Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

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 .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home continues to be led and managed by a suitably experienced, motivated and committed registered manager. She manages another two homes in the company. The short distance between the homes allows the registered manager to manage all three homes effectively. The registered manager shares her time equally between the three homes. This enables her to offer good levels of support to the young people and staff in each home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, the requirement and recommendations made have been addressed by the registered manager. This demonstrates her commitment to the continuous improvement of the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, one young person has successfully moved to a foster placement. This was a planned move, and the home fully supported the young person to ensure that she experienced a smooth transition. One young person has recently moved into the home. The records in relation to this admission clearly demonstrate a well-planned and co-ordinated admission with a good level of support for the young person. The young person was able to visit the home prior to moving in, to see his bedroom, meet the other young person living in the home and meet the staff team that would be caring for him. Another visit was planned a few days later, prior to the young person moving in. However, he liked the home so much that he did not want to wait a few more days to move in. Due to the robust transition plan already in place for the young person, the home worked collaboratively with the placing local authority and the home the young person was

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

moving from to make arrangements to move in earlier than planned. Consequently, the young person had a smooth transition into the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home values the importance of education for young people and strives to ensure that they have the most appropriate education provision in place to meet their educational needs. Young people benefit from good routines, structure and stability in the home. This supports their regular attendance in education. One young person who had disengaged from education is now making remarkable progress due to the encouragement and support that she has received from the home in relation to her education. The home was proactive in identifying a suitable education provision that the young person would engage with and liaised with education professionals to source a place. Since moving to this education provision, the young person’s attendance has significantly improved. She has now been entered to complete her examinations, which was previously not being considered due to her lack of engagement and the impact that this had on her progress and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

ability. During the inspection, the young person proudly showed off certificates for some excellent examination results she has recently achieved. The young person who has recently moved into the home is due to start at a nearby high school in a few days’ time. The home implemented an education transition plan for the young person prior to him moving into the home. Consequently, there has been minimal delay and disruption to his education. The home has a structured education timetable in place for the young person in the interim period until he starts in his new education provision. This includes reading, writing, and educational activities. The strong focus on education in the home means that young people access appropriate education provision and opportunities to enable their education needs to be met and for them to make progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Health plans are in place for young people which clearly outline their individual health issues and how these are being met by the home. Records clearly outline the health appointments that young people have and whether they have attended them or not. Furthermore, when a young person has not attended a medical appointment, records clearly demonstrate how this has been managed to ensure the young person’s health needs are met and not overlooked. For example, a young person refused to attend a dental appointment, so a new appointment was made and a discussion took place with the young person as to how important this was. This resulted in the young person agreeing to visit the dentist, which improved their dental health. The home has supported another young person to continue to access specialist counselling support to promote the improvement in her emotional well-being. The home has financially supported this to enable the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

counselling to continue during school holidays to ensure that the young person’s emotional health continues to be good. The health advice, guidance and support that the home offers young people promotes their health, development and well- being. Consequently, their health needs are met well.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The behaviour management in the home means that young people generally behave well. Positive consequences reinforce the good behaviour of young people. When necessary, the home implements negative consequences, but these tend to be restorative in nature to enable young people to reflect on their negative behaviour and implement strategies to ensure that it does not reoccur. The registered manager and staff are clear to young people on what is expected of them. This supports the positive behaviours of young people, the goodatmosphere in the home and the good relationships between the staff and young people. One young person said, ‘The best thing about the home is the registered manager and staff.’ The young person went on to discuss the progress that he has made in the short time that he has been at the home in relation to his behaviour. He said, ‘In my last placement I was receiving at least 18 physical interventions a month. I

