Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Manchester

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:

 Care planning is comprehensive and inclusive, which ensures that the staff have a good understanding of young people’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Staff have high and achievable aspirations for young people, and are effective in promoting and developing their growth, and social and emotional development. Consequently, young people thrive in most areas of their development as they live in a supportive, nurturing home environment where they make good progress.  Young people have been supported to re-engage with education provision suitable for their needs. They achieve high attendance rates and make good progress from their starting points.  Young people’s wishes and views are listened to and taken seriously. Staff support young people well to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives. Staff advocate for young people strongly to ensure that they can remain involved and central to their care planning.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The manager and staff work successfully with young people, their families, healthcare professionals, social workers, education colleagues and the police. Subsequently, young people’s welfare and safety are promoted as they have the care and support that they need at the point of admission.  The staff team shares the manager’s strongly child-centred ethos in its delivery of care for young people. Staff take their roles and responsibilities in enhancing young people’s progress seriously and are dedicated to improving young people’s experiences.  The shortfalls that have been raised within this inspection relate to: educating young people of the risks and associated dangers of going missing from the home, ensuring that the manager escalates his concerns when specialist services are not forthcoming in their work to support young people who may be at risk of harm and escalating concerns when young people are

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The children’s home provision is good because:

not offered independent return home interviews; managing and supporting staff efficiently and effectively through staff supervision, appraisals and development plans; notifying all agencies of all significant events; and ensuring that the home’s records are clear, concise and legible.

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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 ‘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

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. Regulation 33(4)(b)(c)) 30/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person must ensure that when a placing authority does not provide the services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home, such as complying with its statutory duties to undertake independent return home interviews or sourcing support from additional safeguarding agencies, such as specialist teams which are available to assess and support children and young people who may be at risk of child sexual exploitation, that they must challenge them to meet the child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)

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Recommendations

 Children must feel safe and be safe. The manager and staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety, both inside and outside of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

This is in particular regard to increasing young people’s knowledge and awareness of the potential dangers that they may be exposed to when they are missing from the home, such as child sexual exploitation.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. The plan should detail the process for managing, supporting and improving staff performance. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that all staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

This is with particular reference to ensuring that all written records, especially in the staff handover book and staff supervision, are clear and legible.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in the regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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Recommendations

This specifically relates to ensuring that all notifiable incidents, such as an allegation of abuse made against the home or person working there, are individually recorded in detail and referred to the appropriate agencies, such as the local area designated officer and Ofsted, without delay.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned by a large, national private provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for two children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This home enlists the support of a clinical care team in its delivery of care to children and young people.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/10/2015 Full Outstanding 06/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/07/2014 Full Good

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Good

Staff value the importance of building meaningful and trusting relationships with young people and work hard to achieve this. Staff have a detailed knowledge of the young people whom they care for and, through stability, consistency and high levels of support, guidance and reassurance, young people make good progress in all aspects of the welfare and development.

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Good

Staff work constructively with school, communicating with them on a daily basis to promote young people’s educational progress. Staff work tirelessly with education colleagues to redress the challenges that young people are presented with. Staff attend regular meetings in school to identify possible difficulties that young people face. They support the school by using the home’s suitable behaviour management strategies to manage and support young people to address their behaviours and barriers appropriately. Furthermore, staff are sensitive in their approach to promoting young people’s learning within the home, as they support and encourage young people to complete work outside of the school environment well. Despite these challenges and barriers, one young person has returned successfully to school and another young person now has access to a more suitable education placement to meet their identified needs. Consequently, young people’s education

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Good

attendance has improved and they make good progress against their individual targets and goals.

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Good

Young people live in a healthy environment where their physical, emotional and social well-being is promoted. The staff ensure that young people’s health plans are kept up to date and formulated using information from young people’s statutory healthcare assessments. Young people lead healthy lives, as they are supported and encouraged to engage with the support that is offered by doctors, dentists, opticians and other health agencies, such as professionals from child and adolescent mental health, as identified within their plans. This, alongside young people’s engagement in a range of interesting and stimulating activities such as trampolining, walking, going to the gym and swimming, ensures that young people maintain good physical and emotional health.

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Good

Young people are listened to and are fully involved in their care planning. Staff encourage young people to share their views both formally, within regular house meetings, and informally, through ongoing discussion. Staff value young people’s contributions and advocate for young people well. This ensures that young people’s wishes and views are gained and that due consideration are given to them. This supportive and proactive approach has supported one young person in their desire to remain at the home, and another young person in their wish to return back to their family’s care successfully.

