Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 1 SC476261 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 home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 All children experience well-organised daily routines.  Children are supported to participate in a wide range of activities.  Staff provide children with nurture and consistent care.  All children regularly attend school and make good educational progress.  When children‟s weight and health have previously been of concern, the staff help children to make better life choices.  Children are helped to prepare for adulthood.  Staff understand how children feel, and provide physical and verbal reassurance as good parents would do.  Children‟s move in and out of the home through a multi-agency, decision- making process.  Children get good help to understand and manage unsafe behaviour that arises from early childhood experience of sexual trauma.  Staff help children to understand risks in the local area.  Managers and senior staff show good understanding in safeguarding practice.  Managers and staff review incidents carefully and reflect on them.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager is skilled and experienced. She looks for trends and patterns both in staff practice and in children‟s behaviour.  The registered manager and deputy manager are both well-established members of the staff team.  The registered manager advocates for children, so that their voices are heard when decisions are made.

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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 organisation does not always ensure that staff receive training that reflects the needs of children.  Organisational oversight of safe staff recruitment and staff supervision is weak.  Children do not always have the opportunity to see someone independent after they have been missing from care.  Organisational oversight of the home is weak and leaves the registered manager without the required support. Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/11/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 4

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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 registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development and receive practice-based supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a) and (b)) 26/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must have the capacity to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to having sufficient time to provide regular, good quality, individual support to the home‟s manager. 26/01/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that, as set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have been here for a few years, and they have grown in maturity and confidence. They both feel at home and have friendships outside the home, which they cherish. One child plays in a local rugby team and sometimes captains the team. He also Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 5 helps out at local stables. The other child attends a local high school and sometimes has her school friends over for tea. Because of the positive progress that both children have made, they are now ready to move to foster care. Both children are aware that their social workers are looking for a suitable family for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children are relatively new in placement and are all progressing well from their starting points. One child requires a more active and healthy diet. His social worker said, „Staff have been really great. They have been really proactive and he is eating better than he was.‟ The manager and staff ensure that meals, laundry, cleaning and maintenance are provided and completed to a good standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensure that children‟s moves into the home are positive and successful. The manager and staff meet children before they move in. They give children a guide to the home that contains photographs of all the permanent members of staff. One child‟s social worker said, „Welcome posters were put up and they had set her a place at the dinner table. Staff had prepared the other children too and they confidently welcomed us.‟ This child recently said, „I want to stay here forever.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Senior staff are skilled and able to meet the different needs of each individual child. They ensure that each day is well organised around the children. Consequently, all children have good daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children always know who is working in the home today and tomorrow, and who will be helping them to settle to bed. Pictures and the names of staff are posted on a big board in the dining room that children routinely check. This gives children a lot of reassurance about who is looking after them on any given day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s individual wishes, feelings and choices are carefully listened to. Children feel valued and supported. For example, children are able to have their bedrooms decorated and equipped to their individual choices. They have special time with their key workers and co-key workers. One child‟s social worker told the inspector, „They have taught her to express her own feelings and to think of other people‟s views. They have taught her social skills. She also attended a friendship group with the assistant psychologist and afterwards was able to make a presentation about how to speak to people.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are regularly attending school and one child is exceeding their predicted grades in history and science. Her social worker told the inspector, „They have taught her the importance of education.‟ Another child had previously been excluded from school. However, with support and encouragement from staff she has now settled enough to re-engage in education and attends school five mornings a week. Her social worker told the inspector, „This is because she has established a relationship with some of the staff, something that she was unable to do in other previous placements.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children understand their care plans. The manager and senior staff liaise well with social workers, teachers, therapists and health service staff to ensure that children make good progress against their care plans. For example, one child‟s social worker is pleased about how well staff have helped her child understand the complex risks and difficulties in her Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 6 family, yet still enjoy more frequent and more positive times with her brothers and sisters.

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

All children feel safe. High staffing levels and clear thinking by the manager and senior staff ensure that each child is well protected. All staff understand the risks in the locality of the home, and the manager regularly liaises with local police in relation to relevant local safety concerns. The manager and staff teach and advise children about these risks and show them how to behave safely in social and public situations. One child‟s social worker said, „[Child] is treated as an individual and given praise and firm but fair boundaries if required. He has clearly made positive attachments and am assured that his safety is paramount whether taking part in activities or out in the community.‟

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

Each child is supported to have more freedom when staff are confident that the child is competent about what to do to stay safe. For example, some children now use the internet safely and are ready to have their own mobile phone. Staff have fully explored with children the risks around bullying and exploitation that can come with social media. Staff have made sensible plans and agreements with children about social media use, so that children are safeguarded.

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

Children receive good help, support and advice from staff about relationships, sexual identity, and coping with puberty, moods and sexual feelings. Some staff are skilled in helping children through adolescence, trauma and abuse. This means that children get the right help when they need it.

