Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 1 SC456911 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 privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to six children 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 6 September 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 This home was judged as inadequate at the last inspection. In the time since the last inspection, the provider has failed to meet all of the regulatory requirements that were raised.  Senior managers have not provided the oversight required to ensure that the regulatory requirements are met.  Risk assessments about how staff manage children who go missing require clarity and consistency to enable the staff to take prompt action to minimise the risks.  Not all important information, including incidents during which children have gone missing, is shared with parents and legal guardians. This does not enable them to support their children, or to understand the risks posed to the children.  Staff do not always engage with children to review the use of the internet. Staff do not routinely monitor the children’s use of social media. This does not enable the staff to safeguard and protect children from potential harm.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There has been an improvement in the range of activities on offer, which helps the staff to engage more effectively with the children.  Care plans are reviewed regularly and when circumstances change. This means that staff are kept informed about changes.  The strong and resilient staff team has reflected on the outcome of the last inspection in order to improve the service for children.  Staff have received further training to focus their work on meeting the children’s needs.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2017 Full Inadequate 30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/04/2016 Full Good 07/01/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 3

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who develop positive relationships with them, engage with them and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child.

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Requirement Due date

This is in particular reference to informing children, parents or guardians of significant incidents, such as a child being missing from care. (Regulation 7(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(e)) 13/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff 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, and help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) 13/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children to aspire to their full potential and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose, and understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of the care provided in the home. (Regulation 30/11/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 4 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(f)(h))

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. The staff should consider how they can support the child to access the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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improvement to be good

This full inspection follows an inspection in September 2017 that resulted in a judgement of inadequate overall.

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improvement to be good

The provider has made improvements and addressed the majority of the shortfalls that were identified at the last inspection. Staff have received additional safeguarding training since the last inspection. The provider has purchased sports equipment, to facilitate activities for the children. Key work sessions have improved. However, further improvements are required to ensure that consistently good care is provided for the children.

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improvement to be good

This inspection found shortfalls in risk assessments relating to children going missing. These risk assessments do not detail the actions that staff should take to minimise the risk of children going missing. The gaps in the records mean that staff do not have the relevant information to help to reduce these incidents and minimise any potential risks.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff fail to inform the children’s parents or legal guardians of incidents at the home, including times when the children are missing from care. Consequently, parents and guardians do not have current information about their children or the risks that they face.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the children to maintain contact with family members when it is assessed as safe. Staff take the children to contact sessions, and they discuss with the children how positive each meeting is and whether alternative arrangements need to be considered.

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improvement to be good

The manager has purchased many new pieces of sports equipment. The children can now play in the garden on the new trampoline. Additional equipment and resources encourage the children to stay in and around the home with the staff. The staff have increased opportunities to develop relationships with the children as a result. Activities are discussed with the children at community meetings. The meetings provide Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 5 an opportunity for children to discuss how they can take part in events in the community. Recently, one child has returned to swimming, an activity they enjoyed before moving to the home. Another child has started to attend a local boxing club, which enables them to make friends outside the home and take part in a sport that will keep them fit. The children have welcomed recent improvements in equipment and activities. Their comments included, ‘The trampoline is great’, and ‘I’ve enjoyed going

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improvement to be good

back out swimming.’ The children enjoy healthy home-cooked meals, and they can choose their favourite meal for the week at the community meetings. These meetings give the children time to air their views on any issues. The manager reviews the meeting minutes to ensure that the staff have considered and acted on the children’s opinions.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the children’s healthcare plans. The staff make routine medical appointments for the children and encourage them to attend. Although not all of the children attend these appointments, staff are working to help them to engage with health professionals.

