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 report that they feel safe and comfortable at the home, and that they get on with the other young people and the staff.  Young people are supported sufficiently by staff to increase their life skills and knowledge. Young people gain confidence and a sense of accomplishment from achieving a variety of skills. This prepares them well for their move on to adolescence and adulthood.  The manager and staff have forged positive and effective links with partnership agencies. They work efficiently with a range of safeguarding, education, health and social care professionals to ensure that young people’s known and emerging needs, risks and vulnerabilities are appropriately managed.  The home is managed effectively by a knowledgeable and proficient manager, who provides clear and visible leadership to his staff team. Staff confirm that they feel well supported in their day-to-day care of young people, and have

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The children’s home provision is good because:

good opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge through their regular and formal supervision sessions, annual appraisals and regular training opportunities.  Effective monitoring systems ensure that the manager maintains a good oversight of the progress made by young people.  Five areas for improvement are noted at this inspection. These relate to young people’s risk assessments, behaviour management plans, recording and evaluating sanctions and consequences, staff training and young people’s case records.

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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

(1) In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that children are protected from harm. (2) In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that: (b) 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.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular regard to ensuring that there are clear, written risk management plans in place to identify how the staff will support, manage, supervise and monitor young people when the staff consider them to be under the influence of alcohol or substances. 09/12/2016

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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 expectations of standards of behaviour are high for all staff and young people at the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11) This is with specific regard to ensuring that all young people have a clear behaviour management plan which identifies what actions staff will take to address poor behaviour consistently.  The registered person must ensure that all incidents of discipline are recorded and are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person must ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities, resources and training to support them effectively in their work with young people who engage in risk-taking behaviours, such as misusing substance and alcohol. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person must ensure that all young people’s case records are kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) This is with specific regard to ensuring that a copy of any court orders, identifying the statutory provision under which the young person is provided with accommodation, is obtained and kept on file.

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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 up to six children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 21/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/09/2015 Full Good 21/01/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/09/2014 Full Good

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Good

Staff are resilient and show a great deal of determination when managing young people’s challenging, and sometimes hostile, behaviour. They provide positive role modelling and guidance through continuity of relationships and consistent nurturing care. Young people confirm that they maintain positive relationships with each other and the staff, and that staff provide them with a good level of individual care. Young people say that the staff listen to them and that they like the staff who work with them. Young people know that the staff try to help and encourage them to participate in activities, attend school and health appointments, and make positive choices in their day-to-day lives. Young people confirm that when they have raised issues or complaints about others at the home that the manager listens to them and takes their concerns seriously.

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Good

Practical arrangements are in place to meet young people’s known and emerging physical health needs. Young people are registered with doctors, dentists and opticians, and are supported and encouraged to attend their routine health appointments at the point of admission. Good links with professionals from specialist health services, such as the looked after children’s nurse and professionals linked to substance misuse teams, ensure that young people are provided with additional opportunities to engage with health services to support them with their individual and identified needs. Despite these links and the best efforts of the staff, some young people refuse to engage with the support which is offered. Subsequently, these young people comprise their health and well-being, as they continue to engage in risk-taking behaviours such as smoking cigarettes and cannabis and consuming alcohol.

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Good

Staff are making every effort to engage young people in some form of education. Four out of the five young people attend an education provision deemed suitable for their individual needs. The staff maintain a good level of communication with these providers, and advocate to young people the benefits of a good education for later life chances. This ensures that these young people regularly attend their identified education provision and succeed in reaching their individual targets and goals. The staff have been proactive in their efforts to secure a suitable education provision for the fifth young person. The manager and staff maintain regular contact with the placing authority education services, and actively encourage and support the young person to attend the education meetings at which their educational opportunities can be considered and discussed. Despite the best efforts of the manager and staff, this young person continues to refuse to engage in any

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Good

meaningful education programme. Young people receive good support from the staff team to maintain regular contact visits with their family members and those who are important to them. Staff understand the importance of promoting young people’s identity and culture, and support this through facilitating regular family contact. This helps to ensure that young people’s attachments are nurtured and sustained, and to maintain their sense of identity.

