Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Birmingham

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 registered manager provides outstanding leadership to her staff team.  The constant flow of admissions and departures of young people does not de-stabilise the home.  There is a commitment to a high standard of care, and to offering young people the chance to make progress during their stay.  The staff team has good and effective working relationships with a number of partner agencies.  Behaviour is managed sensitively but firmly, using a range of techniques that are successful in avoiding conflict.  The staff team is proficient in making meaningful relationships quickly with young people who at a point of crisis in their lives.  Young people are kept safe whilst at the home. They are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions and to protect themselves.

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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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Information about this children's home

This home is owned and managed by a private organisation. The service operates in partnership with a Local Authority to provide remand services for young people 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

05/02/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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good

The quality of individualised care provided at the home is good. One young person is an asylum seeker with limited spoken English skills. The staff team have made every effort to ensure that they are able to communicate effectively with him using interpreters, translated written information and role-modelling behaviours. This has had a profound effect on the young person. He feels cared for, he is engaged in education and he is making new friends. His confidence has grown because of the support he has received. His emotional and psychological well-being have improved immeasurably since his arrival at the home, three months ago.

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good

Young people have good relationships with staff. This is a real achievement given that many young people arrive at the home in an angry and confrontational state. Although the time-limited nature of some placements may limit the opportunity for some young people to make progress whilst at the home, the staff team are nevertheless dedicated to this aim. They are proactive in their efforts to establish a structure for young people that will occupy, divert and enrich them.

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good

Young people participate well in the many opportunities they have to express their views and preferences about the care they receive. Staff encourage them to make sensible choices about a range of issues. Young people are supported to comply with court-imposed conditions. For many of them, this is the first time in their lives they have received such support. Most young people respond favourably to the help provided by staff. They are encouraged to reflect on their behaviours and the effects on others. The home also offers them a chance to reflect on their longer- term futures and the positive alternatives to offending.

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good

The weekly admissions and discharges of young people mean that the home is perpetually changing and adapting to the needs of a range of young people. The day-to-day experiences of living at the home vary due to the circumstances and ages of young people. Despite these differences, staff have an expectation that the day is structured by providing access to educational or training activities. For some, this will mean maintaining an existing educational placement some way from the home. For others who are not in the habit of attending school, this involves making arrangements to engage them in meaningful educational activity. Given the turnover of placements in the home, this is a constant task and one at which the staff are efficient.

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good

Transitions into the home are managed well, despite the initial reluctance of some young people. Staff make their expectations about good behaviour clear from the outset.

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good

The nature of placements made at the home mean that young people have experienced situations that are risky and harmful to themselves or others. Staff at the home identify the risks from the point of referral. They develop an understanding of the risks throughout the assessment phase following admission.

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good

Behaviour management relies on the quality of the relationships between young people and staff. Sanctions and physical interventions are rarely necessary due to the staff team’s abilities to diffuse and deflect challenging behaviours. A primary aim of the home is not to further criminalise young people and for the most part it succeeds in its’ aim.

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good

The staff team has recently refreshed its’ approach to the management of bullying by developing a zero-tolerance approach. Young people are taught to have and show respect for others.

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good

Young people are protected by various layers of security when using new technology in the home. The provider’s server monitors and filters internet usage. Inappropriate content is blocked by the server and by stand-alone software installed on the computer in the home. Games consoles are not connected to the internet. Young people are told about the risks of using social media when online, and they agree to comply with the rules of the home in this respect.

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good

Young people’s reluctance to be placed at the home is often reflected by their behaviour in going missing from the home. For most young people this only happens once. On their return to the home, they are reminded about the terms of their stay at the home and how courts might interpret episodes of going missing. This response by staff achieves the intention; episodes of missing cease and as a result young people are kept safe.

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good

The staff team are good at adapting and learning in the light of serious incidents. One recent example has changed practice in response to incidents of self-harm. Staff have gained new knowledge and skills by the provision of training on ligatures. A thorough and reflective review, led by the manager and involving the whole team, also led to changes in the door locks used in the home. This demonstrates the commitment of the team to a constant improvement and development of procedures and practice to ensure that young people are kept safe. Judgement grade

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outstanding

A capable, confident and committed registered manager, who has been in her post for four years, provides firm leadership that ensures that the quality of care is consistently good.

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outstanding

The requirement at the previous inspection regarding specialist training has been met. The staff team benefit from a wider range of development opportunities that are related to the individual needs of young people at the home.

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outstanding

The manager ensures that her team’s need to stay up to date with the latest research, legislation and practice, is satisfied. The team has benefitted from specific remand-to-care training, which has ensured that it remains up to date with its’ knowledge in regards to youth justice system. Similarly, specific training in counter terrorism included the latest content on warning signs and extremism. A range of research-based training has been delivered by the provider’s clinical team on the specific needs of young people in the home. These sessions have equipped the staff to provide effective support to young people with a range of complex issues, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, self-harm, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Child sexual Exploitation.

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outstanding

Although there has been some change in care staff, this has been largely due to positive progressions within the provider organisation or in other careers. Despite these changes and the continual state of flux resulting from constant admissions and departures of young people, the manager succeeds in creating an orderly and settled home. Staff are well supported through effective supervision, annual appraisals, team meetings and detailed induction arrangements.

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outstanding

The manager completes quality of care reports more often than the regulation requires. These reports show a good understanding of the many strengths and few weaknesses of the home. The manager has provided enthusiastic leadership on a number of improvement initiatives since the last inspection. This effort has led to improvements in training, responses to self-harm, building security, working patterns. These changes ultimately have resulted to an improvement in the standard of care provided for young people. The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in its’ statement of purpose.

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outstanding

The staff team maintains good and productive relationships with a range of partner agencies. In circumstances where young people sometimes feel they have no hope of avoiding custodial sentences, they have the opportunity to thrive during their stay at the home. One social worker was in no doubt about the difference the staff had made to life of one young person, whose case she managed. ‘The home stopped him from going to prison’, she said. On admission to the home, the young person was not allowed to be in the local community unaccompanied. After six weeks of dedicated round the clock support at the home, re-engagement in education and a favourable outcome in court, the young person is now doing well in supported accommodation.

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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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