Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

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:

 Young people are making good progress in many aspects of their lives. They benefit from positive, trusting relationships with staff, and grow in confidence and self-esteem.  The home is welcoming and provides a safe and homely environment.  Young people are engaged in education and make good progress from their starting points. Staff are ambitious for young people and support them to fully engage in their education. Young people are proud of their achievements and are aspirational about the future.  Contact with family is actively promoted, and staff have been pivotal in progressing family contact and, in some instances, reunification plans.  Staff follow comprehensive risk management plans and keep these under regular review. This ensures that young people are as safe as possible.  Staff respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns, following procedures to manage risk effectively.  There is a significant reduction in risk-taking behaviour. Young people

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The children’s home provision is good because:

become increasingly aware of risk through effective key work with staff, and through this awareness begin to make safer choices.  Challenging behaviour is managed well, resulting in a reduction in incidents in the home. Young people are supported to find strategies to regulate their emotions.  There have been some significant staff changes in recent months, but this has not had a negative impact on the stability of the young people in the home.  The acting manager is appropriately skilled and experienced. He has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses.  Two shortfalls and one area for improvement are identified as a result of this inspection. The shortfalls are in relation to needing to embed a stronger management team to ensure that plans for the home can progress. Fire evacuation drills need to be practised regularly, and recorded. Recording in general also needs to be improved.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(2) In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person is required to –

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Requirement Due date

(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. This is with reference to ensuring that there is a stable leadership team that ensures that standards are maintained in record-keeping and oversight of practice. 26/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25(1)(d)) 26/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

The registered person shall ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies 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. This is with particular reference to recording more detail following a physical intervention, manager’s response and oversight of children’s meeting minutes and generally quality-assuring documents. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a large national private provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

12/11/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

04/06/2014 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people are making good progress in many aspects of their lives. They benefit from positive, trusting relationships with staff, and grow in confidence and self-esteem. The staff are very skilled in communicating with young people and as a result, young people quickly feel welcomed and accepted in the home. A parent commented that the staff had made ‘such a difference’ to her life and her daughter’s life, and added that staff ‘have got the skills to get through’ to her daughter.

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Good

The home is welcoming and provides a safe and homely environment. There is a relaxed atmosphere in the home, and the decor is comfortable and functional, but not at all institutional. In most rooms there are photographs of the young people. This strengthens the sense of inclusion and helps young people to feel at home, as well as celebrating their achievements.

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Good

Young people are engaged in education and make good progress from their starting points. Staff have clear expectations about young people getting into a good routine, even if they are not in full-time education. Staff are ambitious for young people and support them to fully engage in their education. This includes helping young people to think about courses of study that promote their confidence and sense of accomplishment. This has resulted in young people being proud of their achievements and being aspirational about the future. One young person hopes to go to university and felt that being at the home had ‘transformed her life’. Extra-curricular activities are also encouraged, and this is positive in building confidence and promoting social development.

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Good

Staff work with placing authorities to actively promote and support contact. Staff recognise and value the significance of family relationships. They recognise when young people are struggling to manage difficult feelings and support them to develop insight into their emotions. This promotes emotional maturity and resilience, and has a positive impact on behaviour. Staff also offer parents and carers support to maintain positive relationships. Staff have proactively managed reunification plans, resulting in positive outcomes for young people.

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Good

Staff help young people to see how much progress they have made, while being realistic that there will be setbacks and further obstacles to making successful transitions to independence.

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Good

Staff ensure that health needs are addressed promptly, and actively encourage a healthy lifestyle in the home. Healthy eating is encouraged. Staff demonstrate good insight into how to manage less positive behaviour such as smoking. Emotional health and well-being needs are met with the support of in-house clinicians, and young people can access direct support from an in-house psychologist. Evidence of indirect therapeutic work is seen in planned key-work sessions around issues such as anger, bullying and self-esteem.

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Good

Young people are at the centre of practice and participation is a strength in the home. Young people are encouraged to be part of care planning and to attend relevant meetings. Young people are also encouraged to shape their care plans and to make informed choices through key work sessions. The young people themselves, with support from staff, manage their own weekly meetings. They have a clear voice within the home and advocacy is promoted. This model of participation is shared with other homes in the region and is led by young people.

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Good

Young people are supported to develop emotional resilience and emotional maturity through increasingly taking on age-appropriate responsibilities. This provides a sense of achievement and ownership, as well as preparing young people for transitions. Staff promote a ‘can do’ attitude and encourage young people to try new things and take manageable risks. Transition planning and preparation is successful, but recording around preparation for independence is not strong enough.