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Good

Staff support young people to develop and maintain positive relationships with their family members. Staff are acutely aware of the fluid family dynamics that some young people share with the adults and peers who are significant to them. Staff offer young people support and guidance in developing these relationships and offer a good level of emotional support and assistance when these relationships become strained. In accordance with young people’s request, staff advocate sufficiently for young people’s contact with their family members to be increased, when it is safe and appropriate to do so. This has enabled two young people to develop more positive and sustained relationships with their families and has aided their plans to return home. Furthermore, staff are proactive in ensuring that young people’s safety and welfare are promoted when young people visit and stay with their family members. This is because the staff remain in contact with young

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Good

people and their parents during these times, offering additional support, advice and guidance as required. One young person wrote after leaving the home, ‘Thank you for everything that you have done for me. I don’t think that I would have been able to do it without you. You have brought me and my family closer and I thank you for that.’

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Good

Transition planning for young people joining and leaving the home is sufficient. Young people are welcomed into the home warmly when they join the home in an emergency situation, and they form positive and nurturing relationships with staff who understand their needs and vulnerabilities well. Staff work extremely well with young people, their parents and placing local authorities to enable young people to return back to their families’ care in a safe, planned and managed way. This support and care has enabled two young people to return home successfully.

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Good

Staff are encouraged to show creativity in increasing young people’s awareness of different religions, cultures and individual difference. For example, staff help young people to learn and appreciate individuality and diversity by ensuring that young people are involved in theme nights, topic work, and more individualised and specific one-to-one discussions. This enables young people to become more tolerant and socially aware, and promotes positive social cohesion.

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Good

Sufficient incentivised behaviour management strategies support and encourage young people to develop their independent living skills in line with their age and experience. Young people increase in confidence and develop some useful independent living skills which equip them well for their preparation and transition into adulthood. Staff teach, support and enable young people to travel on public transport independently and safely. Therefore, young people benefit from a sense of accomplishment as they achieve their goals and, in addition, acquire new skills to enable them to manage adulthood successfully. Judgement grade

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Good

Staff ensure that young people’s safety and welfare are promoted. This is because staff have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the young people’s risks and vulnerabilities, as these are clearly stated within young people’s individual risk management plans. These plans are regularly reviewed and updated, and are systematically shared with young people, their parents and placing authorities. Furthermore, staff are trained in, and are clear about, their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff articulate well the policies and procedures that they must follow, should any concerns arise regarding a young person’s safety. Staff are aware of both the internal and external whistleblowing processes that are available to them, and confirm that they would have no hesitation in using these systems.

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Good

The manager ensures through his monitoring of the records that the sanctions and consequences for non-compliance with the home’s rules, boundaries and expectations are safe, age appropriate and fair. Sanctions are used sparingly to support young people to modify their behaviours so that their behaviour can become more appropriate and socially acceptable. Staff spend time with young people so that they can consider and reflect on their behaviours in order that they can do things differently in the future. For example, staff frequently complete placement planning sessions with young people following any significant event, such as when they have been reported as missing from the home. These regular, formal placement planning discussions give young people the opportunity to consider the dangers that they are exposed to while they are away from the home, so that they can monitor and redress their emotional responses. This approach has

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Good

supported some young people to consider their actions and begin to change some of their behaviours. One professional confirmed that the behaviour management reports that they receive are detailed and thorough, and demonstrate that staff work well with young people in addressing their inappropriate behaviours. The professional said, ‘The staff work well with (name). The young person now recognises when their behaviour is unacceptable, and their behaviour is now improving.’

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Good

Positive and effective relationships with family members, the police and placing local authorities support the staff in managing and supporting young people to consider better their risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing from the home. This coordinated response supports some young people to make better and safer choices and has reduced the numbers of incidents of missing from the home for one young person. That said, other young people’s missing from care incidents have increased. During these times, staff have responded sufficiently. Staff have followed young people’s detailed protocols and made suitable attempts to search and locate young people before they report them to the police as missing from the home. While the systems have improved to ensure and allow young people the opportunity to undertake an independent return home interview following any episodes of missing, these interviews are not routinely offered to all young people

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Good

after every reported incident. As such, pertinent information from these interviews is lost and cannot be used to inform future risk assessments to prevent further incidents occurring.

