Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Barnsley

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 The safeguarding policy does not support staff to make the right decisions when dealing with allegations made within the home. This means investigations are carried out in a way that may jeopardise an investigation by outside agencies or that they are not conducted in a timely manner.

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because:

 Smoking takes place in bedrooms. Partially smoked cigarettes were seen on the carpets. This poses a significant fire risk. The standard of decoration is poor. This is as a result of damage caused to the home that has not been rectified quickly. Inappropriate graffiti was evident within the home.

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because:

 Measures in place to review the care being provided at the home are not sufficient. Both the report prepared by the independent person and the report prepared by the registered manager do not give enough analysis of what has been found. This means that self-improvement will not be effectively identified to improve the care being provided.

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because:

 The level of cleanliness in the children and young people’s bedrooms was very low. In addition to the rooms being very untidy, rooms required a significant amount of cleaning.

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because:

 Not all children and young people are properly engaged with services to support their health. In particular, staff need to support them to attend optician appointments when they are necessary.

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because:

 Education attendance is not consistent. While some children and young people engage more readily, others do not. Staff should seek ways to encourage them to attend education to achieve their career aims.

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because:

 Policies within the home still reflect legislation that is no longer in force. While this has a low impact on the care being provided, new employees at the home may not be familiar with the references to old legislation.

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The children's home strengths

 Children and young people in this home are demonstrating their steps towards maturity. They actively encourage staff to help them work towards learning new skills for independence. This is a positive step for some young people and demonstrates progress.

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The children's home strengths

 All the children and young people have made positive steps to improving their levels of contact. They have demonstrated they can be trusted to keep themselves safe which has resulted in an increased amount of unsupervised contact with those that are important to them. In addition, staff at the home go out of their way to make sure transport is not a factor that hinders contact. Some young people have progressed to travelling independently.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff at the home work hard to develop trusting relationships with children and young people. Sometimes they face varying levels of negative response, however, they persevere and as a result staff can see a change in children and young people’s attitudes towards staff, an increased level of appropriate touch and a genuine interest in the lives of those that look after them.

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The children's home strengths

 The occasions when children and young people go missing from the home are few and sporadic. They have the opportunity, when they return, to discuss the reasons why they left with the manager and also with an independent person. This helps understand why they went missing and allows the staff in the home to take steps to keep them safe.

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The children's home strengths

 The staff at the home manage clear boundaries for children and young people. The staff are consistent in their approach which gives the them a clear message about the importance of routines.

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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

In order to meet the health and well-being standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children's and young people's bedrooms are regularly cleaned the provider must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(1)(a) the health and well-being needs of children are met; (b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (c) children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles 07/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that the relevant policies are clearly understood as to what steps to take when an allegation is made. That action is taken to assess risk to children and young people as a result of any allegation and that any investigation is by consent from the LADO the registered person must ensure that staff –

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies; (b) that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so 07/09/2015 as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to ensuring that all the polices are up to date and reflect the current legislation and regulations the registered person –

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Requirement Due date

(g) demonstrates that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on – (i) research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. 07/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

(a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16)(3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the staffing details are updated to reflect the current staff team and their qualifications. 07/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home -

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Requirement Due date

(b) the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that steps are taken to reduce the risk of fire by smoking in the bedrooms. 07/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit which sets out, in particular, the independent person's opinion as to whether -

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Requirement Due date

(a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes the children's well-being. (Regulation 44(4))

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Requirement Due date

In addition, that the report contains analysis of information gathered and demonstrates the impact the staff in the home is having on the lives of children and young people so that it assists the manager of the home to provide a better quality of care. 07/09/2015 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the review should consider the action and steps that should be taken and determine if they have been taken, and, what impact that has had on the quality of the care. It should also consider how the quality of care can be improved. 07/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children, they will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. In particular, ensure that the home is repaired and decorated in a timely manner, removing any evidence of damage as quickly as possible. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15 paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day to day health and well-being. Where children have specific health needs or conditions, such as requiring glasses, they should be supported to manage these subject to their age and understanding. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 34 paragraph 7.10)

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Information about this children's home

The home is a large detached house with a garden and drive. It has three bedrooms all of which are en-suite. The home is privately managed by the Camiban group.

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Recent inspection history

This is the first inspection since registration.

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requires improvement

The care provided to children and young people is individualised and takes into account any changes as a result of their reviews. One social worker told me that, ‘They tailor everything to him personally.’ In addition they said, ‘They know what works well for him and facilitate this for him.’

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requires improvement

Children and young people have different levels of contact and free time and the staff work well with their respective social workers to analyse risks and then negotiate an appropriate level of free time. This improves the experiences they have and can spend quality time with family and friends which is very important to them.

