Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Somerset

Requires improvement

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no 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:

 This is a newly registered children’s home. Managers and leaders did not sufficiently assess whether they could meet the needs of the young people prior to them moving into the home. Two young people who were placed together put each other and some staff at serious risk.  The home has been unable to consistently provide suitably qualified and experienced staff to deal with the complex needs of young people. Behaviour management techniques have not been successful in de-escalating incidents and the police have been called in to manage behaviour.  Care planning records do not fully assist understanding of the children’s needs or promote sufficient action to progress their safety and development. Some records are not fully complete and one record used language which could be misinterpreted and is unhelpful to young people.  The use of physical restraint to manage behaviour has been extended beyond managing immediate risk. Young people have been removed from the office

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

using restraint holds.  The home is not providing structured and planned learning activities for young people when they refuse to attend or are excluded from school. Some of the sanctions that are in place for non-attendance at school are unproductive and contrary to creating learning opportunities.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 The home is managed by a creative and reflective practitioner. She demonstrates learning from some of the difficulties experienced in managing young people with complex emotional needs. Although this learning is yet to be applied in practice, it has led to an improvement in many processes, including those for pre-placement assessments and matching of young people.  Young people are and have been at considerably less risk of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation since living in this home. Feedback from stakeholders describes some progress for the current resident, whose school attendance did initially improve and whose methods of communication are increasingly calm.  After some disruption, the staff team is now much more stable and remaining staff are committed to further development and training to support the young people. The current resident is able to name individual members of staff who she can trust and confide in.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Young people have access to the therapeutic support they need. A clinical psychologist and her assistant work in the home. They provide support and guidance to the staff. This is having a positive impact on the quality of reflective practice, which enables staff to interpret young people’s behaviour and helps staff to develop productive responses.

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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

The leadership and management standard 13: (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads 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; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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

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Requirement Due date

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 relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and (ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. 28/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard 14: (1) The care planning standard is that children— (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and (b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 28/02/2017 registered person to ensure— (a) that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose; (b) that arrangements are in place to— (i) ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and (iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority; (c) that each child’s relevant plans are followed.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard 11: (1) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iv) help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (viii) strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; (ix) understand how children’s previous experiences and present

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Requirement Due date

emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; (xii) understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and (xiii) have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; (b) that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. 28/02/2017 Ensure that any restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing— (1) (a) injury to any person (including the child);(b) serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or (c) a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home. (2) Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (3) These regulations do

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Requirement Due date

not prevent a child from being deprived of liberty where that deprivation is authorised in accordance with a court order. (Children’s Homes Regulation 20(1)(a) to (c)(2)&(3)) 28/02/2017

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 14.4 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child.(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  5.15 When children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no

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Recommendations

education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  5.19 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.19)  14.5 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

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Recommendations

understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events.(‘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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This home is dedicated to providing safety, care and therapy to children who have experienced or are at risk of child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

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Inspection history

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in July 2016.

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Requires improvement

The home has been providing a home to young people for less than six months. Two young people have been accommodated in this time, both of whom had previous placement issues and present with complex emotional needs, risk-taking behaviour and other significant behavioural difficulties.

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Requires improvement

Pre-placement assessments and matching of young people who lived together were not robust and did not provide sufficient detail. Following a number of serious incidents, during which young people’s experiences were less than acceptable, one young person had to leave the home. That young person is now provided with a single-bed placement within the same organisation; the young person has the support they need, but is no longer encountering the complications associated with living with another young person who presents with similar issues.

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Requires improvement

The initial instability of the staff team, coupled with poor placement matching, affected young people’s ability to form meaningful relationships with staff. The staff team is currently much more stable and because there is just one young person in the home it has been possible to start building trusting relationships. The young person can identify adults with whom they can talk and share their concerns. Communication from them is becoming increasingly calm as they begin to feel safer.

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Requires improvement

A full-time school placement is available to young people. There are problems with attendance, which are probably linked to emotional need and attachments. Staff do not have a clear plan in place for providing learning opportunities when a young person is refusing to attend or is excluded from school. Some of the current strategies in place to encourage young people to attend are ineffective. Young people are likely to get further and further behind their peers in academic attainment and skills development.

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Requires improvement

Young people do not have access to a computer system to support their learning and development. In particular, this means that their learning around issues of appropriate use and internet safety is not supported.

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Requires improvement

The young person is socially isolated. Despite the numerous activities offered, their community and peer engagement is poor. Work to improve the young person’s self-esteem and confidence is being undertaken to help with this and other issues.