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Good

In line with the home’s statement of purpose, the manager and staff have supported seven young people to join the home and six young people to leave. The manager makes suitable attempts to match the extremely complex and challenging needs of the young people joining the home to those who already live at the home to ensure that each young person’s placement is safe, secure and well managed. One young person, who is new to the home, confirmed that they were welcomed into the home, and one young person who has left confirmed that the staff supported and prepared them well for their move on into their own semi- independent home.

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Good

Young people develop self-care and life skills in line with their age and abilities. They are encouraged to increase their level of independence in a safe and managed way. For example, one young person has been supported to have responsibility for taking their own medication and now self-medicates, following a suitable assessment by the manager. Furthermore, young people are encouraged to develop their independent living skills and are encouraged to keep the bedrooms tidy, budget, travel independently, and be involved in preparing and cooking meals. During the inspection, one young person who has recently left the home returned for a visit. The young person confirmed that they had embraced the opportunities that they had been given at the home and was now in a position to use these skills successfully in their new home.

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Requires improvement

Young people confirm that there is no bullying at the home, and report that they are safe and kept safe by the staff. This is because the staff receive adequate safeguarding training and know their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. The staff spoken with during the inspection demonstrated their sound understanding of the home’s whistleblowing policy, and reported that they would be confident in applying this, should the situation arise.

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Requires improvement

The manager and staff manage an extremely high number of missing from care incidents well. They are aware of the need to keep young people safe, and clearly understand the risks and the procedures that should be implemented when young people go missing from the home. Staff have an excellent understanding of the home’s missing from care policies and procedures, and implement these to good effect. Consequently, when young people exhibit these behaviours, the staff respond properly and take immediate action to search for, locate and report them as missing to the police. The manager and staff work proactively with a number of professionals, such as the police, placing authorities and specialist services, and seek out additional support and services when the need arises. The manager is confident and able to identify when he and the staff team can no longer safely manage young people’s risk-taking behaviours. At these times, the manager

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Requires improvement

requests the necessary meetings with the placing authorities so that pertinent information can be shared and utilised in the risk management planning for young people. Furthermore, this multi-agency sharing of information enables the placing authority to take appropriate action and identify safer and more suitable placements for those young people at greatest risk at the home. As such, the safety and well-being of young people are promoted.

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Requires improvement

Staff are clear that physical intervention is used very much as a last resort, and this level of intervention has only been necessary on one occasion. Staff report that they are more comfortable in using the positive relationships that they have built up with young people to defuse difficult situations to avoid this practice becoming necessary. Any incidents of restraint are sensitively and appropriately followed up through discussion and reflection with the young person and staff. The manager ensures that these records are reviewed and evaluated promptly, and addresses any shortfalls in this practice with the staff team appropriately and swiftly.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s safety is promoted within the home, as they live in a physically safe environment. This is because the manager and staff ensure that health and safety issues are well managed. Written records clearly show that staff carry out routine health and safety checks around the home, and insurance and gas and electrical appliance certificates are up to date. Regular fire drills take place to ensure that young people are aware of the emergency evacuation route in the event of fire, and these protocols are routinely discussed with visitors to the home upon their arrival.

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Requires improvement

Young people come to the home with a history of concerning behaviours, including self-harm, going missing, substance and alcohol misuse, violence and aggression, and being at risk of child sexual exploitation. The staff are clear about the young people’s level of risk and vulnerabilities, and can verbalise the actions that they take to support young people during these times. That said, the present written risk management plans with regard to supporting young people who misuse substance and alcohol are not individualised. Nor do these plans clearly identify the actions that staff will take to support young people who return to the home under the influence of alcohol or substances to ensure that their safety is promoted at these times. Consequently, the manager cannot be assured that the staff consistently support, supervise and safeguard young people when they return home under the influence of alcohol or substances. Therefore, young people’s

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Requires improvement

safety and well-being are compromised. Three new staff have joined the team since the last inspection. Robust recruitment practice ensures that staff are safe and suitable to work with vulnerable young people. Suitable induction processes and training schedules for staff are adequate to ensure that staff have the necessary skills and understanding to ensure that they can provide safe and effective care for all young people. While processes are in place to ensure that all staff receive the required mandatory training, the manager has failed to ensure that specific training around substance and alcohol use by teenagers is provided for the staff team. Consequently, the manager cannot be assured that his staff team is providing the most up-to-date, evidence-based practice for young people during their key-working sessions.

