Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Dorset

Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 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 children’s home is in a rural setting and is owned by a large, national provider. It is registered for three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 27 to 28 November 2017

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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: requires improvement

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children make good progress when they live at this home. The manager and the staff team show genuine affection for the children and care about their happiness.  The manager advocates for the children successfully, especially when there is the possibility of a delay in them receiving the services that they need.  Staff treat the children with respect, dignity and sensitivity.  Children’s needs are met through the forging of strong personal relationships. The children, their families and other professionals are in agreement with this and hold this service in high regard.  The staff are supported well and use practical guidance to keep children safe.

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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

 The registered provider should introduce wi-fi access for the children. Currently, there is only one computer with internet access which is not sufficient for three children who have different educational demands.  The staff office space is larger than the living area for the children. This contradicts the emphasis on positive relationships seen elsewhere in the running of the home.  The recording of serious incidents should clearly identify any injury to children or staff.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/04/2016 16/03/2017 Full Interim Requires improvement Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 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 quality and purpose of care standard The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— Understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— Provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation (6)(1)(2)(b)(vii)) In particular, the home should provide wi-fi for all of the children so that each of them can access the internet safely and in line with their care plans. The registered provider should consider that the office space is larger than the communal space for the children and implement a development plan to address this imbalance. 26/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— Within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child, details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure, the date, time and location of the use of this measure, a description of the measure and its duration, details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure, the name of the person who used the measure and of any other person present when the measure was used, the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure, and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)) 29/12/2017 Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 4 In particular, when an incident occurs that requires any physical

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Requirement Due date

intervention, the record clearly records all injuries to children and staff.

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Recommendation

Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, consider the use of shorter versions of risk assessments as a quick guide for staff members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress when they live at this home. The manager and the staff team show genuine affection for the children and care about their happiness. Two children have made significant progress with their education. One child, whose first language is not English, was supported well through contacts with the local international school. The manager and the staff team developed caring, nurturing relationships with the child and were creative in how they soothed his anxieties while maintaining clear boundaries. This child’s needs expanded beyond those that a three-bedded home could accommodate and he moved on successfully to live in another home with no other children. This has been a success because the manager and the staff in this home have offered ongoing support to the team that now cares for him. The remaining children are settled, challenged to succeed and supported well. One young person has a lot of contact with his family, but both he and his mother said that

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

he ‘is proud to call this his home’. Pictures of the children having fun are displayed as you would see in a family home. The manager is calm and skilled at balancing risks alongside age-appropriate experimentation. In these circumstances, children are equipped with the knowledge and support that they need to develop strategies for later life. When children struggle with formal education, the staff provide meaningful education at home while the manager advocates strongly for prompt and satisfactory solutions with other agencies. For example, following a recent exclusion, the manager quickly convened a meeting of professionals with decision-making powers to arrange an alternative education provision. The children are fully engaged in activities that they have chosen and that they enjoy. Rugby, trampolining, gym sessions and activities in the local countryside are fully encouraged. One young person plays for the local rugby team, and time with his family

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

has been arranged to coincide with his matches. As a result, the child’s family can share in his successes, and he is not singled out as being a child in care. Children are fully Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 5 involved in planning for their own future as well as making decisions about their day-to- day experiences. Parents and social workers speak highly of the work that has been undertaken with the children who currently live in this home, as do the professionals that support the child that has moved on. The previous inspection challenged the manager to make sure that the cultural needs of the children are met. There is clear evidence that this is now a strength of the home as staff adopt the approach of seeing children as children first. Staff make sustained attempts to integrate children into the home through the use of translators, photographs, food and neighbouring communities.

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

Children are safe in this home because they have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. Restraint has been used rarely, and then only to prevent serious injury to staff and other children. The staff, including those that have recently been employed, are trained in the principles of ‘playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy’ and use this approach on a daily basis. The child who has moved on since the last inspection required soothing techniques and creative approaches to prevent him from scratching his face when he was anxious. The staff team identified ways of redirecting his soothing behaviours, such as to areas of flaking paint in his room rather than being directed at his body, dutifully repairing the paint on a regular basis. Environments that trigger anxiety in the children are clearly identified with simple, effective responses that all of the staff use well. Risk assessments are thorough and

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

detailed, as is the decision-making process for introducing new children to live at the home. A shorter ‘all about me’ approach to risk assessments would complement the longer documents well if agency staff are employed to work here in times of sickness and staff absence. One incident that involved the child who has moved on resulted in a member of staff gaining entry to the bathroom to prevent the house from being flooded. This response was necessary to prevent harm to the other people in the house. The staff involved have reflected on what happened and have identified ways in which they could have reacted more effectively. The recording of this incident lacks the detail and consistency of information that is evident elsewhere. In particular, the child banged his face during the incident and this is only recorded in one account of the event. The manager is aware that it is important to maintain clear records as they are part of the child’s story should

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

they wish to access their records later in life. Training and peer support has been arranged for the staff to address this and to maintain the standard of record-keeping. Allegations against staff are handled professionally and in line with safeguarding procedures. The designated officer is used when required and senior managers have conducted investigations in a timely way. One child made allegations on a regular basis and the protocol for managing these does not minimise the importance of investigating Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 6 every allegation thoroughly. Staff have a clear understanding of what to do if a child goes missing, even though this rarely happens. Staff are recruited safely and a recruitment policy is in place that has identified the additional skills that the team needs to offer choice and variety to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This registered manager has responded well to the requirements made at the last full inspection. He is confident, skilled and a child-centred advocate. The only thing that the children would like him to change is for him to spend more time with them. This is because he has built strong relationships with the children and they enjoy his company. With the support of the responsible individual, the manager has maintained consistency for the children through a recent bout of staff sickness. He has introduced systems that are effective and that give clear guidance to the staff team about how to work successfully with the children. It is evident that the child who has moved on provided challenges to the staff. However, the decision to look for a home elsewhere for him was made with sensitivity and a commitment to his welfare and that of the other children. The staff are supervised regularly and challenged to improve. The training, personal

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

development and appraisal of staff is focused on the needs of the children. Children are involved in staff appraisal although this could be developed further, as could involvement in the recruitment of staff. Leaders and managers make good use of the independent person’s monitoring visits and there is clear evidence that recommendations are acted on and included in the home’s development plan. The manager ensures that risks and opportunities are clearly identified at the point that a child arrives at the home or moves on to live elsewhere. Fire drills and an assessment of the risks locally are kept up to date. The children have access to the internet in the main living area. However, this provision is limited as there is one computer and wi-fi is not available. This provision is insufficient for three children who are at various stages of their educational development. The house has a lounge and a games room that the children enjoy. However, the office

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

space is larger than the children’s living room. This use of the physical space contradicts the focus on relationships seen elsewhere in the running of this home. Although identified in the development plan as a priority, the reallocation of space has taken longer than necessary to implement.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 7 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: 1159868 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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Inspector

Steve Lowe, social care regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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