Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Plymouth

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no current serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 At the last full inspection this home was judged inadequate due to widespread concerns in respect of safeguarding children and leadership and management. Ofsted served two compliance notices on this service and a number of requirements were also made. Not all of the required changes have been implemented at this stage, but some inroads have been made to start to address the shortfalls and ensure the safety of children living in this home.  There still remain serious questions in respect of the effectiveness of the leadership and management of this home. The organisation has taken steps to ensure that additional management arrangements and more robust oversight of the home is in place. These decisions have ensured that improvements have started to be made.  The organisation has a development and action plan that aims to address the shortfalls identified at the last full inspection. This is a realistic plan that

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

has prioritised the safety and needs of children and young people. While the plan has not been fully implemented, there is evidence of progress and a desire by the staff to make the required changes.  The young person living in this home continues to make good progress in all aspects of their lives. They stated to the inspector that they loved living here and that they loved the staff. Warm and nurturing relationships were observed during this inspection.

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The children's home’s strengths

 It was evident during this inspection that the young person is settled living in their home. Good relationships have been built with a stable and small staff team. This consistency has allowed these relationships to develop.  The current arrangements in place to support the leadership and management are effective. An experienced manager is offering daily support and advice to the registered manager, and there is additional oversight and scrutiny in place to ensure that practice continues to improve.

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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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

To meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person(s) must:

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Requirement Due date

(1) ensure that children receive care from staff who: (a) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children (b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

(2)(b) ensure that staff: (iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. 28/02/2017

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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 should:

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Requirement Due date

(1) enable, inspire and lead 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 28/02/2017 of care provided in the home; (g) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on – (i) research and developments in relations to the ways in which the needs of the children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

(ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received, and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home, and in particular, ensure that good practice is sustained over time.

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to look after one child or young person that may have emotional and/or behavioural issues. The home is part of a large national organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 05/12/2016 Full Inadequate 12/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/09/2015 Full Good 23/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

It is evident that the young person is continuing to make good progress. A clear multi-agency approach to identifying and meeting his needs is in place. Good communication between agencies has supported an improvement in the consistency and quality of care provided in the home.

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Requires improvement

The young person is motivated and engages well in education. This is significant progress given that education did not feature for this young person prior to this placement. The compliance notices and requirements have been addressed to a good enough extent for the inspector to be satisfied that progress is being made.

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Requires improvement

There have been some incidents where the young person has been sent home from school early due to poor behaviours. The manager has failed to challenge this approach and acknowledged a need to explore other options with the education provision.

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Requires improvement

The young person continues to have effective support from external agencies in line with their needs. In addition, some less formal strategies have been put in place by the home that significantly improve the young person’s ability to manage their emotions better, such as going on the trampoline.

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Requires improvement

Improvements have been made to the aesthetics of the house which make it feel more homely. The presence of pets in the home support young people to see the house as their home, and provides them with some responsibilities and opportunity to care for others.

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Requires improvement

The young person has a small staff team working with him that offers him consistency and stability. While there are still some gaps in the skills and experience of staff, in terms of the young person’s needs, there are plans in place to address these.

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Requires improvement

The young person is supported to have regular and positive contact with parents and the important adults in his life. This has supported the young person to have a better understanding of his situation.

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Requires improvement

Shortfalls identified at the last inspection in respect of safeguarding children have been reviewed. An action plan has been put in place to address these shortfalls. While this plan is in its infancy there is evidence that the organisation is taking these shortfalls seriously and has plans in place that reduce the level of concern.

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Requires improvement

Arrangements have been put in place to ensure that the manager and staff are provided with the training required to ensure that they are able to identify and act on concerns effectively. This training has not yet happened and will therefore need to be reviewed at the next inspection to consider its impact on staffs practice. In the meantime, there are arrangements in place to ensure that a suitably experienced manager is overseeing safeguarding and practice concerns in the home should they arise.

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Requires improvement

There is evidence that steps have been taken to ensure that the arrangements in the home for safeguarding children have improved. While these arrangements are in their infancy, they offer a level of reassurance that children will be safe living in this home.

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Requires improvement

The organisation has provided additional training to managers in respect of allegations and concerns about staff. In addition, a new recording system supports a more robust approach and structure to any investigations that may take place.

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Requires improvement

The young person living in this home stated to the inspector that he feels safe living here and loved by the staff. The young person stated ‘they are like family to me and they keep me safe’.

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Requires improvement

The organisation has taken interim steps to ensure that additional management arrangements and more robust oversight of the home is in place. These decisions have ensured that improvements have started to be made.

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Requires improvement

The compliance notices and requirements have been addressed to a good enough extent for the inspector to be satisfied that progress is being made. The organisation has put effective support in place to raise standards of care in the home. These arrangements offer some reassurance that improvements will continue. The organisation took swift action following the last inspection to address shortfalls in leadership and management. Support from an experienced manager within the organisation and the responsible individual has resulted in more robust oversight and a higher level of support and scrutiny. The registered manager stated to the inspector that he felt that this was helpful and supportive.

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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 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 children looked after 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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