Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children's home: SC456477 1 SC456477 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

A private company operates this children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children's home: SC456477 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people admitted to the home receive a warm and friendly welcome. They settle quickly and feel safe and happy as a result of the good quality, nurturing care received from staff.  Strong relationships grow between the young people and staff as a result of the quality time that they spend together. This provides staff with sufficient insight to respond to signs that may indicate that a young person is at risk of harm.  Young people are involved in producing and maintaining the child-friendly care plans. Excellent standards of consultation with young people keep them at the centre of their care and the running of the home.  Missing incidents and risky behaviours significantly decrease due to the decisive action taken by staff and other professionals.  Staff promote the young people’s education and health to ensure that the young people have every opportunity to improve their life chances.  Children and young people are involved in fun activities that build their

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Key findings from this inspection

confidence and integrate them socially into any environment.  New and existing staff benefit from high-quality induction, support and a range of bespoke training that inform their care of the young people and enhance their personal development.  Organised, aspirational and nurturing leadership supports young people to achieve the best possible outcomes.

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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

 An inconsistent response to return-home interviews has resulted in delay or them being carried out by other managers in the organisation, which means that they are not fully independent.  An allegation against a member of staff following a physical intervention was not reported to the local authority’s out of hour’s social care team in a timely manner.  An incident in the home that resulted in the registered manager improving the security of the premises was not included in the independent visitor’s evaluation of safety and welfare arrangements in the home. Inspection report children's home: SC456477 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/08/2016 Full Good 15/06/2016 Full Inadequate 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC456477 4

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Recommendations

 Registered persons should seek to involve the local authority and other relevant persons whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)

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Recommendations

Specifically, out-of-hours social care services should be contacted promptly in the event of a serious concern.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Specifically, an independent adult approved by the placing authority should consistently carry out the interviews in a timely manner.  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent visitor must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive individualised and consistent care that offers them a high-quality and stable home life. A committed and caring staff team acts as good parents. They value the young people and invest in forging the best possible outcomes for them, irrespective of their time at the home. One young person said, ‘Yes, I feel very safe. I love it here. There is no place that I would rather be than here.’ One parent consulted by the independent visitor said that the staff ‘are out of this world’ and would ‘bend over backwards’ to try to help their child. Most young people make good progress and thrive, and staff are realistic about progress. One staff member said, ‘You look for mini victories’. Staff show ‘stick-ability’ towards the young people through the good and bad times. For some young people, moving on has been the right option to keep them and others safe. Sensitive transitions are conducted in a manner that does not make them feel rejected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people know why they are living at the home. They understand that returning to Inspection report children's home: SC456477 5 their families may not be right for them at the present time. Written placement plans provide details in a language that young people understand, which keeps them at the centre of planning. Key-working sessions are excellent. They clearly engage young people in a range of subject matters that reinforce the young people’s positive and trusting relationships with staff. Young people’s views are listened to, which empowers them to influence the running of the home, and their own care, as an integral part of living in the home. Young people get together regularly, which provides them with a platform to welcome new young people and discuss a range of topical issues, such as terrorism, mental health, drugs and bullying. Young people attend an educational provision that is suitable for their needs. Education

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

timetables are flexible to engage the young people’s individual interests and nurture their strengths. The staff team is ambitious for the young people to reach their goals and achievements so that they improve their future employment prospects. The staff team’s access to education plans informs them about progress and helps them to contribute and advocate for young people in education meetings. There is prompt detection of any dips in young people’s educational progress due to the proactive and collaborative interventions. Young people who have left school receive help to explore their options in relation to college and further education. Effective working relationships between the home and health services promote young people’s physical and emotional health and put them in touch with primary and specialist health services. Young people develop a good understanding of the dangers of some of their unsafe health choices. This is because staff spend a lot of time talking to them

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

about any health matters. One young person said, ‘I know I can talk to them openly about things like this’. Young people have additional support from the in-house psychologist that enables them to address emotional and psychological issues. A diverse range of fun activities enhances young people’s experiences significantly, for example horse riding, bike riding, playing musical instruments, walking the visiting dog, spending time on the beach nearby and taking trips away. Negative friendships are actively discouraged and disrupting them is a priority for the staff team. For one young person, a creative solution afforded him an excellent opportunity to spend time away on an education-based break. The enriching and enjoyable trip is helping the young person to start to get back on track by distancing himself from negative influences. The young people live a long way from their families. Staff ensure that the contact

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

arrangements from the related placing authorities are honoured. They also forge positive relationships with parents and carers, which is vital to effective contact. Staff show exceptionally good levels of flexibility to ensure that young people’s connections with their families maintain their sense of belonging. One carer who was consulted by the independent visitor said that staff are ‘very punctual and supportive’ with respect to contact. Young people live in a sizable detached property that is located in a seaside location. A high standard of decoration and furnishing in communal areas values young people. Personalised rooms show young people’s individual personalities and give them a sense of ownership. Photographs of the young people decorate the walls, which makes their presence known. Inspection report children's home: SC456477 6

