Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Rochdale

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 comments that they feel safe and well cared for by the staff team.  The young person benefits from living in a small solo home, and consequently receives a highly individualised care package, with high levels of support on a daily basis.  The young person lives in a nurturing environment in which staff provide high-quality support, ensuring that specific support agencies are in place to meet the young person’s individual needs. Consequently, the young person has made progress from their individual starting points since living in the home.  The whole staff team is dedicated to securing positive outcomes for the young person and to ensuring that they make progress from their individual starting points in the home.  The staff team benefits from a highly motivated manager, who is committed to supporting both young people and staff team members to achieve their potential and to secure continual improvement in the quality of care

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The children’s home provision is good because:

provided in the home.  The staff say that they are well supported in their role by the manager, and have regular supervision and team meetings. They participate in regular training. This ensures that they are well equipped to meet the individual needs of the young person placed in the home.  Shortfalls raised at this inspection have not impacted significantly on the welfare of the young people. Areas for improvement raised at this inspection include ensuring that: — if damage is done in the home, furniture is replaced quickly to provide a homely environment — risk assessments are recorded to demonstrate the rationale for decisions in respect of the suitability of employees to work with young people.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person is required to—

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Requirement Due date

2(c)(i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. 09/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that there is a clear audit trail of information on record to demonstrate the rationale and reasoning behind the decision to employ individuals deemed to be of integrity and good character, including risk assessments that inform the overall judgement about fitness. (Regulation 32 (3)(a)) 09/09/2016

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

The young person benefits from individualised care. This is because he lives in a solo placement with high levels of staff support that are meeting his specific needs. The young person is placed at the centre of the home, and staff speak proudly of the progress he has made since living in the home. The longevity of the placement has enabled the young person to establish and maintain very good relationships with individual staff members. The young person commented: ‘All of the staff listen to me. My key worker talks to me about my actions and the possible consequences. I do feel listened to.’ The young person’s views are fundamental to the running of the home and are routinely heard through regular one-to-one sessions and daily conversations. Weekly routines and activities are based on the individual’s preference. Recently, the young person enjoyed a young driver taster session and a day trip to Blackpool. These activities encourage engagement and

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Good

broaden the young person’s experiences, increasing his self-confidence away from the home.

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Good

The young person has made considerable progress from his initial starting point. He has grown in confidence. Staff commented on the physical changes in him since being in placement. Where previously he was reluctant to leave the home even with staff, he is now confident in the community and enjoys spending time with the staff carrying out daily tasks, such as shopping and going on other activities. The young person himself recognises that he has made positive changes since being in the placement.

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Good

Staff, through consistency and encouragement, have supported the young person in making sustained and positive progress throughout the placement. Educationally, the young person has made significant progress. After initially refusing to attend any education, by the end of the last school year he had achieved full attendance. The young person spoke positively during the inspection about going back to school after the summer and working towards gaining a college placement.

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Good

Staff work effectively with healthcare professionals to ensure that the young person’s welfare is promoted. Staff are robust in their management of the young person’s healthcare needs and proactive in ensuring that services, such as the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS), are provided in a timely manner. As a result, the young person receives the support he needs to meet his current and any emerging emotional needs. Staff recognise the importance of maintaining family networks and friendship links. Recent changes to family contact arrangements have been agreed because of the challenges presented by the behaviour of the young person when in the family home. Family contact is now facilitated by the staff team away from the family home, and with staff who offer support to both the young person and his family members to ensure that the time spent together is safe and enjoyable. The young

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Good

person, although unhappy with these new arrangements, is supported by the staff team to understand the reasons behind the decision.

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Good

The staff are working with the young person to develop his independent living skills at a pace that he is comfortable with and are setting achievable goals and targets to support the young person’s engagement in the process. The young person is proud of the new skills he is learning. He commented: ‘My key worker speaks to me about the seriousness of independence skills and the preparation I need for later on in my life.’

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Good

The home is located in a residential street and sits well within the community. However, at the time of the inspection, the home was not a homely environment because of the significant amount of damage the young person had caused previously around the home. The manager had not taken action to ensure that furniture, including a TV, had been replaced quickly and that regular cleaning of the young person’s bathroom was being completed. However, during the inspection, the manager did address both these issues as the house was cleaned and temporary furniture was delivered.

