Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness .

p.2

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

All five children living here are making good progress. The children continue to receive good quality care from dedicated and able staff. In the three months since the last inspection, staff and the manager have developed more capacity and competence in building constructive, warm relationships with children. Staff have spent time familiarising themselves with children’s histories. They have updated children’s plans and have had detailed discussions with the clinicians that provide children’s life story and therapy sessions. The staff’s ability to understand children’s needs and promote positive behaviour have therefore improved, as has staff’s management of negative behaviour. Children feel confident in staff. They come to staff more readily, to talk, or for a reassuring hug.

p.2

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children continue to get good help with their education and health. This is because staff and the manager understand the barriers that children face in achieving good health and making educational progress. For example, staff spend time alongside children, encouraging them to style their hair, keep clean, eat healthily, and dress appropriately for school or activities. Each child receives the specific help that they need, from learning to iron their own school shirt, to having an adult stay with them until they fall asleep. Staff talk to children about their school day, explain the benefits of school, and provide good routines for doing homework. Staff and the manager are also quick to advocate for children when they need help to overcome particular relationship and behaviour problems in school. The staff’s sensitive and well-planned attention helps each child to feel more secure and confident about

p.2

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

themselves and their potential to overcome their emotional and behavioural difficulties. However, staff do not review education, health and behaviour records holistically or write records in a way that measurably shows children’s progress.

p.2

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some children continue to struggle with their anger and frustrations. They continue to damage things and put themselves and others at risk of harm. Staff have to intervene physically and hold children, sometimes for many minutes, before they are calm. Staff and the manager continue to debrief children carefully afterwards and they look hard for de-escalation strategies that work. For example, staff help children identify activities that soothe them and remind them about these when they are getting stressed. Staff also write helpful letters to children when they are going to be away from work. The letters contain advice, such as, ‘Remember to use the tools that I showed you and if you feel like it, talk to somebody.’ The number of physical interventions has dropped during January. Nevertheless, staff and the manager sometimes fail to give enough weight to, or act on, the explanations that children give for their anxious behaviour. For example, children have said that they

p.2

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

had an outburst because they were worried about staff being cross with them, or that they did not want to go to school. Staff have not told children clearly enough that they have listened to their reasons or that they will make sure that all the staff give more reassurance, help and attention in future, if a similar situation arises.

p.3

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children have child-friendly placement plans that staff have gone through with them. This means that children know what they are aiming for and what they have to do in order to move on from residential care to foster care. It means that children know when they will see relatives and what they have to do to be ready for mainstream school. All children are engaged in regular life story work and therapy sessions. They also benefit from weekly visits from an allocated assistant psychologist. The manager oversees the input of all staff to each child and makes sure that monthly progress reports, statutory review reports and consultations with social workers are used to make a good contribution to each child’s continuous planning. However, some children’s progress seems to have slowed or regressed. Staff and the manager keep records up to date, but do not clearly show when and how children are progressing over time. Records also do not clearly evaluate what

p.3

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

staff practice works well. Records do not show how the quality of care that they give maximises children’s progress. This weakness in recording and evaluating detracts from the credibility of staff and means that they rarely refer to records to provide consistent care practice.

p.3

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, staff have been stretched. Two staff have left and another two are working notice periods. The manager has minimised the use of agency staff and staff from other homes. She and the deputy manager maintain good ratios of staff to children by working shifts themselves and allowing staff to work extra shifts. Children always know who is on duty and they receive consistent care because the manager and deputy are proactive in solving unforeseen difficulties. They coordinate the work of staff with commitment, insight and warmth. They brief any covering staff well. New staff have recently been recruited and will soon start. The manager has analysed the reasons for recent staff turnover. She knows that the reasons are largely personal ones that do not relate directly to the home.

p.3

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and deputy manager work well together. They are proud of children’s progress and the impact that staff have through the high-quality care that they provide. They monitor the work of the home and focus on those areas that they identify as being the most important. For example, the manager’s priorities are: to keep restrictive physical interventions on children to a minimum; and to upskill staff in care planning and recording that reflects children’s views and the effectiveness of staff’s practice. The manager has introduced a ‘happy book’ for staff to thank and congratulate other staff for good work. This promotes good practice and team work. However, the manager has not kept the home’s workforce plan up to date with the training that staff have done and need to do. She has only had one opportunity since the last inspection to receive manager’s supervision. This means that she has not spent sufficient time reflecting on her own practice with a suitable

p.3

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The organisation has not reviewed the behaviour management policy as recommended at the last inspection. This is despite the registered manager forwarding the issue to her employer. This means that the principles for good behaviour management outlined in the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ are still not set out in the organisation’s policy. In addition, the manager has not accessed any professional development and training since the last inspection. Her progress towards completing her leadership and management diploma has slowed due to staffing issues. While unqualified staff are under way again with training for residential childcare, a few staff have still not completed this within the required two years of starting work. These shortfalls have the potential to compromise the good outcomes for children that the staff and manager achieve.

p.4

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/11/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/08/2015 Full Good 25/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

Ensure that all individuals who work in a care role in a home have the appropriate qualification by the date which falls two years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (3(b) and 32 (5)) 01/03/2017

p.6

Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person keeps the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revises it. (Regulation 35 (2)) 01/03/2017

p.6

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  Work closely with health and education professionals to ensure that outcomes identified and progress made by children in building relationships and achieving socially acceptable behaviours can be recorded and measured. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph

p.6

Recommendations

8.4)  Ensure that there is a system, which enables all staff, including the manager, to receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, and allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  Ensure that the workforce plan is updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.6

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’.

p.8

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

p.8

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 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

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,

p.9

Information about this inspection

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

p.9

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.9