benefit from constant and consistent partnership working between the home and the local mosque, education, health, police and youth offending agencies. There is particularly good liaison with the looked after children’s nurse. Effective advice and support has helped young people to maintain a healthy weight as well as dealing with more specific health issues.

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people living in the home are

Several professionals commented positively on the home’s good quality communication about young people in discussions, written reports and attendance at meetings. This keeps young people’s needs firmly at the centre of things and ensures they get the resources they need. A professional noted, ‘The individual members of staff with whom I have had dealings have been very good at acting on advice and carrying out my wishes for reviews and working in accordance with plans’.

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people living in the home are

Young people are encouraged to do as much as they can for themselves, within the boundaries of their age and capabilities. As they get closer to independence, more specific work is undertaken to ensure they have the skills to function on their own in the community.

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people living in the home are

There are always a range of activities for young people to take part in, if the wish. These range from strawberry picking, holidays and leisure activities to quiet participation in board and computer games. Several young people continue to see their families on a regular basis and friends are welcome at the home. This supports young people to remain linked to their local and wider communities.

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people are helped and protected

Young people’s behaviour is managed well. Staff respond with good humour, persuasion and when necessary clear direction to young people who may not always prioritise tidying their rooms or keeping up with personal hygiene.

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people are helped and protected

Staff respect young people and develop open, honest and trusting relationships with them. Young people know that staff want their best for them. This means staff are able to broach more serious issues that may need attention to improve relationships, attitudes, emotional well-being and safety.

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people are helped and protected

One professional noted, ‘Staff do not shy away from discussing difficult issues with the young people. These are addressed openly and honestly when knowing that the things they say will not be easily accepted’.

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people are helped and protected

Young people put themselves at risk occasionally, often through their own poor judgement, naiveté or unacceptable and illegal behaviours. Staff intervention, working in close co-operation with other agencies, helps to prevent these from becoming repeated patterns of behaviour.

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people are helped and protected

Where young people are vulnerable to risk or exploitation they are safeguarded by good levels of supervision, limits on free time and support to strengthen their resilience. Any allegations are very promptly responded to and there is effective liaison with appropriate safeguarding agencies throughout these processes. Incidents of missing from home do fluctuate but on the whole are not frequent.

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people are helped and protected

There is careful consideration of the match between new referrals and young people already living at the home. This ensures that the needs and behaviour of the individual and the group of as a whole can be met and managed.

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people are helped and protected

Impact assessments on new referrals to the home are undertaken. These balance the known and potential risks before a decision to take the young person is made. This process could be improved by making clear how, once those risks have been considered, the judgement to admit a young person is arrived at.

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leaders and managers

The Registered Manager holds a Level 5 management award and a Social Sciences Degree. She has managed this home since 2011 and has extensive residential and child care experience.

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leaders and managers

There are some inaccuracies in the current Statement of Purpose and elements that need further clarification. For example, it is not clear how the effectiveness of any therapeutic intervention is to be measured, although the mechanisms to do this are to hand. Overall the home delivers on its commitment, as stated in the Statement of Purpose, ‘to provide a safe, well-managed and nurturing environment for all our young people.’

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leaders and managers

Scrutiny by the independent visitor is thorough. Subsequent reports are detailed but lack a specific evaluation of whether young people are safeguarded and their welfare promoted. Similarly, the manager’s monitoring of the performance of the home would benefit from greater analysis of the strengths and areas for development. These are procedural shortfalls that do not have a negative impact on young people, but would help to further improve the quality of care they receive.

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leaders and managers

Staff and professionals say that the Registered Manager provides strong, clear leadership to the home. She achieves this by providing clear direction, expectation and support to the staff team. There are a range of appropriate training events but one of the main things that helps staff, and therefore young people, is the sharing of information, experience and knowledge.

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leaders and managers

As a staff group they have a wealth of both life experience and academic qualification. This means they are adept at meeting the spectrum of young people placed at the home; those with special educational needs as well as those who are exceeding their predicted grades and have realistic expectations to go on to university.

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leaders and managers

Effective action has been taken to address the one recommendation made at the last inspection. This was to ensure the home’s main computer was replaced after being damaged.

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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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