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Requires improvement

The young person commented: ‘I feel very safe living here.’ This was endorsed by professionals who said that they are confident in the ability of staff to keep the young person safe. Risks and vulnerabilities are well documented and fully understood by the small staff team. Effective risk management plans identify strategies to manage and support the young person safely. These are regularly reviewed and updated in order to maximise the young person’s safety. There have been no reported episodes of going missing, with the young person returning home late on just one occasion. Despite this, the manager consistently reviews and monitors the risk management plans to ensure that staff are supported with up-to- date information and agreed strategies to support the young person effectively, should this become an emerging concern.

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Requires improvement

The young person has been encouraged and supported to develop appropriate friendships, and staff support the young person to spend time independently in the community. This has resulted in free time away from staff and the home. The staff team works consistently with the young person to support him in making positive choices when away from the supervision of staff and in developing the skills needed to be safe in the community.

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Requires improvement

Behaviour is effectively managed by the staff team. The staff team is consistent in implementing clear routines and boundaries, and this is underpinned by individual incentives and rewards to promote and encourage positive behaviour. Consequently, there are very low levels of physical intervention or sanctions. However, there have been a number of challenging incidents in the home, resulting in significant damage to property. The manager has taken a restorative approach with the young person and consequently the police have not been called for each incident. This is because the manager is committed to providing a consistent and proportionate approach to behaviour management in the home. She ensures that the staff team has access to the internal clinical support team to discuss and understand the reasons for some of the behaviour displayed by the young person.

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Requires improvement

Staff are consistently clear about what action they would take in response to any arising concerns. This means that they understand their safeguarding responsibilities and prioritise the safety and well-being of the young person at all times. The home has robust safeguarding procedures for staff to follow in the event of allegations, suspicion of abuse or unsafe practice. Records demonstrate that the manager is rigorous in the management of allegations or concerns about staff practice. She has ensured that action is taken quickly and in consultation with appropriate external agencies in order to support the young person living at the home.

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Requires improvement

New staff have been recruited since the last inspection. The principles of safer recruitment have been broadly followed to ensure that staff are appropriately checked and vetted and to confirm that they are safe to work with vulnerable young people. However, personnel records do not demonstrate evidence of how concerns arising from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks have been assessed by the manager and how the decision that the member of staff is suitable for employment has been reached, despite organisational documents being in place to support this process.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post since 2015. She achieved registration in April 2016. She is also the registered manager for two other solo-occupancy homes. The manager has undertaking the appropriate leadership qualification, which will broaden her skills and competence and comply with regulations. The manager has a number of years’ experience in supporting young people, and is committed to enabling young people to fulfil their potential. The manager leads by example and even with managing two other homes, maintains a strong presence in the home. Young people and staff commented during the inspection that she is always available for support and spends time in the home.

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Good

The staff team commented on the high level of support in place. Staff benefit from regular and effective supervision, which is underpinned by an annual appraisal and a comprehensive training programme. The manager has ensured that the small staff team is suitably qualified or working towards achieving qualification. Regular team meetings provide a forum for staff members to raise any issues relating to the home and an opportunity to discuss the young person’s progress and to ensure that all staff are working consistently to meet the identified individual needs of the young person living in the home.

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Good

The manager has developed monitoring systems for all areas of the home. Consequently, she has a strong overview of the progress the young person is making in the home and is able to make adjustments to practice and provide support and guidance as appropriate to individual staff members, to ensure continual improvement. Progress is measured on a regular basis and the manager has a development plan in place in order to ensure that the service is continually improving. The manager has a commitment to supporting staff to make progress in their own development, which means that staff are motivated and committed to the home and the young person. Consequently, effective and supportive relationships are established between individual team members and the young person.

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Good

The home is adequately resourced and delivers the services and support outlined in its statement of purpose. There have been recent changes to the staff team, following staff moving on from their job role. The manager has ensured that the rota has been covered by deploying existing members of staff, staff who work in the manager’s other homes, and a small number of in-house bank workers. This helps to maintain consistency for the young person. The manager continually reviews the staff team at the home. This ensures relationships remain effective and that there is a good balance of skills and experience within the team to meet the individual needs of the young person. Good relationships are established with support agencies involved in the care of the young person. The placing social worker commented that communication is very good and that he is regularly updated. The manager is adept at identifying

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Good

where relationships with supporting agencies could be improved. She is currently mentoring staff to ensure that an effective relationship is established with the local neighbourhood policing team. No shortfalls were identified at the last inspection.

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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 the ‘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 children looked after 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 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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