Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

Inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and their care and experiences are poor.

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The children’s home provision is inadequate because:

 The registered manager fails to ensure that allegations of abuse made against staff are referred to the relevant agencies as required . He has failed to monitor the effectiveness of child protection procedures.  Staff are not familiar with the home’s child protection policies and do not understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting young people from harm. Managers and staff do not ensure that safeguarding procedures are implemented. This significantly compromises young people’s safety and welfare.  Risk assessments do not detail the actions required of staff following significant incidents. This means that potential risks to neither young people nor staff are considered and assessed in order to reduce the risk of significant harm.  Some staff do not address young people’s negative behaviour. This means that there is a lack of continuity within the staff team to meet the individual

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The children’s home provision is inadequate because:

needs of the young people.  Young people are not sufficiently encouraged by staff or supported to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Some staff do not act as appropriate role models for young people, but routinely smoke in their presence.  Recruitment procedures are not designed to ensure young people’s safety. They do not evaluate the impact of the previous history of staff, take into account gaps in their employment or sufficiently consider negative references.  The statement of purpose does not provide a clear overview of the home’s ethos, aims and objectives. The current statement of purpose describes the home as being dual registered as a school: this is not the case.  Visitors to the home are not routinely vetted. This is against the home’s own policies and procedures in relation to visitors to the home, and places young people at risk of harm.  The registered manager’s monitoring of the home is ineffective, as potential

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The children’s home provision is inadequate because:

risks are not identified or addressed. Internal monitoring of the home fails to identify weaknesses in practice such as those found by the inspectors.

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The children’s home strengths

 Young people are supported to meet their health needs in some areas of their lives, for example in reducing drug and alcohol misuse.  Young people like living in the home and enjoy activities in the community that build their self-esteem.

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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

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(1) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iii) encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; (v) communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; (ix) understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour, and have the

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Requirement Due date

competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; (x) are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(ix)(x)) 28/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard*

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that: 28/11/2016 (1) Children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; (b) that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; (e) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(b)(e))

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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 must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(1) that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the 28/11/2016 matters listed in schedule 1. (2) The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to— (a) a person who works at the home; (b) a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered; (c) a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered; (d) a child’s placing authority; and (e) in the case of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State. (3) The registered person must— (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and (b) notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (4) If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that

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Requirement Due date

website, unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. (5) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(3)(a)(b)(4)(5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the statement of purpose must accurately reflect the conditions of registration. 32: Fitness of workers*

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety. (3) The requirements are that— (d) full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.'

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which— (a) include the information and documents listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child; (b) are kept up to date; and (c) are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 28/11/2016 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 40: Notification of a serious event

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Requirement Due date

(4) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (a) a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; (b) an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (d) a child protection enquiry involving a child — (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (5) A notification made under this regulation— (a) must include details of— (i) the matter; (ii) the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and (iii) any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the

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Requirement Due date

matter; (b) must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b) (c)(d)(e)(5)(a)(b)) 28/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

{an asterisk is added in the table above where Compliance = ‘Y’} * These requirements are subject to statutory requirement notice.

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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 when child placed in the home is not participating in education because they have been excluded, that the child is supported to engage in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who may experience emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement First inspection post-registration

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Inadequate

Young people make progress in some areas of their development. However, their overall experience is inadequate, because staff do not ensure that they are protected from harm or fully support their health or educational needs.

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Inadequate

Staff and the manager are unclear about which procedures to follow when young people make an allegation. This means that, in these circumstances, staff do not understand what actions to take to protect young people and to ensure that their concerns are investigated. This potentially places young people at risk of significant harm and does not demonstrate how staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in protecting young people.

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Inadequate

Staff work with education providers to ensure that young people are able to access suitable learning provisions. For some young people, this means that they re- engage in education and make some good progress in this aspect of their development. One young person has successfully obtained an apprenticeship in business administration. However, during the inspection, one young person was excluded from school and staff failed to engage the young person in any meaningful educational pursuit in line with her education plan. This means that the young person is not encouraged and supported in her education.

