Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Herefordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC457068 1 SC457068 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately operated children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for three young people up to the age of 18 who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide care that is tailored to the individual needs of young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress in education because of the support of staff. Inspection report children's home: SC457068 2  Staff listen to and develop trusting relationships with young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff support young people well to develop positive contact with their families.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide consistent boundaries that help young people to feel secure.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager and staff develop effective working relationships with police, social workers and other professionals, in the best interests of young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager actively challenges other professionals to ensure that young people are receiving the care and services they require.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers need to update young people’s risk assessments to ensure that staff actions safeguard young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers need to notify Ofsted when a serious incident occurs, such as when a young person goes missing from the home for a prolonged period.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers need to ensure that all staff are enrolled on, and obtain, the appropriate qualification for working with children and young people within the required timescales.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers need to ensure that all staff receive regular supervision to allow them to reflect on their practice, and to meet the needs of the young people in their care.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/09/2016 Full Good 11/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC457068 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32 (4) and (5)) 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must notify HMCI without delay if- (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered manager considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 31/05/2017

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each young person and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers provide a high quality of care to young people, which is tailored to young people’s individual needs. As a result, young people make good progress in many areas of their development. Young people in full-time education attend school regularly. Even those who have had a poor history of school attendance are now engaging well in their education. For example, one young person is sitting examinations and looking forward to attending college in September. Her headteacher described the young Inspection report children's home: SC457068 4 person’s progress and journey in education as ‘amazing’. When young people are not in full-time education, staff and managers are proactive in providing a structured timetable of activities. Staff actively challenge social workers and education professionals to reduce the delay in finding school places. The manager and staff have regular contact with schools, and attend meetings to support young people. This helps to remove barriers

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

that can affect young people’s educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to be healthy and to lead healthy lifestyles. Young people do not smoke. Those who smoke cigarettes before arriving at the home are encouraged to stop. Staff help young people to develop an awareness of how to keep themselves healthy through regular individual discussions and support. Consequently, young people who have previously refused to attend any health appointments are now attending dentists and opticians for routine check-ups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people develop trusting relationships with members of staff. This enables them to grow in self-esteem and confidence. Staff listen to young people and consider their views wherever possible. For example, a young person was able to change her key worker to a member of staff she had formed a good relationship with. One social worker commented, ‘I think staff are absolutely fantastic… She has made really good relationships with staff… They promote her views and voice clearly. In meetings, they advocate for her well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to keep in contact with their families. They work closely with families to help those young people who live far away from their homes to have regular and positive contact. They take young people to visit families, and when this is not possible the staff welcome families into the home. One young person’s contact has increased to the extent that she is now planning to have a week-long holiday with her family. A member of her family stated, ‘Staff are brilliant. I can’t fault staff. I can phone if I have a problem and they help me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are having positive day-to-day experiences in the home. They enjoy many activities both inside the home and outside in the community. Staff encourage young people to be active, by going for walks, swimming and attending the local gym. Each young person has an activity planner to help them to develop their interests and hobbies. One young person particularly enjoys cooking. With the support of teachers and staff she has made a cookbook and has sold it in a national school enterprise event. Another young person is a keen athlete. Staff are supporting her in her wish to join an athletic club in the local community. Young people are encouraged to develop independence skills to prepare them for their future. Staff work with young people on an informal basis specific to their individual needs and targets. Consequently, young people have developed in their self-care skills and are preparing for college. No young people

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

have left the home since the last inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC457068 5

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The manager has developed effective links with local authorities, designated officers and the police to help safeguard young people. Staff are aware of the procedures to take should they become concerned about young people’s well-being. Staff receive appropriate training on topics that include internet safety and child sexual exploitation. Senior managers are further developing staff safeguarding training to include radicalisation and extremism.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff provide consistent boundaries that help young people feel secure. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in the number of young people going missing. When young people go missing, staff are proactive. They spend time looking for young people and work closely with police and other professionals to ensure their safe return. Staff working in the home have a clear understanding of the risks that young people face. However, this is not always supported by up-to-date and accurate risk assessments. Consequently, any new or relief staff entering the home may not be fully aware of the measures needed to safeguard young people.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff manage young people’s challenging behaviour well. Staff rarely have to restrain young people. This is because staff reward positive behaviour to good effect to improve young people’s self-esteem and behaviour. Young people receive various incentives and financial rewards for achieving their weekly targets. Staff work closely with teachers to ensure that behaviour management strategies are consistent between school and the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home environment is safe and secure. The home has a location risk assessment that covers all areas of concern in the locality, and is regularly reviewed. Young people and staff are aware of how to keep themselves safe in the event of a fire through regular fire evacuations. No new staff have been employed by the organisation to work in the home. Staff recruitment procedures have previously been examined and found to be robust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is meeting the aims and objectives stated in the home’s statement of purpose. There are sufficient staff to meet the needs of young people and to ensure that they receive continuity and consistency of care. The registered manager has been in post since 2015. He is experienced, and is in the process of completing his level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the progress and plans for young people. As a result, young people are continually making good progress from their starting points across many aspects of their development. The manager takes effective action when the plans for young people are not followed. For example, the manager actively challenges local authorities when return-to-home interviews are not conducted in a timely manner. Inspection report children's home: SC457068 6 Although the home is in a predominantly white British area, the manager and staff promote tolerance and young people’s understanding of people’s differences through individual discussions around areas such as sexuality and culture. Staff actively seek young people’s views. Young people are able to comment on aspects of their care, and are supported to participate in meetings concerning them. Staff talk with them following

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

any incident to make sure they are safe and are aware of actions they may need to take.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a wide range of training that meets the specific needs of the young people in the home. The organisation has a training programme for staff that combines face-to- face and online training to meet mandatory training requirements. This helps to ensure that all those caring for young people are equipped to meet their needs. Although the majority of care staff have obtained, or are in the process of obtaining, the appropriate qualification to work with children and young people, one member of staff has not achieved this in the required timescales. This was subject to a requirement at the last inspection that will be remade. The manager is committed to ensuring that this requirement is resolved as soon as possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The vast majority of staff are supported through effective supervision and appraisal. However, a small number of staff have not received regular monthly supervision since the last inspection. Managers have an action to ensure that this is rectified, and have put measures in place to make sure this is not repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home through internal and external monitoring systems. Development plans demonstrate the manager’s commitment to further enhance the quality of care provided to young people. The manager has cultivated good working relationships with parents and other professionals and communicates regularly with them. One headteacher stated, ‘The home fully work with us to support young people… Staff came into school to help after school and the manager is always very supportive of everything we do.’ One parent commented, ‘Staff are very good at keeping us updated.’ However, the manager failed to notify Ofsted when a young person went missing for a prolonged period. As a result, the regulator was not fully aware of the activities of the home in terms of keeping young people safe.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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. Inspection report children's home: SC457068 7 Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well

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Information about this inspection

it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children's home: SC457068 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment, London W6 9RU

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Inspector

Sue Young, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC457068 9 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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