Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in North Yorkshire

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:

 Staff are open and honest with young people and are starting to build trusting relationships with them.  Educational achievement is good, with young people engaging well in individually tailored educational plans.  Continuing staff development ensures that young people’s needs are met and that emerging patterns of behaviour are responded to effectively.  Staff remain committed and resilient and provide increasingly consistent care towards the young people.  Internal audits have revealed shortfalls in practice. The provider has responded quickly and a robust action plan is in place to address this.  Areas for improvement noted at this inspection include a lack of robust leadership and management. However, this does not prevent staff from providing care to the young people. It has also not prevented young people from thriving in this home.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to the lack of consistent leadership and management, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(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. 31/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 31/03/2017

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home's support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 The home's records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered in June 2016. It is operated by a large private company to provide care for up to four children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. There is also a school on site. This is the home’s first inspection.

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Good

Staff support young people to settle into routines and accept boundaries. This has at times led to young people displaying challenging behaviour. The staff have responded well and encouraged young people to discuss their concerns rather than to react physically. Young people are learning to regulate their own behaviours and are starting to learn to compromise. This will assist them when they leave the home and in what happens next.

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Good

The home has an on-site school. The young people all have personalised education packages, which recognise their past experiences but still challenge them and allow them to achieve nationally recognised qualifications. Teaching staff provide individual time to help young people establish different ways to learn. The programmes include maths, English and technology but also allow the young people to follow courses in health and beauty, media and drama. A member of the teaching staff said, ‘We try and find the best way they can learn and start to enjoy education.’

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Good

The young people’s health is monitored and they are supported to attend all medical appointments. The trusting relationships that are developing between young people and the staff allow them to address sensitive issues. Young people are supported to engage in local leisure activities and enjoy different sports. One young person described enjoying swimming and said, ‘It’s good just to do ordinary stuff like other teenagers do.’

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Good

Staff refer to specialist practitioners to help young people to understand their experiences and develop strategies to manage their anxieties. They meet regularly with the psychologists to ensure that everyone is working together to consistently support young people. Close working with external agencies ensures that young people can access the support needed for them to progress.

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Good

Contact with families and other important people is often difficult but the staff work hard to ensure that young people are in regular contact with them. This often means supervising the contact and helping young people understand why there are restrictions placed upon them. Young people have an opportunity to rebuild their relationships with their families and have a clearer understanding of their identity.

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Good

There are areas within the home that are routinely locked and young people are not allowed in them, for example the lounge and the utility room. There are also restrictions on the personal items that young people can have. This restriction is not regularly reviewed and does not allow young people to start to develop self- regulation and independence skills. Young people become dependent on staff to make important decisions and choices for them. This prevents them from developing autonomy and independence. Young people need to develop these skills to enable them to live independent lives.

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Good

The home provides a safe environment for the young people to live in. Staff ensure that the home is maintained to a high standard and promote a healthier lifestyle. Young people eat well-balanced meals and are encouraged to be more active. This healthier approach encourages increased self-esteem and self-awareness.

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Good

Young people’s risk assessments are thorough and include their presenting behaviours. They are reviewed regularly to capture current risks which can change very quickly. Staff are clear on how to respond to any crisis and follow individually tailored plans. Although thorough, the plans are presented in very adult language and do not encourage the young people to read and understand them. This can inhibit young people’s understanding of how staff are trying to help them manage risky behaviours.

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Good

The number of missing episodes has decreased significantly. However, there are still instances when young people are missing from the home. In these cases, staff respond effectively and follow the missing from home protocol. They work closely with the police to find the young people and encourage them to return home as soon as possible. Information from the return home interviews informs the missing from home plans and the safer locality plan.

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Good

Young people say that they feel safe and know that the staff care about them. They speak of staff listening and trying to find answers to their queries. Some young people do not like the restrictions placed upon them as part of their placement plans and show their displeasure through challenging and sometimes aggressive behaviour. Staff respond well and use de-escalation strategies to help calm the situation and keep everyone safe. Records of these incidents follow the policy and procedures of the home.

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Good

Staff have had some difficulties due to the lack of robust leadership and management in the first few months. They have remained resilient and supported one another. Staff are clear about what to do if they are concerned about a young person or a colleague’s practice. They spoke of the significant improvements in recent weeks when a new deputy manager was seconded to the home. Several staff said, ‘It’s a different place, I feel valued and supported since [name of deputy manager] started.’ The commitment and resilience of the staff have ensured that young people are safeguarded and are safe.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has been away from work for some time. Management arrangements within the home were further hindered when the deputy manager left the organisation. This position has now been filled. However, the lack of management oversight has led to a number of shortfalls and inconsistencies in practice. This had been identified by the provider prior to the inspection and an action plan developed to ensure a more consistent approach to managing the home.

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Requires improvement

Liaison between staff at the home and other agencies is poor. The new deputy manager has started to work closely with colleagues from the local police and safeguarding teams. This is leading to increased effectiveness of the safety plans for the young people and helping to develop a better working relationship with external agencies.

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Requires improvement

Supervision of staff was inconsistent. However, it is evident that the new deputy manager has prioritised this and within a short period she has provided supervision to all staff. This supervision was reflective and allowed staff to develop clear action plans to remedy any shortfalls in their development or practice. Staff now have a clearer idea of their roles and responsibilities and are accountable. This needs to be embedded to ensure that staff continue to feel supported and developed professionally.

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Requires improvement

Inconsistent recording in case files did not demonstrate young people’s journey at the home. The management has prioritised a review of the recordings. Staff have a clearer understanding of what they need to record. However, this still needs to be embedded. Essential documents such as care plans and risk assessments remain inaccessible, making them difficult for young people and their families to understand.

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Requires improvement

This is the home’s first inspection since registration. There were no requirements or recommendations arising from the registration process. The role of the independent visitor was to provide scrutiny and identify the areas to develop. This is not evident in the monthly monitoring reports and therefore left unchallenged as a result of the lack of management oversight. The appointment of a new visitor and close liaison with them has led to an improvement in the scrutiny of the home and increased levels of evaluation. There is a clear understanding of how the home is safeguarding young people and the areas of practice which need to improve.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people 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 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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