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 young person has developed strong, trusting and positive relationships with a staff team that is compassionate, stable, experienced and caring.  The small staff team are well established and there have been no changes to the staff team since the young person came to live in the home. They are sufficiently trained and supported by a strong, dedicated management team.  The manager and staff team are passionate about achieving positive outcomes for the young person living at the home. As such the young person has made excellent progress and has achieved well educationally.  The young person is listened to and their wishes and feelings are given the highest priority by the staff. Consequently they are at the very heart of the home and are included in all decision making; for example the décor and furnishings of the home, and activities.  The manager and staff team work well with parents and partner agencies.

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The children's home provision is good because:

They have built excellent working relationships that support good communication and information sharing.  Supporting young people’s independence, positive experiences in the local community and peer friendships are key strengths of the home. For example staff facilitate visits with the young person’s family and friends, the young person has friends to stay over and they are active members of a local gym.  The home has an excellent system of reporting and recording. This enables the manager to evaluate progress and produce a strong and robust development plan. However, during the course of the inspection some improvements in relation to the detail recorded on some documents were highlighted. This minor shortfall does not impact on the welfare of the young person.

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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 the registered person makes best use of the information from independent and internal monitoring; in particular take action to correct any out of date information, addresses and telephone numbers. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, Page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Information about this children's home

 This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for one young person 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

10/03/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

22/01/2014 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

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Good

The young person has made excellent progress while living at the home. As a result of extremely personalised and individualised care the young person has grown in maturity and confidence. In particular they have benefitted from a small and stable staff team that have an excellent understanding of the young person’s needs. Consequently the young person is happy, safe and refers to the home as ‘their home’.

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Good

Staff spend considerable amounts of time on a 1:1 basis with the young person, talking, listening and advising. This has led to the young person developing trusting and strong relationships with all the staff, and developing strategies to manage change and conflict. Staff provide the young person with a consistent nurturing approach that leads the young person to say ‘I know they care’.

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Good

The staff provide an excellent level of care and ensure that the young person has the support to access all services, for example an educational mentor. The young person receives tailored support to re-engage in education and learning. This has resulted in the young person achieving a number of GCSE’s and being inspired to achieve an apprenticeship or employment. The educational mentor reports ‘she is enthusiastic to consider a career related within the field of Criminology’.

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Good

This individualised care provides the young person with opportunities to explore their own identity and develop their interests. For example the young person has joined a gym, and staff have helped the young person purchase gym equipment for their home. This has resulted in the growth of the young person’s confidence, self-esteem and health.

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Good

The staff facilitate and support the young person’s visits to their family and friends. As a result of regular positive visits and good relationships with family members, the young person now stays frequently with their parent and friends. Additionally the young person enjoys the freedom to be able to have a friend over to the house for meals and to sleepover. Judgement grade

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Outstanding

The manager and staff team have an excellent understanding of the young person’s individual risks. Reporting and recording systems, and risk assessments are exceptional. They provide the manager and staff team with accurate and detailed information, enabling them to monitor and keep safe the young person. This level of detail is included in the routine sharing of information and progress updates of the young person with the placing social worker and parent.

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Outstanding

All documentation is personalised and individualised. Care plans and bespoke independence programmes clearly identify how to support the young person in taking age and ability appropriate risks. This means the young person is able to experience a good level of safe time away from their home and experience new opportunities, which has built their confidence and has broadened their life experiences.

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Outstanding

The young person is cared for by a staff team that are skilled, experienced and has a wealth of knowledge in managing risk and safeguarding young people. A key strength of the home is the consistency of the staff team. There have been no changes to the staff team since the young person came to live in the home. This stability has provided the young person with a cohesive staff team that are fully trained and extremely competent in handling conflict and challenging behaviours.

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Outstanding

The young person has benefited enormously from the consistent boundaries and structures the staff have put in place. This has resulted in the young person learning to understand their own behaviours and not placing themselves at risk. Consequently the young person does not go missing; there is no use of physical intervention, any complaints or referrals to the Local Safeguarding Children Board or LADO, no use of room searches and no use of sanctions.

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Outstanding

Recruitment procedures, induction and training programmes are all well established and staff benefit from annual refresher training sessions. Additionally the manager and staff team have dedicated time to use research to inform and underpin their practice. For example learning about the health benefits, structure and discipline that attendance at a gym can produce. This has resulted in the young person developing a strong sense of safety and taking responsibility in not placing themselves at risk from misuse of drugs or alcohol. Judgement grade

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Good

The home is managed by a Registered Manager who is extremely experienced and qualified. This level of experience and knowledge provides them with the necessary skills and attributes to lead and manage the home effectively.

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Good

The manager leads a small staff team that are fully trained and equipped to provide an environment that supports and prioritises the young person’s individual needs. They lead by example and are passionate about securing positive outcomes. In particular the manager and staff team work well together in reviewing how the home is meeting the needs of the young person. For example as the young person moves towards independence, the manager, staff team and young person have produced and routinely review an independence programme that is tailored to the young person’s individuality and identity.

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Good

The manager uses the interval reviewing systems and independent monitoring visits to evaluate and improve the development of the home. As such monitoring is robust and all documents seen were of a good standard and audited well. However, during the course of the inspection some very minor details were noted to be incorrect on a number of documents, they do not impact on the welfare of the young person and the manager and staff team were in the process of correcting them.

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Good

Since the last inspection there have been no notifiable incidents. However, the manager and staff team have a good understanding of the procedures and policies in place should they need to report or notify.

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Good

The manager and staff team attend a wide range of training to enhance their individual knowledge, skills and professional development. Their supervision and training records are clear and stored safely.

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Good

The quality of the relationships between the manager and the small staff team are balanced exceptionally well between being professional and friendly. Consequently the young person benefits enormously from observing positive friendships, excellent role modelling and professionalism amongst the staff team. Staff report they feel ‘very well supported by the manager’, and ‘as a staff group we are committed to make sure we support the young person to develop and grow’.

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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

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 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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