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Requires improvement

The behaviour management protocols and records are unclear and confusing. As such, it is not clear how young people are being supported and encouraged to maintain positive behaviour, and what staff are doing to assist young people to improve their known risk-taking behaviours. For example, one young person has received a sanction for smoking in their bedroom. This sanction has been recorded and reviewed by the manager, so that the manager can consider how effective this practice is at managing and improving this particular behaviour. While this practice is sufficient, there are no clear behaviour management plans in place to ensure that staff consistently challenge and address this behaviour in all young people. For example, two other young people have received supervised spends for this same behaviour. While this was recorded on the young person’s pocket money chart, it was not recorded in the consequences and sanctions records. As such, the

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Requires improvement

manager is unable to review how suitable, fair and effective these interventions are in promoting positive behaviour.

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Good

The home is sufficiently managed by a manager who has been registered with Ofsted since July 2011. The manager has the appropriate qualifications and experience to manage this home well. The manager provides good leadership of and accountability to the staff team, and staff fully understand the roles and responsibilities that are delegated to them. The manager is supported sufficiently with the management tasks of this home by a qualified and experienced deputy manager and two team leaders.

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Good

The staff team is supported to deliver a good standard of care. Some staff have the required qualifications, while suitable plans are in place to ensure that others achieve this within the required time frame. Staff confirm that they receive good- quality support from their manager and leaders which enable them to provide a positive and caring environment for young people. Regular, formal supervision and annual appraisals provide staff with the opportunity regularly to discuss their work, and the care and well-being of young people. Staff spoken with confirm that there is an ‘open door’ policy and that informal support from their manager is always on offer.

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Good

The manager and staff are effective in meeting the aims and objectives identified in the home’s recently updated statement of purpose. The manager and staff work directly with young people, their families and partner agencies to continue to support young people to develop emotionally, socially and educationally in a safe, managed and homely environment. Consequently, young people continue to make some progress against their individual starting points.

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Good

The manager is committed to improving the experiences and services that he and his team provide for young people. He has demonstrated this by suitably addressing the one requirement and two recommendations raised at the last inspection. Furthermore, the manager uses his internal and external quality assurance systems well to continue to develop his services to young people. The manager’s effective internal monitoring systems provide him with an overview of young people’s progress and presenting needs. The manager uses this information effectively to devise and implement aspirational and realistic future care plans for all young people. Furthermore, external independent scrutiny of the home is comprehensive. The independent visitor consults with a wide number of individuals, including the young people, their relatives and social workers, and clearly identifies areas for continued improvement for the manager’s attention. The

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Good

manager is effective in sharing these improvements with the team and ensures that all these actions are carried out quickly.

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Good

The manager ensures that the appropriate safeguarding agencies are informed of all significant events relating to the protection of young people, for example when young people are involved in self-harming behaviours, criminal activity or placing themselves at significant risk by frequently running away. This enables safeguarding agencies to discharge their statutory duties promptly so that they can provide support and services to young people as they require them. Furthermore, this sharing of information enables effective oversight and monitoring to be undertaken by Ofsted.

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Good

The manager demonstrates a clear understanding of the young people’s complexities and works with a range of agencies well to support young people to modify the behaviours which place them at risk of harm. For example, positive and effective links with the police, specialist child sexual exploitation teams and drug and alcohol services ensure that young people are offered support and services quickly. That said, despite the best efforts of the staff, young people continue to engage in these high-risk activities on a very regular basis.

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Good

The manager and staff are persistent in their efforts to promote positive outcomes for even the most challenging young people. The manager ensures that young people’s care plans are reviewed regularly to ensure that their current and emerging needs can be met. If this is not the case, the manager is proactive in raising his concerns and requesting a review of the placement to ensure that a suitable alternative is identified swiftly. Young people’s records are clear, detailed and stored securely. However, young people’s files do not contain a copy of current orders, such as care orders, to identify the legal status of the young people’s accommodation. Consequently, the manager cannot evidence that he has the legal authority to make decisions on the young people’s care.

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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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