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

There is a strong safeguarding culture in the home that promotes young people’s welfare. Robust risk management strategies identify the potential harm that may impact on young people’s vulnerabilities, yet enable them to take controlled risks. This helps to develop young people’s independence skills. Young people say that they feel safe. They can identify staff to talk to about any concerns. Young people’s engagement in regular key-working sessions helps them to improve their awareness about keeping safe in the home and community. The positive and influential relationships between young people and staff are helping staff to maintain consistent boundaries, enforce basic rules and challenge inappropriate behaviour. Bespoke strategies from the therapist help young people to self-regulate. This is a vital means of maintaining an orderly and safe environment. Rewarding positive behaviour enables young people to make positive choices and work through difficult

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

times. Staff follow the agreed protocols when young people go missing from home. They work closely with the police in reducing to a minimum the time that young people are missing. Staff spend time contacting young people on their mobile phones and they go out looking for them. Strategy and risk management meetings address issues of persistent incidents of missing, which is currently decreasing as young people move away from negative influences. Recording of these incidents is thorough, providing a full account of events leading up to and taking place after the missing event. The young person’s ability to share their reasons for going missing helps the registered manager to determine whether there are any other safeguarding issues to consider. This helps to protect young people effectively. However, when a child returns to the home after being missing from home, they do not always have an opportunity for a return home interview within 72

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

hours, and an independent person does not consistently carry the interviews out. No young people are subject to radicalisation, extremism or child sexual exploitation. The staff team’s good links with the local police and social care services include attendance at monthly risk management meetings for vulnerable young people. Good recruitment practices ensure the appointment of suitable adults to care and act as positive adult role models to the young people. Allegations made by young people against staff and peers are investigated in conjunction with the local authority and designated officer. On one occasion, there was no contact made with the out-of-hours social care team about an incident until the following day. There was no negative impact on the safety and welfare of the young people resulting from the omission and there has been learning from this experience so that it does not happen again. Restorative practice helps young people and staff to rebuild relationships

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

arising from such difficulties. The registered manger has improved the safety of young people and staff by installing intruder alarms in strategically placed areas of the premises. This follows a recent incident that staff acted on promptly, once detected. The safety measures taken should prevent further incidents of this nature.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children's home: SC456477 7 The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2010. She has the relevant experience and management qualifications to manage the home. She is well organised, efficient and leads by example. This makes her very effective in managing the strong and cohesive staff team. Her child focus and high expectations for all young people support a staff team that is always looking for new ways to improve young people’s experiences and progress. Staff show high levels of commitment, nurture and motivation to care for the young people. They are fully conversant with the young people’s needs, which shows that they have taken the time to get to know them. Staff speak highly about the levels of support and supervision that they receive from the management team. New staff have replaced staff who have moved on to other ventures. They give high praise to the recruitment,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

training and induction process and have settled with ease into the team dynamic. One staff member said, ‘It’s really, really nice here. Everyone has really helped me.’ The registered manager, in consultation with the team members, has put together a very good booklet that contains lots of useful information for new staff about the home and the young people. The registered manager continues to encourage staff to take part in management duties and training courses to develop their knowledge and skills. This positive investment in the team has resulted in staff promotion to leadership positions within the home. The exceptionally good communication between the staff team and other professionals supports young people’s changing needs. One professional described the quality of communication with the home as, ‘absolutely great’. The manager and staff are not afraid to challenge the local authority when they are falling short of their responsibilities

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

to the young people. The manager has a very coherent understanding of the strengths of the home. Her robust internal monitoring mechanisms make sure that young people are safe and are making progress. She takes remedial action to address any shortfalls, ensuring that any learning points support future developments. The independent visitor in the monthly external monitoring visits acts as a ‘critical friend’ to the registered manager and she values these opportunities to develop the service. The reports provide good evaluation and scrutiny, and the visitor consults with young people, professionals and staff when possible. The independent visitor consistently reports on the safety and welfare of the young people, but has not considered a recent incident in the home. Although there was no known safety and welfare impact, the omission does not ensure a rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

people’s welfare. The relevant recommendation is therefore repeated. Quality records document young people’s histories and experiences in a format that they can refer to now and in the future. Safeguarding notifications and updates sent to Ofsted by the home show that the appropriate actions are taken in response to any significant events. This addresses the one requirement raised at the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children's home: SC456477 8 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. Whenever 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 and 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: SC456477 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Group, 4th Floor Waterfront Building, Chancellors Road, Hammersmith Embankment, London W6 9RU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC456477 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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Inspector

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