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

All staff are vigilant and frank with children about what behaviour is okay. As a result, children cope better than they did before, especially in group situations, both in school and in the community. Children also know right from wrong and are confident to report concerns about the way that they are treated by staff. On the few occasions when children or staff have raised concerns about staff practice, managers have taken these concerns seriously and worked with safeguarding agencies to ensure that children‟s immediate and ongoing safety is secured.

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

Children‟s early childhood experiences makes it difficult for them to manage their behaviour, especially when they are new to the home. Staff try hard to establish positive relationships with children as quickly as possible. Staff are warm, calming, affectionate and consistent, and can defuse situations skilfully. For example, the staff will sing or play a game to help re-direct a child‟s behaviour. Staff prioritise children, by giving them all the attention they need. One child‟s social worker said, „The experience of staff is clear – my last visit did not go well but they were able to support [child] and me. It is one of the best residential homes that I have been in.‟

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

Staff only physically intervene if it is necessary to avoid serious harm or damage. As a result, children have confidence in staff. They come to staff for hugs and enjoy being near them. One child‟s social worker said, „Staff are warm, calm and nurturing. I get sent records about any intervention within 24 hours – they are hotter than any other home Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 7 that I know. They are very effective.‟

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

Children have made good progress in identifying safe ways of managing their feelings. For example, children increasingly take themselves away to their bedroom when they are becoming angry or aroused.

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

There are very few incidents of children going missing. This is because children feel able talk to staff and the manager about what is happening. Staff are quick to respond when a child does go missing from home. For example, earlier this year, as soon as the staff knew that one child was associating with someone unsuitable and feeling pressured and bullied, they withdrew her unsupervised time and her mobile phone. Staff and the manager focused on strengthening their bonds with her and completed more work with her about vulnerability and how to stay safe. She did not go missing again. However, when children have been missing from care they have not always been able to get an opportunity to see someone independent on their return home.

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

The manager and deputy manager provide a secure base that inspires confidence in staff and children alike. They have both worked here for many years and they are deeply committed to „their‟ children. Children adore them both and trust them completely. The manager and deputy manager role model therapeutic care practice that helps to inspire and empower staff to take a child-centred approach in their everyday care of children.

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

However, the organisational support is weak. Shortfalls in the manager‟s support and a lack of timely training for staff means that the manager is under immense strain to sustain good outcomes for children. In addition, new staff start work without all the final checks completed on their suitability to work with children. For example, there has been little follow up with previous employers about safeguarding or disciplinary concerns. The organisation‟s human resources department fail to record the questions that they ask and the answers that they get when completing verbal checks with referees. They do not alert the manager when they have not been able to find out if previous employers have any safeguarding or disciplinary concerns.

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

The manager described the support that she receives from the organisation as „just enough‟. Her professional development has stalled due to lack of a level five diploma assessor for seven months of this year. She receives about one hour of supervision every two months from the registered individual. The manager said, „[Supervision] is not about how I am coping or what extra I need. My supervision notes contain „copy and paste‟ records from previous supervisions.‟ The responsible individual struggles to give the required challenge to the home through regular visits. This means that internal monitoring quickly becomes compromised.

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

The manager plans staff rotas with each child in mind. She plans ahead so that children know who is here and who will be helping them settle to bed. She has made sure that the child who most recently moved in has staff whom he knows and likes working with him over Christmas. His social worker said, „I did have concerns about moving [child] Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 8 within the organisation, but I have found [the manager] to be a stronger character as a house manager. She is firm with him and clear-cut with him, which is what he needs. She is very on the ball with what is going on.‟ However, the manager has covered shifts and spent time minimising inconsistency of staff to the detriment of regular staff supervision. She has prioritised that senior staff spend time with children rather than supervising newer staff. She and the deputy manager have taken on the supervision of all staff, but have not had the time to keep this maintained.

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

During 2017, the manager has provided exemplary care and support to a child who was seriously ill. She said, „For consistency, I have been present at all his operations and have remained the lead professional that has been to all medical appointments. I myself have held [child] and his anxieties around the treatment. I felt that it was necessary to do this in order to enable the other adults on the team to focus on the other children and keep them contained. [Child] managed the situation brilliantly and has remained focused on the positive throughout, saying “I do not need to worry as Danielle does all of that for me”.‟

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

The manager and deputy manager provide advice, guidance and opportunities for reflection to all staff. This upskills staff, even when they are new to this kind of work. The staff team has recently received some training in attachment theory and positive relationships, but the manager is disappointed that new staff do not receive therapeutic practice training soon after they start work. Nevertheless, she, the deputy manager and seniors compensate for this shortfall. One child‟s social worker said, „The manager gets good staff and they are able to work with children‟s complex needs. I have been visiting and working with [manager] for several years. Staff come and go, but they are always trained, friendly and welcoming.‟

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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: SC476261 9

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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

Rachel Britten, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC476261 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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