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Inadequate

Some staff have worked effectively with health services to support young people’s substance misuse, for example supporting young people directly who are unwilling to engage with external services. A young person commented, ‘I have stopped smoking weed and I have not been missing and I have got myself a job.’ However, staff do not clearly understand about promoting healthy lifestyles and do not consistently promote or model this. For example, some staff join young people in the garden to smoke. This does not promote a healthy lifestyle to young people and is contrary to the home’s own policies and procedures. Some staff struggled to encourage and support young people to take on board their guidance.

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Inadequate

At times, staff did not intervene and challenge unacceptable behaviour or attempt redirection. For example, a young person was verbally abusive towards staff, yet staff did not effectively challenge or intervene. This lack of continuity in staff practice does not represent a consistent and planned approach for all staff to manage young people’s behaviour.

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Inadequate

Young people who live at the home have often experienced disruptive and chaotic family lifestyles. Staff recognise that, despite previous family issues, staying in touch with their family and friends is extremely important. With this in mind, staff work creatively to ensure that relationships between young people and those close to them are maintained.

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Inadequate

Young people’s inclusion in community life is good. Some young people are active members of the local youth club. The youth club provides opportunities for socialising outside of the residential group. These experiences, which are bespoke to individual young people’s preferences, add to their overall feeling of well-being and increase their self-esteem.

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Inadequate

The home’s internal environment is maintained to a good standard. Staff encourage young people to personalise their bedroom and they are involved in decisions about the decoration of communal areas. However, the rear garden had cigarette stubs strewn over the paving stones. This detracts from the homely atmosphere in the home.

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Inadequate

Young people’s safety is not effectively promoted. This is because staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting young people from harm. Their knowledge of safeguarding, child protection and child sexual exploitation is weak. Staff do not act in accordance with the home’s internal safeguarding procedures or correctly implement them. For example, on some occasions when young people raise allegations about staff, these are managed via conversations, and are not appropriately recorded or referred to other agencies. These failures significantly compromise young people’s safety, as staff are unaware of how to protect and support them in these circumstances.

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Inadequate

Neither does the registered manager ensure that allegations of abuse or concerns around a young person’s welfare are referred to all relevant agencies and professionals as required. This includes referrals to the designated officer for the local authority. Equally, the registered manager failed to inform Ofsted of an allegation. The manager’s failure to implement procedures effectively reduces external oversight of the home’s practices and compromises the safety of both young people and staff.

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Inadequate

The manager has failed to instigate the safeguarding measures identified to keep young people safe from harm. Following a serious incident, the provider made a commitment to have door alarms appropriately fitted to the bedroom doors of the young people. They gained consent from placing social workers for these to be fitted. Both the local authorities responsible for the young people and Ofsted, as a regulator, were informed that these measures were in place. However, the alarms were not installed. The provider instead installed alarms to the front and back doors of the home. This was not the original agreement. Moreover, during the two days of the inspection, these alarms were not in operation. During discussions with staff, they said, ‘they should be on, but we forgot’. This was brought to the attention of both the registered manager and staff by inspectors, but no action was taken to activate the alarms. The failures in implementing the identified safeguards

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Inadequate

for young people may have placed the young people at risk of serious harm.

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Inadequate

Despite being informed by a local authority social worker of potential risks regarding a young person using another young person’s mobile phone to access social media, the home failed to take appropriate action. The manager and staff also failed to act upon a social worker’s concerns regarding a young person who might have had controlled drugs hidden in their bedroom. They did not carry out a room search. This lack of action in response to safeguarding concerns raised by fellow professionals also places young people at risk of serious harm.

