Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Devon

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:

 The quality of care provided has a positive impact on the welfare of young people, who make steady and sustained progress and achievements in many areas of their lives. Young people have a 100% school attendance record. An education professional remarked ‘… is really settled at school since moving into the home, behavioural issues have reduced and they have been able to concentrate on learning’.  Young people are happy in this home, they feel safe and say they get on with all the staff and can talk to any of the adults caring for them. The numbers of staff on duty and their understanding of possible risks keep young people safe.  Consultation with young people allows them to participate in day-to-day decisions about their lives and the running of the home. They are engaged in community activities which support their emotional and physical wellbeing, creating opportunities to learn new skills and socialise with peers

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The children's home provision is good because:

outside of the school environment.  Work with specialist agencies supports the welfare of young people well; it also contributes to the training of the staff caring for them. The local police youth support officer has been engaged to do some work around Internet safety with young people. They also have access to mental health services, which help to improve their emotional wellbeing, confidence and self- esteem.  The manager has taken effective action to avoid a repeat of the difficulties identified at the previous inspection. This has resulted in the careful consideration of referrals for placements in the home, appropriate matching of residents to avoid placement disruption allowing young people to progress without interruption.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person should enable, inspire and lead a culture that;

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Requirement Due date

(C) ensures all staff have the experience and skills to meet the needs of each child 09/11/2015

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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 restraint is only used for the purposes set out in regulation 20. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 48, paragraph 9.48)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all incidents of restraint are recorded and reviewed by the registered person and that they respond promptly where any issues of concern emerge. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff are familiar with the home's policy on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person prepares and implements polices for the safeguarding of children which sets out clear procedures for referring child protection concerns. All policies should be regularly reviewed and revised where appropriate. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 44, paragraph 9.19)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that records kept for staff evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). In particular, evidence attention to practice related issues and detail of continuing professional development needs. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who may present with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

18/03/2015 CH - Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

12/03/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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Good

The registered manager has carefully considered the needs of young people and their presenting risks prior to admission to the home. The careful matching of placements avoids young people having a negative impact on one another and allows them to make good progress in many areas of their lives.

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Good

The young people are valued by the staff team who regularly communicate high expectations and a determination to help them to develop confidence and self- esteem. Young people feel valued and appear relaxed and comfortable in this environment. The staff team take an interest in their education, transporting them individually to school and using this time to provide support to the young people and to provide opportunities for them to discuss any concerns or issues which may be bothering them.

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Good

Education attendance and attainment for young people is remarkable. They have clear aspirations for further study and future employment and know exactly what is needed to achieve these goals. The staff team support educational achievement by working in close partnership with schools and education providers. They support young people to do homework. Part of the home’s rewards scheme is linked to young people doing extra-curricular educational activities, such as reading. Young people have access to computers and the internet to support learning and for recreational use.

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Good

Young people feel consulted, they commonly choose food and meals for the home and understand the importance of healthy eating and exercise. They are engaged in community group activities which develop their social and physical skills. One young person who wants to pursue a career in armed forces attends Army cadets. Another plays team basketball. Young people also say they enjoy ‘going to the cinema, bike riding and walking, but especially enjoy using computer and console games’.

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Good

Young people access the specialist services they need to develop understanding of and come to terms with, previous trauma. They have regular appointments with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, alongside support from school mentors and advocates. All routine health checks are up to date and services to work with young people around sexual health and relationships have been sought for use following full assessment.

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Good

Young people are, and feel, safe in this home. Clear boundaries and expectations of behaviour are particularly beneficial to young people whose lives have previously been chaotic and out of control.

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Good

Young people know how to make a complaint and told the inspector they can speak to any member of staff if they have concerns. Independent mentors support young people in school and independent advocates are available; one young person meets with an independent advocate on a regular basis.

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Good

The close attention given to environmental health and safety risk assessment prevents young people being exposed to unnecessary risks. They know how to get out of the building in the event of an emergency and understand the measures in place to avoid risk.

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Good

The staff team are compliant with the expectations of the placing authorities in terms of avoiding risk. As such, staffing for young people is on a one-to-one basis and young people are supervised much of the time.

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Good

Behaviour management is based on de-escalation techniques and understanding of how past trauma impacts on young people’s behaviour. Incentive schemes help young people to consider the choices they have in their behaviour.

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Good

The use of physical intervention is kept to a minimum; however, there was one incident where a brief wrist hold was used to deal with non-compliance and another brief hold which is not recorded. Both of these interventions by the same member of staff have been noted by the registered manager; one has been fully investigated and the other is currently under investigation.

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Good

Young people currently living in the home have not gone missing and staff are clear about what must be done to keep them safe and secure a quick return should any incidents occur.

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Good

Young people have not been engaged in any criminal behaviour since moving into the home.

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Requires improvement

Records are not reliably completed to provide sufficient, accurate and up-to-date information. This includes detail of staff training, night time monitoring records, care planning and risk assessments. The home’s care planning records lacks attention to detail about young people’s social and emotional development needs, so that their progress can be maximised. Many tasks are allocated to all staff and lack time scales, as a result it is not clear who is supposed to be doing what and when.

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Requires improvement

Records of staff supervision and restraint lack sufficient evidence of reflective practice and effective action following concerns about behaviour management interventions. This reduces opportunities to make sure all the staff team has the skills and development opportunities needed to avoid ineffective or inappropriate behaviour management interventions.

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Requires improvement

Some records contain subjective detail, which is not helpful to understanding the life or experience of the young person e.g. describing their behaviour as ‘sly’ rather than detailing the behaviour.

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Requires improvement

The safeguarding policy has not been regularly reviewed and doesn’t clearly state what action is to be taken by managers or those to whom reports are made. On one occasion, a running log of the action taken has not been kept by the manager as stated in the policy. However, these recording issues have not prevented or delayed the staff taking action to protect young people when any concerns arise.

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Requires improvement

A registered manager is in place she has sufficient experience and qualifications needed to manage this home. Since the last inspection she has focused on avoiding a repetition of admitting young people to the home when it was unlikely they would benefit from such a move. As a result, the home’s statement of purpose has been updated and the home no longer takes emergency placements. In addition, the matching of the needs of young people who live together has been reviewed and this process is now robust. This limits the potential negative impact young people can have on one another because of difficult behaviour or competing needs.

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Requires improvement

Staffing numbers allow for each young person to receive one-to-one support. While there have been changes since the last inspection the team is now stable and any gaps are filled by other workers within the same company, who are known to the young people. This consistency of staffing provides familiarity for young people and contributes to their feeling safe.

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Requires improvement

The home works in close partnership with other agencies, which helps to strengthen the care for and achievements of young people. Education providers, mental health support services and the local police are amongst those who offer guidance to staff. This enables them to help young people overcome previous difficulties and to avoid difficulties in the future. The staff team also use local leisure and activity facilities to promote young people’s learning and social interaction with others.

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Requires improvement

The environment suits the needs of young people and the isolated nature of the property is negated as transport is provided for each young person when needed. Repairs are completed quickly and improvements to the outside areas are evident now that a gardener is employed to help with this. Future developments include the creation of a vegetable patch which young people are very keen to be involved in.

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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

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

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

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

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