Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

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:

 The manager and staff team have turned around a service that was struggling to provide good care. The home is almost unrecognisable as a result of the significant improvements that have been made since the last inspection.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The responsible individual and registered manager have demonstrated a commitment to improving the care and safeguarding arrangements in the home. They worked transparently with Ofsted and made considerable progress in recognising the shortfalls of the service. This included addressing the requirements and recommendations that were raised at the last inspection.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 There continues to be a dramatic reduction in all risk-taking behaviour on the part of the young person currently living in the home, such as self- harm and going missing. Staff are now well trained in all aspects of safeguarding and protecting young people. They work closely with other professionals to ensure the young person’s safety.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The young person living in the home was extremely complimentary about the improvements that have been made and how this had positively impacted on her life. She reported that she was feeling, ‘very safe’ and ‘happy’.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Education is now given a high priority. Staff stay in close contact with teachers and education workers. The young person is fully supported in the home to complete her homework and undertake extra studies in the local library.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The young person benefits from good health and there is a high level of support offered to her to ensure that her health needs continue to be met.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The young person is fully involved in the running of the home and has good opportunities to have her views heard.  Staff promote contact for the young person so that she sustains her close relationships with the people who are important to her.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Three requirements are made, mostly in relation to recording. These minor shortfalls do not detract from the very good progress that the young person has made.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meet(s) 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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure: (2)(a) that staff— (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. (Regulation 11(2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff do not smoke in view of young people. 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that: (1) Children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

(b) that 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 (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(b)) 27/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which: (c) are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(c)) 27/02/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to children’s behaviour. Homes must also meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, while recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. Doing this is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the children and value them as individuals. In particular staff should ensure that young people are helped to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

 The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency) and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. In particular staff should ensure that the guide is written in a way that clearly explains the day-to-day running of the home without ambiguity. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 19/10/2016 Full Inadequate

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Good

At the previous inspection, in October 2016, the home was judged as inadequate. A monitoring visit took place on 29 November 2016 to assess the home’s progress in meeting its action plan. The senior managers, the registered manager and the staff team demonstrate commitment and determination to improve their practice and the services provided to young people.

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Good

In October 2016, one young person was appropriately supported to move to a new placement. No other young people have moved into the home since then because the provider made the decision that, due to the fragility of the home, a period of stability was needed. The responsible individual and the registered manager have demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that the placement of any new young person will be rigorously assessed to ensure that the home can meet their needs. An assessment tool is in place to assist this process that allows for gauging the potential matches with other young people and the possible impact on all concerned..

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Good

The atmosphere of the home is calmer. There has been a significant reduction in police attendance at the home. The young person commented, ‘It’s much calmer here now. It’s a nice place to live.’ They also know how to make a complaint if they are unhappy or have any concerns about their care and believe this would be dealt with properly.

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Good

The young person has benefited from making a positive contribution to the home and its care plans through a variety of forums, such as key-worker sessions, young people’s meetings and placement planning and statutory reviews.

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Good

Education attendance and attainment are excellent. Staff have successfully supported a young person to return to education, and their attendance is now 100%. Young people engage in an education package that meets their needs. This is because staff are tenacious in engaging with other professionals to secure the right educational opportunities. Staff have high aspirations for young people and work hard to support them with their school work. A staff member commented, ‘I am proud of [young person’s] achievements and progress.’ As a result, the young person has started to develop more confidence and resilience, which then translates into success. For example, the young person now has aspirations to pursue a career as a midwife.

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Good

Staff recognise that young people who live or who have lived in the home may feel isolated from their families and friends. To counterbalance this possibility, staff encourage young people to join local community groups, youth clubs and leisure facilities. This is a strength of the service and means that young people are able to learn new social skills and form new friendships. This gives young people confidence, builds on their self-esteem and supports their emotional health and well-being.

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Good

Young people’s contact with their families has become a much more positive experience, especially when it steadily increases and extends to the wider family. This build-up of positive contact has resulted in overnight contact over Christmas for one young person.

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Good

The safeguarding concerns present at the last inspection have decreased. The risk assessment and management plans have been reviewed. The registered manager has been monitoring them to ensure that they accurately reflect the young person’s known and emerging risks. However, some risk assessments contain historical information that is no longer pertinent to the young person’s current needs. This may lead to confusion in the day-to-day care delivered. The registered manager acknowledged this shortfall and immediately took steps to rectify the records.

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Good

Information has been shared among the staff, who are now much clearer about their safeguarding responsibilities. For example, clear protocols have been discussed and agreed on to ensure that any allegations from young people are reported to the local authority designated officer within the time frames set out in the home’s safeguarding policies and procedures. This has been effective, as staff acted appropriately to safeguard a young person who made an allegation. Staff followed the protocol accordingly and by doing so provided the necessary protection and support to the young person. Young people are safer because of the support that they receive from staff. One young person confirmed this and said to inspectors, ‘I do feel safe living here.’ Staff work hard to keep very vulnerable young people as safe as possible. They work alongside a number of other professionals, such as safeguarding teams, child

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Good

sexual exploitation teams and police missing-from-home officers. Staff undertake a range of training courses in matters such as safeguarding, child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and extremism. This increases their knowledge of how to keep young people safe and their ability to respond appropriately should a concern arise.

