Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Torbay

Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 1 SC457567

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Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a national provider. It provides care and accommodation for one child who may 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 outstanding

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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: improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager provides effective leadership. She has high expectations of her staff team, and for the young person who is in their care. The manager thoroughly understands the importance of working in partnership with other professionals. A social worker from the young person’s placing authority described the home’s engagement with them as ‘outstanding’.  The young person has been able to build trusted and secure relationships with the manager and staff team. They have provided her with a sense of belonging. They have encouraged open and honest communication and in this way they have understood more clearly what action they have to take to help her become increasingly safe. When difficulties have arisen, the manager and staff have shown the young person their unconditional positive regard, and have been very thorough in their responses.  Excellent attention has been given to meeting the young person’s emotional

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Key findings from this inspection

needs through the provision of specialist play and drama therapy. Staff are also developing their understanding of the impact that the young person’s past experiences have had on her, and have developed their skills through a range of training courses and clinical support.  Staff work hard at helping the young person see her family regularly, including having her sister to stay over at weekends.  The young person is doing very well at school. Since she has been living at this children’s home, her attendance has significantly improved, as have her target grades in her GCSEs.

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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

 During the summer, the young person was missing from home on four occasions. Despite earnest attempts, the manager did not ensure that on every occasion the young person was seen by an independent visitor within the expected timescale. On one occasion, the manager struggled to get a copy of the independent visitor’s report in a timely way. The manager feels that this situation has now been addressed and it is also hoped that, as a result of extensive work with other professionals, the likelihood of the young person being missing from home again has reduced.  There is scope to improve the way that staff respond to some aspects of the young person’s poor behaviour, namely smoking in the car or her bedroom, which are not allowed. While the young person mostly benefits from rewards Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 3 and incentives, occasional sanctions are used. These are not restorative in

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Key findings from this inspection

nature. This means that the young person has not been given an opportunity to really explore the impact of her behaviour and why it is important for her to address this.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/03/2017 Interim Improved Effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Good 01/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/12/2015 Full Good 05/01/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 4

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any sanction used to address poor behaviour is restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  Ensure that the local authority provides opportunity for children and young people to have independent return home interviews when they have been missing. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. Children missing from home agreed protocols with local authorities should be

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Recommendations

reviewed regularly and be scrutinised by the local safeguarding children’s board (LSCB) when the above is not happening. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraphs 9.23–9.30)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has lived in this children’s home for more than one year. She is regularly consulted, and is central to decision-making that takes place. She has a sense of belonging which has been reinforced by her having been involved in recent redecoration. Staff seek to offer her as many opportunities as they can, so that she can have positive experiences. For example, during the summer, she enjoyed a holiday abroad with a carer and there are plans in place for a short break away before Christmas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the importance of helping the young person to build her emotional resilience and self-worth. They are sensitive to her past experiences and the impact these have on her. They have worked effectively with a range of professionals to improve their own knowledge and skills, and to source therapy for the young person in a way that she has been able and willing to engage in. Her achievements are celebrated and she is complimented and rewarded. This approach has helped the young person to form and sustain strong attachments to the staff team. Furthermore, when there have been serious incidents, these positive relationships have helped.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is doing very well in school. She has improved her attendance significantly during the past year, and exceeded expectation in terms of her predicted Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 5 grades. Staff support her well in this area and also seek to engage the young person in discussions about what she would like to do once she has completed her GCSEs. They are aspirational with regard to her future, and focus well on building up her confidence. A teacher from the school said about the children’s home, ‘I don’t think she could be better cared for anywhere else.’

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

The young person feels that the manager and staff work hard to help and protect her. She understands why they act in the way they do, even though she does not always welcome their intevention. However, due to the really strong relationships they have, the young person always confides in the staff and so they are able to put additional safeguards in place. The young person respects the manager and the staff team. She knows that in them she has trusted adults who will always act in her best interests.

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

When the young person has gone missing from home, the manager and staff have searched for her, and have tried to re-establish contact. They have involved the police and followed correct procedures. They hold key information that informs their search. They welcome the young person home and offer what help they can, including an opportunity to talk. There have been some challenges with regard to ensuring that an independent visitor meets with the young person within the expected 72-hour period, and on one occasion the difficulty related to receiving the subsequent report in a timely way. The manager has escalated this with the placing authority, and feels this should now work more smoothly, should the young person go missing again. The manager and staff have a good understanding of why the young person goes missing. They maintain open and supportive communication with her, and have been able to source specialist

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

therapy which they hope will help the young person to make more considered decisions in the future.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. The young person has never been physically restrained while living in this children’s home. One member of staff supports the young person at a time. The young person says she gets on well with all of the staff and likes them all. When she arrived home from school during the inspection, she appeared really pleased to see the staff. The young person’s therapist said her impression was that the ‘young person feels genuinely cared for’. The young person is given incentives to meet agreed targets that she is involved in setting, and is rewarded for doing well in other areas too. There is a minimal use of sanctions. The inspector talked with the manager about seeking a more restorative way to respond to the young person when she smokes in prohibited areas. In this way, the young person is likely to gain a better understanding of the impact of her behaviour on others, as well as the likely consequences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is highly motivated to do the best job she can. She leads by example, and is creative in her thinking. She is very child centred, and promotes a highly Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 6 inclusive ethos. Children in her care feel loved and protected. They know they are central to her decision-making and practice. The manager also values her staff, and supports them to achieve appropriate skills and qualifications so that they feel a sense of personal satisfaction, and can fulfil their own potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s engagement with a wide range of external agencies is excellent. She understands that a young person’s complex needs can only be fully met by working effectively, together with the young person, their family and other professionals. She is proactive in ensuring that a young person’s needs are recognised, and in challenging and escalating concerns. She will use her own initiative to secure what she feels a young person needs and when serious incidents occur she is very thorough in her response, ensuring that all relevant professionals are involved in seeking the best way forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is undertaking her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare, and is on target to complete it within the required three-year timescale. Staff are supported to achieve a level 3 diploma and there are opportunities within the company for those who wish to undertake some management training, which aims to prepare them for promotion and completing a level 5 qualification. In this way, good succession planning is being put in place. The manager has sought a range of training courses for staff in areas that are particularly pertinent to the experiences of the young person in their care, such as bereavement training. She has also become an internal trainer in how to manage behaviour positively, as she feels she has a good understanding of why young people sometimes express their emotions through what is seen as difficult or unacceptable behaviour.

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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 differences 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: SC457567 7

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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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Inspector

Norma Welsby: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457567 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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