Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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 private children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people who may experience emotional and/or 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

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people say that they are happy in this home and that they feel safe. They are confident that staff care about them and will listen to them. This is because staff develop good relationships with them and promote positive behaviour. Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 2  Consultation with young people is a strength of the service. Young people’s input is sought in all aspects of the work undertaken and they said that they value this.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people who are new to the home are given high levels of support to help them to settle and become familiar with the expectations of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress in their lives through living at the home. They grow in self-awareness and, over time, learn to manage their emotions, and to develop positive and trusting relationships with others.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people experience care that focuses on their individual needs and builds on their strengths, talents and interests. Staff are attuned to the impact of previous life experiences upon young people, and provide nurturing and holistic care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Over time, young people develop aspirations for their futures and value the role that education brings to their lives. The frequency and prevalence of harmful behaviours that the young people exhibit diminish.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff team and managers work very collaboratively with placing authorities, parents and other agencies. All feedback gained during this inspection was very positive. Such positive multi-agency working has led to improvements in the emotional well-being, social skills and educational achievements of young people.

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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

 Ensure that the children’s guide is written in a way that clearly explains the day- to-day running of the home without ambiguity.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Ensure that the Workforce Development Plan is robust and clearly identifies staff and managers’ training needs and personal development plans.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Ensure that repairs are carried out in a timely manner.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Ensure that staff and escalate any concerns with local authorities to ensure that all relevant documentation is in place within the home with regard to young people’s care.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2017 Full Good 19/10/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home plays a full part in promoting the best interests of the child, proactively advocating for the child to ensure that others play their role and deliver the high quality support that is needed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.4)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that in the absence of statutory documents, such as personal education plans, the home should escalate their concerns with placing authorities should documentation be delayed.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the workforce development plan is updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff and that it is used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s home produces 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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the guide is written in a way that clearly explains the day-to-day running of the home without ambiguity.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their 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, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that repairs to the central heating equipment are carried out Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 4 in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people experience a very good standard of care. They establish meaningful relationships with the staff, which are the basis of their individual progress. Comments from young people are overwhelmingly positive. They consider that staff are ‘sound’ and ‘very caring’. Young people make good progress in important areas of their lives. They thrive in a homely environment that is organised around their individual needs and enjoy living at the home, describing it as their ‘home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A key strength of the home is the relationships between staff and young people. There is clear mutual respect and genuine warmth in the home. A young person commented that, ‘They are all so nice and friendly, and it feels like a real home because of them.’ Staff and young people spend time together and it is evident that there is a harmonious and familial atmosphere. For example, young people and staff enjoyed taking part in an Easter egg hunt and one young person is being taught how to swim by a staff member. There is also a very real sense of young people having ownership and responsibility for decisions in the home. While the young people have very different interests, they get on well. Individuality is embraced by the staff and both young people receive support to pursue their own separate interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make very good progress in all aspects of their lives. Their experiences through living at the home are rewarding, and nurture their emotional growth. They are given sensitive responses that are well informed and thoughtful with regards to their backgrounds, temperaments and strengths. The very good outcomes are acknowledged by fellow professionals. One social worker commented, ‘There has been a huge shift in [the young person’s] behaviour and that is down to staff. The staff team has built up really positive relationships with [the young person].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is well supported. Young people benefit from individual education packages that reflect their learning needs and challenge any barriers that they face. Staff work closely with the education provider and the local authority to ensure that young people make meaningful progress with their education. For one young person, this has resulted in a 100% attendance record being sustained for almost five months. A social worker commented, ‘The support that the staff have given is tremendous; she now has aspirations for her future and is really positive about education, even going to the library two nights a week.’ A deputy headteacher commented, ‘The staff from the home are really supportive and liaise with us on any matters that they think may impact on young people’s education.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a stable and settled home environment. Prior to any young person moving in or out of the home, the manager completes a detailed compatibility risk assessment. The individual needs of each young person form part of the assessment and careful consideration is given to the compatibility of the group. One young person who Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 5 had recently come to live at the home said, ‘I was petrified at first because I have never lived in a children’s home before. But the staff were really kind and helped me settle in.’ A social worker commented, ‘The planning was very good and a thorough assessment took place, which included me speaking with the other young person’s social worker to make sure that both young people were compatible to live together.’ This demonstrates that compatibility and individual needs are considered of high importance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are well supported with moving into independence. They complete a skills pack, which includes a wide range of both practical and emotional skills as part of the programme.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In general, the home environment is very clean, tidy and decorated to a very high standard. However, examination of the maintenance book revealed that the home’s boiler has been intermittently breaking down. Records show that despite engineers attending the home, no resolution has been found for this problem. To continue to create a warm homely environment, the provider should ensure that all repairs are carried out in a timely fashion.

