Children's home run by Cambridgeshire County Council in Cambridge

Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 1 SC034775 Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is run by the local authority and it is registered to provide residential care for up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2017

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 The staff build positive relationships quickly with children who are in crisis, which helps the children to settle into the home.  Children maintain their places in education and the staff quickly arrange Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 2 education for the children who arrive without a school place.  The children are supported to better manage their emotions and minimise negative behaviours, such as going missing from home.  The staff support and work to increase the children‟s family contact to enable the children to return home and/or to rebuild their relationships with their families.  The home works in partnership with families and professionals to achieve the children‟s placement goals.  The manager is proactive and advocates on behalf of the children.

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:  The records of supervision are incomplete.  The manager has failed to notify Ofsted of two significant incidents.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/10/2016 Full Requires improvement 04/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/07/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each relevant person without delay if an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(b)) 30/07/2017

p.3

Recommendations

 Ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers emergency placements, which means that the children often move into the home in an unplanned way and with very little notice. When possible, the staff inform the children in advance that a new child is moving in, and they manage admissions effectively to minimise any disruption. The staff are very good at making positive relationships with the children in a short period of time. This enables the children to settle in quickly and to start to feel at home immediately. The staff support the children, when possible, to move on from the home in a planned way. The children have individualised care plans that detail their targets and placement aims. Many of the children return home or move on to a long-term placement. The children maintain their existing school places whenever possible. This is resulting in extremely long days for one child. It is positive that, despite the lengthy journey, his

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

attendance has remained consistent. Another child has a school placement but is currently unable to attend. The staff complete school work with him at the home. There is now a formalised process of securing education for the children who arrive without an education provision. This addresses a shortfall raised at the last inspection. These arrangements have enabled one child to commence a gradual reintegration into a mainstream school. The school plans to increase her timetable incrementally at a pace that she can manage. Another child has increased his attendance at his tuition because Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 4 the staff have creatively incorporated it into the shared-care arrangement with his family. A social worker said, „In the last few weeks he has engaged very well and attendance has improved enormously.‟ The staff ensure that they seek, listen to and incorporate the children‟s views into the

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

running of the house. This includes suggestions for meals and activities. This enables the children to have an active voice in their home. The children‟s interactions with the staff are warm, friendly, caring and mutually respectful. In discussing the fact that the children move in without any prior visits or information, a child said, „I expected it to be like Tracey Beaker and it really isn‟t. When I first came, I wasn‟t liking anyone here, staff or children. But I have to live here and have to get on with it and they are not that bad.‟ The staff offer the children the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities. Some children eagerly participate and others choose not to. A professional said, „They [staff] have got him [child] involved in activities. His parent can see that he is responding to boundaries and [the parent] is reflecting on how to work with him when he returns home.‟ The staff advocate on behalf of the children on matters such as increased family contact.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff facilitate this contact, including transporting the children. There has been a reduction in the children‟s negative behaviours as family contact has increased. The children recognise the positive role that the staff play in their contact arrangements and in moving their care planning forward. The staff support the children to attend their health appointments. A parent said, „It is working really well and they [the staff] communicate everything with me. I call on a daily basis for updates about school and about all of his appointments. He has been good since living there. He is very comfortable there and gets on with staff. They help him when he is angry and upset and cannot cope. He‟s definitely safe there and it is helping us as a family.‟

p.4

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

The manager assesses each prospective new admission to ensure the suitability of the mix of children. There are times, such as with overnight admissions to prevent a child remaining in custody, when the manager has to conduct these assessments with minimal information about the child. The staff complete thorough risk assessments for each child. The staff update these regularly with any new behaviours and information to ensure that they are working with current information. As the children are in crisis when they move into the home, they often start by not wanting to live at the home. This results in many of the children going out without permission, or failing to return home. As the staff often know very little about the children‟s histories, they report even the shortest of absences as missing from home. However, there have been two instances when the staff failed to notify Ofsted that a child was missing, despite her being away for a number of days. This does not provide

p.4

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

Ofsted with a current view of incidents in the home, or how they have been managed. The child‟s social worker said, „They [the staff] are consistent with her. In the days when Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 5 she was away, she was in touch with everyone and the police were actively looking for her. We saw it as a serious situation. However, we were all speaking to her every day and she came into the office.‟ A staff member said, „Since then, she has attended education and has not gone missing. She has spent more time communicating with staff and children, rather than being in her bedroom.‟ Another staff member said, „I believe that this is because staff were clear with her that we were worried and that we just wanted her back.‟ The staff have turned the situation into a positive and have built on their relationship with the child. A professional, speaking about another child, said, „He is very difficult to manage. I feel

p.4

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

that the safety plan and missing from home protocol are very robust and take all of the difficulties into account.‟ The use of physical intervention is very low, as the staff deploy defusing and de- escalation techniques successfully to enable the children to bring their emotions under control. The staff also use humour to engage with the children. On hearing a lot of laughter, a child came to the office saying, „It sounds like a circus in here.‟ This led to further laughter. The staff use restorative consequences in response to the children‟s negative behaviour. When reviewing the records to look at the effectiveness of these consequences, the manager writes his comments as though speaking to the child. The manager or the child‟s key worker share these comments with the children, to encourage them to recognise how they could manage situations differently. Although bullying is not currently an issue in the home, the anti-bullying information is in

p.5

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

the process of being updated to ensure that it contains current forms of bullying, such as cyber bullying, and updated legislative references. The manager has been proactive in how he has managed referrals to the designated officer. This safeguards the children and the staff. The home benefits from having regular contact and visits from their police community support officer. The officer said, „Staff try and show them [the children] another way of life and how to do social things, like a family. Their ethos is like a big family. They have continuity of staff and bank staff, and the children need and benefit from this structure. I am full of praise for them.‟

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked at the home for several years. He became the registered manager in October 2016. He holds a social work degree and is currently undertaking the relevant level 5 qualification. He is preparing the team for a change in the service that is due to occur in September 2017. The staff team remains unchanged since the last inspection. This enables the staff to care for the children in a consistent way. The staff undergo a wide range of training courses that include mandatory subjects such as safeguarding, the Prevent Duty and working with children who are at risk of child sexual exploitation. The staff either hold or are undertaking the required level 3 qualification. Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 6 The staff have regular supervision. If a supervision session is missed, the supervisor notes the reason. However, the records of supervision are incomplete. Some of the electronically created notes have been overtyped. This prevents the keeping of an

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

accurate record of sessions and prevents the ability to check that the sessions are conducted in line with regulations. A staff member speaking about the manager said, „He is a really good, approachable, strong, caring and understanding manager. He lets key workers take responsibility.‟ There were two requirements and one recommendation made at the last inspection. These related to recruitment checks, sourcing education provision for the children, and ensuring that the external monitoring provides commentary on whether the home is safeguarding children. The manager has addressed each of these and the children are no longer experiencing extended delays in receiving education. It is clearer that the external visitor believes that the home is safeguarding children. The manager has a good understanding of the children and their progress. He takes action to ensure that they get an effective service and challenges decisions as required.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This includes making challenges to professionals about contact arrangements and the provision of education, which is now much improved. Professionals are positive about the work of the manager and the staff team. Their comments included:  „Excellent people who do care and keep trying.‟  „He [child] is “held” by the boundaries and good relationships with the staff. He is safe.‟  „The staff have been supportive, consistent and quite patient.‟

p.6

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.

p.6

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: SC034775 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shire Hall, Cambridge CB3 0AP

p.7

Inspector

Sonia Hay, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC034775 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8