Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

children and young people since the most recent full inspection. This home was judged requires improvement at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness . At the home’s last inspection in May 2016, 12 requirements and two recommendations were made. The majority of the requirements have been addressed appropriately and the recommendations have been completed to improve practice within the home. Three requirements have been partially met, one requirement could not be evidenced and one requirement had initially been met but requires completing with the new young person in place. Therefore, these requirements have been repeated. A good transition plan has ensured that a young person has successfully moved into a supported fostering placement. This was made possible because there were several professional meetings held that discussed clear dates, times and

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

arrangements for her to meet and visit the foster carers. As a result, staff understood their roles and responsibilities in ensuring that a smooth transition took place. The young person has remained in touch with the home and reports that she is doing well. Another young person has recently moved into the home. A good impact risk assessment shows that the home considered all of his needs and their ability to meet them. Initially, this was a planned move but due to the young person being missing from his last placement for these introductions, he was placed when found. The young person said, ‘It is great here. The staff are really good and I have settled in well.’ Several professionals commented on the excellent progress that the young person has made in such a short time. His social work said, ‘He is like a different child. He is happy, smiling and interacting with everyone. He is going on activities, attending further education and working towards his semi-independence

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

plan.’ She continued to say, ‘It was really difficult to find this placement given his history but I am confident that I can find a good semi-independence place for him because I have lots of positive things to record about him now. This is all down to the manager and the staff team here.’ The young person’s personal adviser said, ‘The transformation in him is beyond recognition. He is engaging with everyone and seems to be really happy here.’ In the early days of placement, the current young person was reported missing from the home on two occasions. Members of staff followed the home’s protocol for reporting young people missing and because they searched for him, they were able to make contact with him. A strategy meeting was held and discussions were undertaken with the young person. As a result, the manager was able to find out why he went missing and put things into place to reduce these episodes. The

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

young person said, ‘I just wanted contact with my family and friends. The manager has sorted this now, so there is no need to go missing.’ He continued to say, ‘At my last placement, I was missing every day, for months and months. I have not been missing for well over a month here because staff listen to me. I like it here and I am working on a semi-independence plan.’ The present young person is past formal education age. He said that he had not attended his school for some time and had not engaged with educational opportunities offered to him in the past. But, he has started an alternative education course in plastering. He said, ‘I have not had much education, so I do not really know what I want to do but I am really enjoying this course and I hope to do some more.’ The young person is also going to visit a college with a view to completing his maths and English exams. This has all been made possible because

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

the home has good contacts with alternative provisions in the local area and the home promotes a strong ethos on young people gaining skills or attending and achieving in education. The home’s statement of purpose is now clear about what information the home would require in accepting emergency placements. They have also amended the information on how clinicians are deployed in the home. A social worker confirmed receipt of the statement of purpose and said that she found the information supplied useful and clear about how the home operates and what services they provide. The current young person said that staff had clearly gone through the complaints system with him but that he had no complaints at this time. He also confirmed that he was able to access other independent people if he needed to. The previous young person was unhappy that some of her concerns had not been formally addressed. After the last inspection, the manager addressed all of her concerns

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

with her. This resulted in some mediation work between her and a named member of staff. The young person has recorded that she was happy with this outcome. The manager said that he had learned that it is important to listen to all grumbles and that the mediation work was very beneficial to both parties in being able to air their views and come to a mutual understanding. As a result, the young person and the member of staff remained working together and he was instrumental in her smooth transition to her new placement. The present young person is in good health. He has attended all routine appointments and does not require any additional support. Previously, several requirements were given around the last young person’s health. A risk assessment was put in place to ensure that she could safely administer her own medication and this was reviewed regularly. The manager used a mood chart to assess her emotional health and staff were able to use this document to recognise when she

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

was low or when she required additional support. However, the current young person’s health plan states that he has low self-esteem but does not say how staff are supporting him or whether other services are required in this area. Therefore, this requirement has been repeated. Additionally, the current young person is not on any prescribed medication and there were no medication records to view at the home. As a result, this requirement will be assessed at the home’s next inspection. The home has made good progress in identifying whether there are any risks to staff and young people when working alone with them, when young people have additional health needs and when family members stay overnight at the home. These risk assessments robustly cover any unforeseeable events and give staff clear direction on action to take, if an incident was to occur. This ensures that young people are cared for within a safe environment. Further to this, all members

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

of staff have received either initial training or had their knowledge refreshed through external safeguarding training. As a result, members of staff are able to fully demonstrate their understanding of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding young people. The manager was registered with Ofsted in February 2016 and he also manages another two single-bed children’s homes. He has not managed children’s homes before and the company have given him additional support by relocating an experienced team leader to the home. This has supported him with the paperwork and with the dynamics and running of the home. Members of staff say that they are well supported through good training opportunities, supervision and informal support from the manager. They said that there had been a vast improvement in the communication between members of staff and the manager. They were confident that full handovers are given, that any conflicts are aired and that they

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

work well together as a team. They said this was made possible because the manager had an open forum staff meeting that was chaired by an independent person. As a result, members of staff were able to air their views in a safe environment, took on board the findings from the last inspection and put agreed plans in place. Further to this, staff meetings are now being used more effectively to discuss young people’s progress, any alterations to their plans and to discuss any changes in policies or procedures. However, the manager has not evidenced that he is acting on or using research and developments in childcare to improve staff knowledge or outcomes for young people. The quality of care within the home is assessed by an independent visitor. This means that the manager receives an impartial view of how the home is functioning and whether they are meeting the needs of young people. In addition to this, the

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

manager undertakes his own six-monthly review that includes looking at the robustness of records and consulting with young people, staff and professionals. The findings of these processes are taken forward to the home’s development plan and this helps the home to improve their service. However, the manager’s report has lots of bar charts within it but this content has not been evaluated. The inspector asked two members of staff what one bar chart meant and they were unable to give a clear answer. Therefore, there is a lack of understanding of how this information is used productively to inform practice. The manager has now completed a location risk assessment that includes the immediate and surrounding risks within the home’s local area. He has used this information well when looking at appropriate referrals to the home. However, he has received additional statistical information from the police, on the crime

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

averages within the community. He has not evaluated these to see how this impacts on young people who are placed at the home. As a result, further consideration has not been given to young people’s safety or whether any additional safeguarding input is required. The shortfalls found at this inspection are mainly in relation to managerial tasks and how they can improve and develop the home in the future. They are not currently impacting on the good outcomes for young people but have the potential to do so.

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Information about this children's home

This privately run children’s home can accommodate one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 16/05/2016 Full Requires improvement 10/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/08/2015 Full Good 20/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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

45: Review of quality of care In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(c)) This is specifically in relation to evaluating the statistical information provided within the report. 28/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

46: Review of premises The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home. (Regulation 46 (1)) This is specifically in relation to evaluating crime statistics in regards to the impact on young people or the community. 28/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

23: Medicines The registered person must ensure that medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child. (Regulation 23 (2)(b)) 28/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2)(g)(i) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. 28/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

10: The health and well-being standard In order to meet the health and well-being standard the 28/12/2016 registered person must ensure: (1)(a) that the health and well-being needs of children are met. This is specifically in relation to their emotional health and the support required.

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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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