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requires improvement

Staff work hard to improve the relationships that they have with children and young people. This can sometimes be difficult due to their behaviour and actions. However, staff have persevered and, as a result, children and young people, even those with the highest levels of challenging behaviour, have responded well. There are still instances when staff are subjected to outbursts but they continue to evolve strategies to deal with this behaviour. Those that were previously cautious of adults and of physical contact now demonstrate they can build relationships and show a genuine interest in their daily lives. One member of staff said, ‘Their trust has improved and are increasingly engaging, they ask about holidays that we have been on, our family and our pets, they enjoy looking at our photographs.’ A social worker commented on their young person’s recent engagement in their review. Previously they never engaged but during the most recent review the young

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requires improvement

person asked to be involved and was able to put across their point of view and also not become distracted by another young person. This was significant progress for this young person and they were praised for it.

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requires improvement

Children and young people’s progress in relation to their health is inconsistent. Some have engaged with health professionals and other chose not to, even when this has a detrimental effect on their health. For example, one of the children should wear glasses but arrived the home without them and complains of headaches. Staff at the home have made appointments but they have chosen not to attend. Children and young people at the home smoke cigarettes and a minority smoke other substances. Staff try and encourage them to not smoke, however, there has been no improvements. An additional risk posed by this is that smoking takes place in their bedrooms which increases the risk of fire. Staff have previously sought assistance from the Fire and Rescue Service in educating children and young people about the dangers of smoking in the home and this is to be repeated.

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requires improvement

Staff ensure that children and young people are able to seek assistance with their mental well-being and are engaging CAMHS when necessary. In general, their health is good and they eat a variety of healthy foods and contribute to the menu choices. They take part in activities such as biking, walking and fishing.

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requires improvement

Children and young people’s views are captured in various ways. Some find it difficult to engage in formal key-worker sessions so staff use other opportune moments to discuss any concerns they have and to gather their views on the home and what can be done to improve their time there. They contribute to choosing activities, menus, days out and how they want their rooms to look.

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requires improvement

Staff at the home regularly undertake activities with the children and young people. When I arrived to carry out the inspection, young people were getting ready to go camping for five days in Wales. They were clearly looking forward to this and were anxious that a member of staff arrived at the home quickly so they could leave. There has been a plan of daily activities over the school holidays. Children and young people contributed to choosing these. The home accommodates children and young people of different ages and as a result different levels of maturity. While the activities may suit some children in the home it may not suit all of them. When speaking to one young person they described some of the activities as, ‘boring’, such as spending time at the park. However, they said they were pleased the home had an Xbox, describing this as being, ‘unusual in a care home’. While waiting for the camping party to leave, children

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requires improvement

and young people were playing on Xbox with children from another home who was going on the same trip. They have the ability to mix well and engage with other young people with similar interests.

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requires improvement

Not all children and young people are attending education. One young person is being supported to apply for an apprenticeship and was awaiting a date for interview. One young person said, ‘staff are helping his situation’, and that, ‘staff are helping with applications’. Another one of the children has a transition plan between schools, however, this relies to some extent on his attendance at his current provision. Previous attendance has been poor with no attendance leading up to the summer holidays.

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requires improvement

During the inspection I was able to see two of the three bedrooms. They were very untidy and some areas of the rooms were not clean. In one young person’s sink were a number of stones and pebbles from having cleaned out a fish tank. Both rooms had inappropriate graffiti. Both had cigarette ends, one in an ashtray, the other thrown on the floor. Children and young people are encouraged by staff to keep their own rooms neat and tidy, this contributes to their independence learning. However, there must be earlier intervention by staff to make sure their rooms are clean enough so that they remain homely and free from hazards. On the second day of inspection I was able to view both rooms again and both had been appropriately cleaned. Steps were being taken to remove graffiti from a window and graffiti was removed from a door by sanding in preparation for repainting.

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requires improvement

The home has been registered since January 2015 and some of the children and young people have been in the home only a short time when the inspection was carried out. As a result, progress for some young people is difficult to measure but continues to be assessed and captured in a way that demonstrates their achievements.

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requires improvement

Staff at the home are able to identify risks and act upon them. However, in relation to two recent safeguarding incidents this has not been managed well. The home has a safeguarding policy which explains the steps staff must take when there is an allegation against a person working at the home. The policy is not clear about what should happen next.

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requires improvement

During one incident, a referral was made to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in a timely manner, however, an investigation took place prior to the LADO instructing staff at the home to do so. This means that any evidence required by another agency would be contaminated and reduce the prospect of them being able to take appropriate action.

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requires improvement

In relation to the second and more recent allegation, the referral was not made as quickly as it should have been. In addition, although an allegation had been made, no formal assessment of risk had taken place and the member of staff left the home, with other staff, on the camping trip. This placed children and young people at risk of harm. During the inspection, the LADO was contacted who requested the child’s social worker attend the home and gather more information about the allegation. This resulted in determining that the allegation was unfounded.

