Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 1 SC456535 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

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned and managed.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 15 to 16 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: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people receive a good level of care and support, which supports their Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 2 progress.  One young person, who has lived at the home on a long-term basis, has made outstanding progress in education and in developing safe behaviours. Their health and emotional well-being has greatly improved.  Young people develop positive relationships with staff. They are supported by a consistent team who know them well.  Staff closely support young people to maintain contact with their families and help young people benefit from improved relationships with those who are important to them.  Young people enjoy a wide variety of activities and are supported to achieve, and grow in confidence and independence.  Staff are skilled in identifying risks to young people’s safety and well-being, and work in accordance with agreed strategies.  Staff are confident in identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people receive consistently positive support to manage their behaviours.  Young people receive their care from well-trained and well-supported staff.  The registered manager makes good use of internal quality assurance systems. This enables her to identify areas for improvement and address them.

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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

 Ensuring that all information in young people’s behaviour support plans is up to date and accurate so that all staff are able to follow consistent and safe approaches.  The registered manager should ensure that Ofsted is notified about significant events that occur in the home, in a timely manner.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/12/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 15/12/2017

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Recommendations

 An effective introduction to a home will take into account the child’s abilities and capacity to understand and retain information. Such an introduction may take place over a period of time and may be delivered in different formats according to the child’s communication and cognitive abilities. The registered person should ensure staff establish the child’s understanding of key information about living in the home and the expectations of their care in order to establish whether there are gaps in the child’s understanding. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.8)  Specifically relating to young people’s behaviour support plans, staff should have the necessary information to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. Where necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph, 8.14) Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who live at this home receive high-quality care, which is planned in line with their individual needs. The young people benefit from stability and consistency, which promotes their well-being and supports their progress. When asked on a recent survey what was working well at the home, a young person commented, ‘Everything. I’ve changed into a better person.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A stable and consistent staff team means that staff know young people well and have a good understanding of their needs. Young people build secure and trusting relationships with staff because they are cared for in a warm and nurturing manner. One young person said, ‘They are good and we laugh a lot. They help me when I need it. All staff do.’ These positive relationships are demonstrated through a number of examples; recently a young person requested that a particular staff member accompany her at her school leavers’ prom, as her ‘plus one’. Another former resident of the home, who is now a parent herself, still maintains contact with staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to understand the things that are important to young people and ensure that young people are provided with help and guidance. There are examples of very sensitive and carefully planned support provided to young people in relation to significant issues. These include close work with a young person around their sexuality and relationships. This has resulted in the young person feeling ready to discuss the subject openly with peers and family members. Work such as this helps young people to grow in confidence and supports their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The consistently positive support provided to young people to maintain important relationships is a strength of this home. Staff regularly supported one young person, who has recently left the home, to travel a significant distance to see their family. Another young person was recently helped to repair some damaged relationships with family members, which resulted in her having contact for the first time in several months. Positive friendships are also strongly promoted. Recently, staff arranged for a young person’s friend to join them for part of a holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On admission to the home, young people are immediately registered with a GP, dentist and optician. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s healthcare needs and work well with healthcare services to ensure that these are met. During their time at the home, one young person benefited from a significant reduction in their prescribed medication. Staff worked well with healthcare professionals to ensure that this process was carefully managed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff actively promote young people’s education. The staff work well with external professionals to ensure that young people are supported to overcome barriers to education, and are proactive in ensuring that young people have appropriate provision in place. One young person, who recently left the home following a long-term stay, made outstanding progress. From her starting point of not engaging in Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 5 education for a significant amount of time, she achieved 100% attendance and is now thoroughly enjoying an apprenticeship and some further education. She commented on a recent survey, ‘Staff help me with education and always say well done.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Organised activities provide opportunities for young people to try new experiences. Young people enjoy a range of activities, including cinema trips, theme park days and sporting pursuits. Young people’s talents are recognised and nurtured. One young person, who is a talented artist, has been encouraged to develop her skills and is now training in artistic furniture restoration. Young people are encouraged to engage positively in their community. One young person recently developed a positive friendship with an elderly neighbour. This prompted her to complete a sponsored work for a dementia charity. She and a staff member raised several hundred pounds. Encouraging this sort of engagement supports young people’s sense of belonging and achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Appropriate arrangements are in place to help ensure that young people have opportunities to gain the practical and social skills necessary to successfully live independently in the future. The support of young people moving in and out of the home is generally well planned. A young person, who recently left the home in a planned move, experienced a well-planned transition which included several opportunities to visit her new home. However, not all young people recently admitted had the opportunity to visit the home prior to their arrival. While it is acknowledged that there were some complex circumstances surrounding the young people’s recent admissions, a recommendation is raised to support further improvement in transition arrangements.