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Good

Young people are safe in the home, and over time become increasing safe as they stabilise and settle into the routine of the home.

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Good

A recommendation was made at the last inspection due to concerns about internet access. This recommendation has been addressed and there are effective strategies in place to manage safe internet use. All young people in the home have been made aware of the risks in using the internet and are expected to adhere to the home’s policy regarding this. Staff respond quickly to any concerns arising from internet use. They also acknowledge that internet access cannot be managed as comprehensively outside the home, and so they enable young people, through education, to keep themselves safe online.

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Good

Staff follow comprehensive risk management plans and keep these under regular review. This ensures that young people are as safe as possible. Staff are very responsive to young people’s needs and can very ably implement strategies to provide effective safeguarding. Staff are consistent with behaviour management strategies and young people respond well to this. One young person said that the staff were strict with their boundaries, but also added that this is what she wanted and needed, and it made her feel safe.

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Good

There is a significant reduction is risk-taking behaviour. Young people become increasingly aware of risk through effective key work with staff, and through this awareness begin to make safer choices. This has led to young people recognising the risks associated with sexual exploitation, and they are much more aware of the signs, both for themselves and for others. Staff receive appropriate training in relation to awareness of child sexual exploitation and protecting young people.

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Good

Missing episodes are substantially reduced. On the occasions when young people have gone missing from the home, staff have followed procedures appropriately. This has had a positive impact on the young people and significantly reduced risk. The importance of recovery and welcoming the young person back is evident in records and is positive to see. Young people are aware of the risks associated with being missing from the home, and are clear about what steps staff will take if they do go missing.

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Good

Challenging behaviour in the home is managed well, resulting in a reduction of incidents in the home. Young people are supported to find strategies to regulate their emotions. Staff respond to young people with clear and consistent boundaries and this promotes trusting relationships and a sense of security. Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques and physical intervention is rarely used. Debriefs for staff and young people are evident, but recording of the physical intervention requires more detail.

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Good

The matching process is effective in meeting the needs of young people. Impact risk assessments are completed to assess the needs of the young person being considered for the home and the young people already in the home. This ensures that young people continue to progress with the least amount of disruption. The area risk assessment is also carefully considered alongside any new referrals to the home.

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Good

Staff recruitment practices are safe. Pre-employment checks are robust. Once staff are in post, they are subject to a probationary period when their continued suitability for the post is assessed. The home does not use agency staff. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

In recent months the registered manager has moved to another home. A new manager is about to come into post. In the interim, the deputy manager has provided cover. The management arrangements have enabled the home to function with some continuity, and the potential impact of staff changes upon young people has been minimised.

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Requires improvement

This has been a challenging period for the staff team and they have worked together to make sure that the service continues to run smoothly. Some staff are relatively new, and there are some staff newly promoted to supervisory positions with greater responsibilities. Maintaining some of the recording functions has been a challenge, and while the strong ethos in the home remains, the current management arrangements are too stretched to allow the home to make the improvements they want.

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Requires improvement

The records relating to fire evacuation drills are not in good order as there is a significant gap in drills being undertaken, or at least recorded. A requirement has been made to reflect this issue. Additionally this also demonstrates a lack of oversight of important records, which also includes recording of restraints of young people, their preparation for independence and children’s meetings. One young person commented that things they agree ‘don’t always get written down’. A further requirement is raised to ensure that a stable management team are able to monitor and oversee these shortfalls, along with a recommendation relating to staff ensuring they are aware of, and follow, the appropriate recording policies. Shortfalls in recording, or progressing plans, have the potential to undermine positive relationships with young people. The acting manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and

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Requires improvement

vulnerabilities. The progress and experience of young people, and their sense of feeling safe in the home, are really important. Staff manage challenging behaviour and risk very effectively, presenting the home as a relaxed, homely environment whilst having robust strategies to keep young people safe. Young people respond well to this and, despite challenging the boundaries sometimes, understand that the staff care for them. Firm boundaries in the home have resulted in young people not always being happy with staff, but they respect that staff are fair, consistent and reliable.

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Requires improvement

Staff put young people first and strive to support them to achieve good outcomes. Staff also support each other and recognise the demanding nature of the work. While there have been changes in the staff team, the retention of staff overall remains good. Training for staff is appropriate. This enables them to practise safely and meet the individual needs of young people.

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Requires improvement

With more leadership capacity, the home will hopefully see improvements in the quality of recording, and quality assurance generally. This will also enable space for reflective self-appraisal, which is more evaluative and constructive.

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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 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 that 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 that 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 whom 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 0300 123 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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