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

Young people report feeling very safe at the home. They live in a physically safe and emotionally supportive environment, and know that staff are always there to help them with anything they need. They are aware of their right to be safe and respected at all times. They identify staff members as trusting adults with whom they can talk safely about any concerns that they might have. They feel listened to, heard and helped. A young person summed this up by saying, ‘I feel very safe here and I like living in this house with staff I like.’

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

The young people are looked after by a staff team whose members have the skills to form respectful and supportive relationships. Observations of staff interaction with the young people demonstrate that they maintain good boundaries, while enjoying spending time with them. Staff spoken to say that the progress that the young people have made is ‘amazing’. They also said that they are proud of the young people’s achievements and progress, and truly believe that the young people will succeed in all that they aspire to achieve.

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

There have been no complaints, and the inspector observed a relaxed and happy household. Since the previous full inspection, there have been no missing-from-home incidents. There have been no safeguarding issues and no major incidents of concern. Staff have not had to use any physical interventions and have only put a very few sanctions in place. This is because expectations and rules are very clearly put in place, and the young people are content to accept these. This happens because the young people are genuinely engaged and genuinely interested in making better lives for themselves.

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

Staff tailor behaviour management to each young person’s needs and clearly outline Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 6 their safety and supervision needs in their behaviour support plan. Young people are fully involved in ‘what works’ for them in times of crisis. The plan provides detailed information as to the reasons why young people present challenging behaviour and informs staff about how best to respond and to support them. Staff have received training on de-escalation and focus on these techniques and the development of positive relationships.

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

Young people’s health needs are a priority for the manager and staff. All young people receive the services of primary healthcare professionals. Routine appointments with the GP, dentist and optician take place. Staff have a good understanding of how to support young people who may harm themselves. Members of staff respond appropriately and sensitively at these times. This has reduced incidents of this nature. It also gives young people a sense of security. Staff have successfully supported a young person to give up smoking. This will ultimately lead to a much healthier lifestyle for the young person.

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

Medication, where used, is safely stored and carefully administered. Detailed records of medication are routinely checked for accuracy. This ensures that any errors are quickly identified and promptly resolved.

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

The physical environment is safe and protects young people from accidental injury. Health and safety processes are robust. Each young person has a detailed individual risk assessment that staff understand. As a result, the home is able to take all necessary steps to reduce the likelihood of young people being at risk of harm. Environmental risk assessments accurately reflect identified risks and potential hazards. Young people and staff understand fire safety systems and how to respond if emergencies occur. The safety of young people is promoted further through good environmental health and food safety processes and standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced to undertake his role. The staff team shares the same child-focused and caring ethos as outlined within the statement of purpose. This relates to keeping young people at the centre of their practice. The staff interviewed during this inspection feel extremely positive about their work and have a full understanding of the home’s ethos. They feel very well supported and report that they receive regular supervision. The registered manager ensures that staff meetings are regularly held. He ensures that staff are able to express their views and opinions, and to contribute to the development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager are passionate about providing the best care and experiences for the young people. They ensure that the needs of young people are clearly prioritised at the home. The staff team shows high levels of commitment to ensuring that young people progress and achieve. During this inspection, the handover between staff members was observed and re-enforced this commitment with a thorough, young person centred approach taken to share all relevant information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular, good-quality supervision that supports and challenges their practice Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 7 in order to improve the care given to young people. This is further supported by reflective team meetings and young people being at the centre of those discussions. Staff comments include: ‘we work well as a team’, and ‘I am supported very well by both my managers and my colleagues.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring is effective. Issues arising from the manager’s and external person’s monitoring, and through inspection, mean that the manager has a good understanding about the strengths of the home and the areas for development. He is quick to address issues that arise. However, despite contacting a local authority social worker regarding the lack of a personal education plan for a young person, the manager did not escalate this within the local authority when the plan was not received. This was a missed opportunity to ensure that all relevant plans relating to young people were contained within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has appropriate systems in place to notify Ofsted and other relevant bodies of significant events that occur within the home or with young people. This ensures that those with an interest in young people’s welfare are kept appropriately informed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The workforce development plan for the home has been reviewed recently by the registered manager. However, it does not contain a plan for the training needs and continuing personal development of staff for the coming year. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that all training and development are planned and the present and emerging needs of the young people are taken into account in the planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is achieving its aims and objectives, as stated in the statement of purpose, which has been reviewed and updated. However, the children’s guide requires to be clearer on the day-to-day running of the home. The deputy manager acknowledged this and has made a commitment to work with the young people living in the home to produce a guide that is dynamic and which describes the home for future young people.

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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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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 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: 1225371 8 Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Elaine Allison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1225371 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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