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Inadequate

Staff fail to identify some of the risk factors that compromise young people’s safety. For example, after an incident when a young person made threats to harm staff by throwing boiling water over them, risk assessments were not updated. During discussions with the registered manager, he stated, ‘We did not write it in the risk assessment, because we knew that she wouldn’t do it.’ This means that potential risks to both young people and staff are not considered or assessed to reduce the risk of significant harm. Consistently, robust compatibility risk assessments are not completed prior to young people moving into the home. This puts them and other young people at an increased level of risk. The registered manager has failed to undertake a rigorous evaluation of information provided by placing social workers and partner agencies pertaining to young people. This hinders the ability of staff to manage known risks

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Inadequate

Young people are not always protected from unauthorised persons gaining access to the home, as visitors are not routinely asked to sign in. When the inspectors arrived at the home, a staff member opened the door and walked off, gesturing to inspectors to follow her into the kitchen. Inspectors were not asked who they were or the reason for their presence in the home. This is against the home’s own policies and procedures in relation to visitors to the home, and places young people at risk of harm.

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Inadequate

Safer recruitment procedures are not always adhered to. For example, gaps in employment are not carefully considered, staff’s previous history is not understood and, although references have raised concerns regarding an individual’s practices, they are not reflected upon. The recruitment procedures do not allow the registered manager to evaluate the suitability of staff adequately against these criteria. This does not protect young people from potentially unsafe adults working at the home. Judgement grade

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Inadequate

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced to undertake his role. However, his lack of presence within the home, due to his commitment to manage two semi-independence provisions, has contributed to the serious failings found during this inspection. For example, there has been a clear lack of management oversight into safeguarding concerns and the manager has failed to have a daily overview of the practice within the home. Staff commented, ‘The manager is not here all the time, but we can contact him by phone’ and ‘he is here about two or three days a week’. A sample from the records in the home of the period from 1 to 30 September 2016 indicated that the total number of days spent by the registered manager at the home was nine days, with six of these equating to half a day. This does not demonstrate that the registered manager has an input into the day-to-day running of the home.

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Inadequate

Some staff are not trained to meet the needs of young people living at the home. For example, one staff member stated that she had not received training to counter self-harm, despite both young people living at the home having a history of self-harming behaviour. Furthermore, not all mandatory training for staff had been undertaken for example in first aid. The registered manager was able to produce a training matrix for staff, which clearly identified these shortfalls, but he had failed to address these. This lack of management action and overview of staff training needs has a direct impact on the care and support provided to young people.

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Inadequate

Internal placement plans and risk management plans are not reviewed effectively to identify the changing needs of young people. Neither do they address the issues of risk and how these should be managed safely to promote consistency of care. Some records are not signed or dated. Therefore, the manager cannot be assured that all staff have a full understanding and knowledge of all young people’s needs.

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Inadequate

The registered manager has not updated the home’s local area risk assessment since January 2016. This does not demonstrate how all current risks in the local area have been considered and places the young people living at the home at risk.

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Inadequate

Significant events involving young people resident in the home have not been reported to Ofsted. A failure to share information with all relevant people compromises the safety and welfare of young people. Furthermore, the regulator is unable to carry out its monitoring function to ensure that all appropriate action is taken by the provider to safeguard young people. This lack of rigour has not helped the home to protect young people sufficiently or maintain good enough standards of care. More robust systems are needed to ensure that the safety and well-being of the young people is promoted at all times.

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Inadequate

The home’s statement of purpose needs to be updated to provide a clear overview of the home’s ethos, aims and objectives. The current statement of purpose describes the home as being dual registered as a school. This is not the case. A copy of this should be provided to HMCI, in line with regulation.

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Inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision which, they say, informs their practice. This is further supported by team meetings, which the young people are invited to join. Staff comments included ‘my supervision is good and we regularly discuss the quality standards at team meetings’ and ‘it’s a good team and we have good discussions about the young people.’ While staff value the supervision that they receive, it has not been effective in ensuring that the quality and standards of practice at the home are maintained.

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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. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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