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Good

Staff respect young people’s privacy, and the size of the home allows them to enjoy their privacy and time alone while having the option of enjoying spending time together. Young people live in a large, safe, comfortable home. This is because the manager and staff ensure that a range of appropriate health and safety checks, such as regular fire drills and periodic assessments of the gas, electrical and fire safety appliances, are carried out. This practice promotes the safety and well-being of the young people and the staff.

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Requires improvement

The manager, who is suitably qualified and experienced, divides his time between this and two other children’s homes. The manager has been registered with Ofsted to manage this home since November 2009. Sufficient management arrangements are in place to support the staff and young people in the manager’s absence, as the management tasks are undertaken by a competent and experienced deputy manager.

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Requires improvement

The home operates in accordance with the assurances identified in the home’s statement of purpose. Young people are assured of what they can expect to receive from the manager and staff when they arrive at the home, as the staff provide them with a copy of the detailed and informative children’s guide. This document provides young people, their families and local authorities with a clear and realistic description of the services and support that young people can expect to receive while at this home.

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Requires improvement

Parents and professionals are extremely complimentary about the care and support that the staff provide to their children, and the level of involvement that the staff ensure that they maintain in their children’s lives. Parents and professionals confirm that, with the staff’s support and the positive working relationships that they have fostered with themselves, their children continue to make good progress in all areas of their lives. One parent said, ‘The staff go into school when there are problems. (Name) is now going into school every day and is doing fantastically, now.’ They went on to add, ‘We all work together really well. We don’t let (Name) play us off. The staff are absolutely fantastic in supporting us both and they bent over backwards for (Name).’ They ended their comments by saying: ‘Whatever children are placed there in the future are very lucky children, as the staff will make sure that they get everything that they need.’

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Requires improvement

Suitable action has been taken to address the one requirement raised at the last inspection. The manager has reinforced to the staff team that physical interventions must only be carried out to protect the safety and well-being of young people or staff. That said, no further physical restraints have been used within this inspection period, as staff have been effective in de-escalating any situations before they arise.

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Requires improvement

The manager has taken appropriate action to address one of the two good practice recommendations raised at the last inspection. The home is now well maintained and decorated, and provides a comfortable and homely environment for young people and the staff. The manager has made some headway in ensuring that all notifiable incidents, such as any allegations made against the staff from the home, are recorded, investigated and referred to the appropriate agencies such as the designated officer and Ofsted. However, he does not systematically ensure that all the subsequent allegations are individually recorded in a detailed and concise way, nor does he ensure that these are shared with the required agencies, such as Ofsted. As such, some agencies are unclear as to what is being shared with them, and the regulator cannot be assured that the appropriate action is being considered and addressed by the necessary safeguarding agencies.

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Requires improvement

The management team has a sufficient understanding of the home’s strengths and where there is still capacity to improve. While the manager uses the internal and external monitoring systems to support him in the development of the home, he has failed to evaluate how effective is the work that staff undertake with young people in reducing their risk-taking behaviours. Furthermore, the manager has not sought additional help from external agencies to support him and his team in further educating young people on the risks that they place themselves at while they are away from the home. Neither has the manager followed up a referral to a specialist team that supports young people who may be at risk of child sexual exploitation as a consequence of their missing from home behaviours.

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Requires improvement

The home benefits from a sufficient number of skilled, experienced and qualified staff. Suitable training opportunities ensure that the staff have the skills and knowledge to provide a satisfactory level of consistent care to young people. That said, not all staff benefit from regular supervision, and staff do not have their fitness to perform appraised annually. Consequently, the manager cannot be assured that the staff team is appropriately supported to deliver a high standard of safe care to young people or that staff maintain the right level of skills and knowledge to perform their roles and functions effectively. Furthermore, while there is a workforce development plan in place which briefly identifies how staff will be supported to progress or improve their practice, this process has not been initiated and therefore has been ineffective in addressing and supporting some staff members. Young people’s information is stored securely and shared only with those agencies

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Requires improvement

when authorisation has been given. Case records reflect young people’s everyday lives, experiences and the work that has been undertaken with them. While most of the records viewed were clear, detailed and concise, some records in the staff handover book and staff supervisions were illegible. Subsequently, the manager cannot be assured that all his staff fully understand and are aware of the information that is being handed over. Neither can he evaluate what issues and support are offered to staff during supervision sessions to establish if these are suitable and effective, as this information cannot be read.

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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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