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Requires improvement

Services to provide for physical and emotional well-being are in place. There are some problems with the take-up of these services. Staff and other stakeholders are concerned about young people continuing to smoke. Cessation services have proved to be ineffective, but staff continue to try and provide services which could help with this addiction.

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Requires improvement

Staff support young people to spend time with their families. A parent reported that she was getting more involved in supporting decisions and attending meetings.

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Requires improvement

The young person appears to be relaxed in the home. The home is personalised and young people are able to have important photos and belongings with them. Staff have been slow to keep a record of young people’s time in the home. There is a danger that their history, especially that which relates to their potential recovery, will be lost.

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Requires improvement

The organisation employs a maintenance person who is quick to sort out repairs and whose work contributes to the provision of a homely environment. Two patio doors are taking some time to repair as they have to be made to order. Outside lighting is not adequate enough to illuminate the rear of the building when it is dark.

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Requires improvement

The initial placement of two young people with similar presenting issues and behavioural difficulties led to both of them becoming beyond the control of staff on several occasions. This resulted in significant damage to property and additional police involvement in the young people’s lives. The appointment of an inexperienced and for the most part unqualified staff team contributed to these difficulties.

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Requires improvement

Not all the necessary risk assessments are in place. In particular, a number of staff do not have lone-working risk assessments.

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Requires improvement

Behaviour management has gradually improved since the home opened. Staff benefit from the training and guidance provided by the organisation’s clinical psychologist. The staff’s improved knowledge and understanding of the young person’s presenting issues is helping them to work more effectively and build relationships with the young person.

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Requires improvement

Young people have been protected from further sexual abuse and/or sexual exploitation since moving into the home.

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Requires improvement

The young person can identify staff with whom they can talk, including at least one staff member to whom they can ‘tell anything’. The young person confirmed that they feel safe in the home and know how to make a complaint. A social worker visits them on a regular basis to see how they are doing.

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Requires improvement

Staff have responded effectively to young people who go missing from the home and the number of missing-from-home incidents has reduced for young people since they moved in. Young people are given opportunities to discuss any incidents with someone who is independent of the home. Although young people have not always engaged with these opportunities, there is good understanding of the reasons why young people went missing and appropriate action has been taken.

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Requires improvement

Restraint of young people has been used to manage behaviour and prevent serious injury or damage to property. Three restraints extended beyond the immediate need to restore safety and were used to remove young people from the office. Such incidents have reduced over time, especially now that the home is only accommodating one young person.

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Requires improvement

Allegations or concerns about young people’s welfare are dealt with appropriately and have been or are being fully investigated. The registered manager has informed appropriate authorities and has sought guidance from the safeguarding board when necessary. All staff are trained in safeguarding young people and know what to do if there is any indication that abuse is taking place.

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Requires improvement

The organisation initially struggled to recruit and sustain suitably experienced and qualified staff. Several staff decided that this work was not for them and moved on. The remaining staff members form a team of dedicated workers. Although the number of qualified staff remains low, all staff are now being given suitable training and opportunities to develop their skills and make improvements to practice that will benefit young people.

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Requires improvement

Records do not fully contribute to helping staff to understand the needs of young people. In particular, the home’s care plans lack details with regard to who will be responsible for implementing plans and how targets will be achieved. This makes it difficult to review plans and monitor progress effectively. Staff are provided with regular supervision and they have opportunities to reflect on their practice in team meetings. The clinical psychologist attends meetings to help staff understand behaviour and to offer some guidance on appropriate responses.

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Requires improvement

A suitably qualified manager is in post. She has several years’ experience of successfully managing children’s homes where young people present with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The work she has done in this home with young people who have been or are at risk of being sexually abused has added another dimension to her skills, especially with regard to understanding behaviour and meeting needs. To support this understanding, the manager has undertaken additional training and attends meetings hosted by a national working group who look at issues and developments around child sexual exploitation.

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Requires improvement

Independent monitoring of the home contributes to development planning and quality assurance of the care provided.

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Requires improvement

This service is in its infancy. Some disruption – which was caused by staffing changes and, subsequently, by the behaviour of two young people who were living in the home – led to initial setbacks. The manager is a reflective practitioner who has been able to learn from these problems and develop strategies in order to avoid a repeat. The senior manager and the clinical psychologist will now also be able to contribute to pre-placement assessments and matching of young people.

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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

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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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