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Good

Briefings have taken place with staff to reinforce the messages that appear in the ‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ with regard to the actions staff can take to protect young people leaving the home and placing themselves at risk. There has been a review of all risk assessments and recording tools. The review has been shared with the staff team as a group, to ensure consistency. The result is that staff feel confident and able to take action to protect young people and to manage their behaviour. A member of staff said, ‘Improvements have been made and they were needed. There has been a massive improvement in the standard of paperwork.’

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Good

The staff are now more proactive in their approaches to keeping the young person at this home safe. Consequently, the young person has not gone missing from the home; there have been no concerns about drug or alcohol misuse; and incidents relating to challenging behaviour within the home have significantly reduced in number. Furthermore, young people have been supported to access and undertake the same online training as staff on topics such as internet safety, including the areas of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. This approach has helped build the young person’s awareness and understanding of why staff are concerned about these matters and of the rationale for the various actions and measures that staff take to safeguard her.

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Good

Young people’s health needs are a priority for the manager and staff. Young people have access to and receive the services of primary healthcare professionals. Routine appointments at the GP, dentist and opticians take place. Staff have a good understanding of how to support young people who may harm themselves and respond appropriately and sensitively if this happens. This has reduced incidents of this nature. It also gives young people a sense of security.

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Good

In general, the home environment is clean, tidy and decorated to a very high standard. However, young people’s bedrooms were unclean. There were clothes strewn across the floor. Staff indicated that young people are encouraged to clean bedrooms as part of their incentive charts. However, when young people fail to do this staff should ensure that they encourage and support young people to develop their independence skills and enjoy a comfortable bedroom space.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has the appropriate qualifications and experience to undertake his role. The registered manager and the responsible individual have been instrumental in driving forwards the required improvements. The registered manager has been well supported by senior managers. He is determined and motivated to deliver a high standard of care. The provider and the manager have made every effort to ensure that the serious failings noted at the last inspection have been suitably addressed. The manager and the staff team have reflected on the findings of the inspection. They have made changes to their practice to ensure that the needs of young people are met and that the young people remain the focus of what the home does.

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Requires improvement

Since the previous inspection, the registered manager has been relieved of management commitments in other areas of the provider’s work. As a result of this, he has had a much improved presence in the home. Collectively the team is working to remedy the highlighted weaknesses. This has included reflective practice discussions, which the staff say they have found beneficial. The staff who were spoken with said that it has been a difficult time, but that the learning opportunities it has produced have refreshed their knowledge and improved their practice.

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Requires improvement

All requirements of the compliance notices issued on 26 October 2016 have been met. A great deal of progress has been made. Most of the requirements and recommendations of the previous inspection have been met. Consequently, there are some good foundations in place for providing young people with the right circumstances to succeed. There remains a fragility to this home due to the fact that a number of improvements have yet to be embedded into practice and tested, as currently there is a reduced number of young people living in the home.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager now routinely monitors, evaluates and analyses the work undertaken by the staff. Daily, weekly and monthly monitoring takes place and has enabled him to identify weaknesses and take action to remedy them. As a result, the quality of some of the records has improved since the previous inspection. In contrast, some records are not duly signed and dated by those who have written them. The close working relationships that have developed among staff and the other communication systems that are in place mean that this shortfall has little impact on young people.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has embraced independent reviews of the home, including audits from senior managers within the company. He is confident that his input will provide effective guidance, support and scrutiny of the quality of care provided.

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, the staff have received good training opportunities. The staff who were spoken with said that the training and learning opportunities provided for them have been helpful. They say that they have learned to consider different approaches when responding to a young person’s presenting behaviour and needs.

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Requires improvement

Staff members receive regular supervision by the manager or senior staff. Supervision sessions take place each month. These sessions enable members of staff to discuss matters that are important to them. They discuss the young people, and the way in which they are caring for them, in some depth. Staff members can discuss their developmental and training needs and the way in which any identified gaps in training could be addressed

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Requires improvement

There are occasions when staff work alone with the young people. However, there are not robust risk assessments and lone-working arrangements in place to minimise the impact of these occasions. For example, consideration is not given to the fact that staff who are lone working leave the grounds of the home in order to smoke. This leaves young people unsupervised and on their own in the home. The registered manager and the responsible individual have made a commitment to review and revise their policies and procedures in relation to this and to update their lone-working policy appropriately.

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Requires improvement

The manager has a robust and suitably challenging relationship with other agencies. This ensures that the children receive the information and services that they require. For example, he has recently pursued a local authority to arrange an appropriate annual medical for a young person.

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Requires improvement

The development plan for the home, which has been reviewed recently by the registered manager, is appropriate and realistic. The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in the statement of purpose, which has been reviewed and updated. However, the children’s guide needs to be clearer with regard to the day- to-day running of the home, as it contains conflicting information. For example, it states: ‘Staff will not enter your room’, but in the next sentence it gives examples of when staff will enter a young person’s bedroom. The registered manager is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home and of the staff team; he has clear plans to develop the strengths and address the weaknesses that exist.

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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 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

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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