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improvement to be good

Some of the children have maintained their education placements. They are developing their skills and knowledge and working towards recognised qualifications. Other children have been supported to return to alternative education provision on a part-time basis. This is a significant improvement for these children, some of whom have been out of formal education for some time. The children have the opportunity to catch up on their education and make friendships outside the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager has improved her monitoring of care plans. The staff have updated the care plans to reflect any changes that have occurred. The staff prepare for direct work sessions with the children using these plans. This helps the children to build on positive relationships with the staff. Observations of the interactions between the children and staff during this inspection identified a positive caring approach used by the staff to meet the children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff are supporting the children to develop self-help and budget management skills on a daily basis. For example, children have the opportunity to learn how to use the washing machines. Keeping their rooms tidy and clean is an expectation outlined to them at the community meetings. Such skills will benefit them as they move into adulthood.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not fully implemented the missing-from-care protocol, which states that staff should continue to search for children who are missing. On at least three occasions, the staff have not searched for children who have been missing from the home after 11.00pm. The manager has failed to ensure that the staff follow the protocol, or to review the protocol and adapt it if it is no longer suitable. Failure to follow the home’s own guidance has the potential to put children at risk of harm. An inconsistent approach to managing incidents of missing from home does not give a clear message to the children about the steps that the staff will take to ensure their safety. Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 6 Staff have not followed the safe use of the internet policy. They do not always engage with children to update their internet and social media consent forms when the children’s circumstances change. The children’s access to social media is not being monitored as

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improvement to be good

stated in the home’s policy, to prevent the risk to the children of being exploited or radicalised.

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improvement to be good

Staff use de-escalation skills effectively to manage situations that may have previously led to physical restraint. Behaviour is managed through rewards and incentives, which has led to improvements in behaviour for some of the children and reduced the use of sanctions.

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improvement to be good

An update to the location risk assessment has improved the staff members’ understanding of risks. The provider has enabled the manager and the deputy manager to attend risk management training. The manager has fed back to the staff group the learning points from this training. Although the quality of the location risk assessment has improved, there are still gaps in other risk assessments, in particular, missing-from- care evaluations.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they feel safe at the home. They reported that they get on with their key workers and other staff well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Senior managers and the registered manager have not ensured that all of the shortfalls identified at the last inspection have been addressed. Despite the efforts made by the manager to arrange for the organisation’s risk management team to visit the home to update the fire risk assessment, this was not undertaken until the second day of the inspection. Consequently, staff have not been clear about fire risk precautions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has failed to ensure that parents and legal guardians receive regular updates and communication. Consequently, families are not informed about how effectively the home meets their child’s needs; nor are they encouraged to play a significant part in their child’s life

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual has only visited the home twice since the last inspection, despite the last inspection resulting in a judgement of inadequate overall. Senior managers, including the responsible individual, have failed to ensure that all of the required steps have been taken to address the shortfalls raised at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have received further safeguarding training. New staff have undertaken induction training, which provides them with the relevant information to meet the children’s needs. The organisation has identified further training for staff, including understanding mental health issues for children looked after and motivational interviewing training. However, this training has not been implemented. Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 7 The manager has undertaken a review of the home following the feedback at the last inspection. She has reviewed the risks in the locality to ensure that she can safely meet the needs of the children. The manager has used the skills that she has gained through her recent risk-management training to enhance the location risk assessment. She has engaged staff in the improvement plan, which has strengthened morale, creating flexibility and resilience in the staff group. The staff group has reflected on the outcome

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

of the last inspection to understand staff members’ roles in improving the care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has taken action to ensure that she has oversight of incidents that occur at the home and that Ofsted is notified if required. Following incidents, the manager amends the care plans to ensure that staff have the most up-to-date information to work with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has been in regular contact with the placing authorities to discuss the outcomes for the children. She has emailed several times to seek clarity from one placing authority about the plans for their child. The manager pursues placing authorities when a response has not been forthcoming. In one instance, she has escalated her enquiries to the commissioning service to ascertain its views about the home’s strategy for managing the child’s move to an alternative placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Placing social workers have commented positively on the care provided at the home and have no concerns about the suitability of the placements for the two children who currently live at the home.

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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: SC456911 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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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Inspectors

Michael Mulvaney, social care inspector Mandy Nightingale, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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