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

have not had any since I moved into this home, due to my improved behaviour and good relationships with staff.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Safeguarding practice in the home is robust, which means that the risks to young people are minimal and have reduced. For example, the self-harm of one young person has significantly reduced in frequency and severity due to the support that she receives in relation to this and the risk management plan in place. The home has worked collaboratively with a young person, her social worker and the local authority designated officer to address the high number of complaints and allegations that she has made. The home hasa robust procedure in place to manage these effectively without the need for formalising every complaint. The home was quick to identify that a number of complaints had been made against a particular member of staff by the young person and others. They responded appropriately to this and undertook a full investigation and held a multi-agency safeguarding meeting with relevant professionals to ensure that this was dealt with

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

appropriately. The home notified Ofsted of this investigation, in line with regulation. Although detailed and effective risk management plans are in place for young people in relation to their individual risks, the risk management plan relating to the sexualised behaviour of one young person was not available during the inspection. However, the registered manager was able to produce a copy of the risk management plan from the previous home the young person lived at. The home is currently working through this to complete its own risk management plan to ensure that it is able to safeguard the young person and others effectively.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A young person living in the home has made some really good friendships and spends a lot of time socialising with friends. This is fully supported by the staff and management of home, as they understand the importance of these friendships for the young person. The home financially supports the young person and her friends to engage in activities together, for example going to the cinema. The young person’s friends are regularly invited to spend time at the home and have even enjoyed an overnight stay. The young person said, ‘It is good that my friend can spend time with me in my home.’ The home has also been instrumental in arranging that the relevant checks have been completed to enable the young person to have overnight stays at her friend’s house. Furthermore, the home also supports the young person to maintain regular contact with her family. The staff team supported the young person to make a meal for her mother in the home on

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Mother’s Day. This was a very special time for both of them. The support and intervention from the staff in the home in relation to young people’s contact with their friends and family means that young people are able to maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Partnership working is well established between the home and relevant professionals, including social workers, teachers, looked after children’s nurses, the local authority designated officer and the counsellor for one young person. A local authority social worker who has worked collaboratively with the registered manager in relation to another home she manages was keen to take over as the social worker for the young person who has recently moved into the home, as she felt that they worked well together. The collaborative working supports young people in all areas of their lives and contributes to the progress that they make.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and staff team share the same level of commitment to the home, and all continually strive for improvement. They welcome monthly visits from the independent visitor, to have an impartial view of their arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people in their care. Generally, they respond in a timely manner to any recommended actions from these visits, although for one month the recommended actions were not addressed. However, these were actioned the following month. The independent visitor sends the reports from the visit to Ofsted in line with regulation. However, these do not include the registered manager’s response to the independent visitor’s comments and recommended actions. Therefore, the regulatory body is not kept up to date or aware of how the home intends to make improvements to address any shortfalls. The registered manager reviews the quality of care in the home regularly and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

updates Ofsted with this at least every six months in line with regulation. The information from the independent visits, the registered manager’s quality of care review and quality assurance in the home contributes to the continuous development and improvement for the home and young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff team is well supported by the registered manager. The supervision of staff is shared with the deputy manager and team leaders and tends to take place on a regular basis in line with the company supervision policy. However, a recent independent visitor report and supervision records in the home do not demonstrate that staff have received supervision in line with the timescales set out in the company’s supervision policy. This does not demonstrate that staff benefit from regular supervision that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people they care for.

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Information about this children's home

The privately run children’s home can accommodate two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 07/12/2016 Full Good 08/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/08/2015 Full Good 26/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(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

In particular, risk management plans should be in place in relation to all known risks to young people. 19/05/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which 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)

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Recommendations

In particular, supervision should take place in line with the timescales set out in the company's supervision policy.

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Recommendations

 For children's home to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases be homely, domestic environments. ('Guide to the children's homes regulation including the quality standards', page 15 paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

In particular, this relates to the young people having appropriate storage facilities in their bedrooms to allow the floors to be clutter free.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Those undertaking the role should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. In particular, if the information provided is inaccurate this will need to be challenged and amended. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality Standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

In particular, that the reports from the independent visitor should include the registered manager’s comments in response to the recommended actions from the independent visitor.

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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’.

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

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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 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 looked after children 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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