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requires improvement

During the second day of the inspection I was able to see a new draft policy that was about to be introduced. This dealt with the problem caused by the current policy and explained that discussion about next steps should take place with the LADO at the time of the referral. In addition, it made it clear that an investigation should not commence without consent from the LADO. This will ensure that the correct person gathers the evidence. During a discussion with the responsible individual it was agreed that all staff would be reminded of the procedure to follow should they receive an allegation.

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requires improvement

The levels of children and young people going missing from this home are low, sporadic and confined to one child in particular. Staff work with social workers to negotiate so that free time can be increased where appropriate and that risk assessments are updated to reflect this. When risk assessments require that children and young people are physically seen then they respond and come back to the home so that staff can see they are safe and well. If a child or young person has been missing from the home the staff encourage them to participate in a return interview. These are offered independently by Safe at Last, a registered charity providing support to children and young people who go missing from home. In addition, the manager also speak to them about why they went missing so to understand what steps can be put in place to reduce the risk of it happening again.

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requires improvement

At the time of this inspection there was no identified risk of sexual exploitation. One young person has engaged in smoking cannabis and the home is working to try and reduce this. They have considered the impact of this on other people in the home and are monitoring other children and young people. Staff at the home have taken advice from the police in dealing with this concern and will continue to work with them to manage the situation.

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requires improvement

The bedrooms of children and young people have an audible alert to let staff know when they move in and out of their room. Placing social workers are aware of this and it is reflected in the home’s Statement of Purpose. These are used only when necessary and can isolate individual rooms. This allows staff to monitor activity once they have settled for the night. The use of these alerts is reviewed when the children and young people’s care plans are updated. Both external doors also have alerts fitted so that staff can hear if anyone leaves or enters the home.

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requires improvement

The manager of this home is registered with Ofsted and demonstrated the required level of experience and skills at the point of registration. She is continuing to complete the required qualification. Progress against achieving this will be reviewed at the next inspection.

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requires improvement

The care provided to children and young people at the home is reported in two ways. Firstly, an independent person visits the home and prepares a written report for the provider. These take place monthly and are submitted in an appropriate time. However, the reports do not contain the opinion of the independent person as required in regulation. The reports lack factual analysis of events and what impact the home has had in contributing to the care of children and young people. This is vital information for the manager of the home to have an independent view on the running of the home and to make improvements. Secondly, the manager of the home prepares a report on the quality of care. This is required every six months. The last report covers the period March 2015 to May 2015. Similarly, it also would benefit from more analytical data. For example, the report contains lists of how staff at the home manage poor behaviour but no analysis of whether that

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requires improvement

was effective or how it might be adapted for each individual person. Likewise, the information provided as to the steps taken to minimise the use of restraint is a statement of how restraints are carried out rather than analysis of the restraints and how the staff can use their knowledge and understand of each young person to demonstrate how they manage that individual person’s behaviour which then impacts on the use of restraint.

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requires improvement

The lack of analysis prevents the leaders and managers of the home from having an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the care being provided so that it can be changed and improved where necessary.

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requires improvement

Supervisions taken place regularly in the home. Staff report that they feel well supported. One team leader explained how they give the staff scenarios and validate their understanding. An area for development is the understanding of all staff working in the home of the procedure for dealing with allegations made by children and young people. As detailed in an earlier section of this report, staff do not fully understand the implications of their actions when processing an allegation. This contradicts some aspects of the manager’s monitoring, however, may be more indicative of deficiencies in the policy, which are being addressed.

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requires improvement

The home has a comprehensive Statement of Purpose and is following its aims and objectives. The home currently does not have a website and so the Statement of Purpose is not published electronically. The Statement of Purpose requires updating to reflect the current staffing position and their qualifications.

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requires improvement

There are a number of polices currently in place that refer to legislation that is out of date. Changes were made to legislation in April 2015 and these changes are not reflected in the policies. While there is little impact on the day to day care of children and young people, this may become more of a concern as new staff come to the home who may not be familiar with the older legislation. Having discussed this with the team leader, I am aware that a number of polices are in the process of being updated however, this represents a significant delay since the introduction of the new legislation.

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requires improvement

The home has recently added to its permanent staff team. This is positive as a permanent team provides consistency and continuity in the care of children and young people and provides a team of staff who are familiar to them. The home also uses staff on a casual basis to supplement the permanent team. A number of staff have yet to attain the required qualification level. This is due to some having only recently finished their probationary period. The provider is arranging for them to be enrolled onto the required course. This must be monitored by managers to ensure that staff achieve this within the appropriate timescale.

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requires improvement

The home is spacious and has neutral decoration. The bedrooms have furniture to meet the children and young people’s needs. They are in need of decoration. Some walls have holes and chips in the plaster. These then require painting and in particular to cover graffiti. The rooms do not feel homely. Staff told me that they have asked the children and young people what colours they want in their rooms and are yet to receive a response. This is a matter that can be progressed by managers at the home to ensure they are decorated to promote a more homely feeling.

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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

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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