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

Young people are cared for by an experienced and committed staff team. Positive relationships between staff and young people mean that young people feel safe and able to tell staff about things that are worrying them. One young person said, ‘I can tell staff if something has upset me. They help me if I feel upset. They went to school when something happened and sorted it out.’

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

Safeguarding practice is effective. There are well-established procedures in place to help ensure that any safeguarding concerns are immediately shared with the appropriate agencies. All staff are trained to identify safeguarding matters and are confident in responding to them. Training is regularly renewed to help ensure that staff maintain their knowledge and are aware of any changes in procedures or good practice.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of risks to young people’s safety and well-being. Individualised risk assessments highlight particular concerns and include guidance for staff in maintaining young people’s safety. These are regularly updated to help ensure that any new information is taken into account.

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

Managers and staff work well with relevant agencies to help ensure that young people receive the support that they need to keep themselves safe. Positive joint working with professionals from community child sexual exploitation teams, police, youth offending Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 6 teams and young people’s alcohol and substance misuse services, is demonstrated in young people’s care plans.

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

Clear missing from home procedures are in place. These include detailed guidance for staff in the action that they must take if a young person is missing from home. Staff ensure that appropriate action is taken to safeguard young people who are missing, including conducting regular searches and liaising with relevant professionals. The registered manager ensures that appropriate communication takes place with external professionals, including multi-agency strategy meetings, to minimise any known risks. All incidents are carefully recorded and analysed to identify any triggers or trends. This helps to prevent further occurrences.

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

Staff are skilled in understanding young people’s emotional responses and are able to de-escalate potentially volatile situations well. Individualised behaviour support guidance is developed for all young people who live at the home. This includes some well-defined strategies. However, in one example, the guidance could have been clearer. Therefore, a recommendation is raised to help ensure that young people’s behaviour support plans are of a consistent standard.

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

All staff receive training in physical intervention, and this is regularly updated. There have been no incidents of restraint or physical intervention since the last inspection of the home. Records of significant incidents demonstrate that staff support young people in a helpful and calm manner when they are in a heightened state. This helps young people to develop safe and appropriate behaviours.

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

Staff recognise and reward positive behaviour. Records demonstrate a high number of rewards given to young people. These range from rewards for engaging in schoolwork to a reward for one young person for attending a dentist appointment despite feeling anxious. Clear boundaries assist young people to understand what is expected of them. Staff work in a consistent manner when using consequences or sanctions. The use of sanctions is minimal, and the small number recorded are proportionate and relevant to the matter in question.

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

The registered manager ensures that careful recruitment procedures are followed. Prospective employees are required to undergo a variety of background checks, which include criminal record checks and a full employment history. This helps to ensure that young people receive their care from adults of suitable character and therefore helps to safeguard them.

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

Young people are provided with safe, comfortable accommodation. A designated health and safety lead carries out regular audits to help ensure that all areas of the home are fit for purpose and free from hazards. External contractors, for example fire safety specialists, check and service equipment within recommended timescales. This helps to protect young people from harm. Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The registered manager has responsibility for another two homes within the organisation. There are suitable arrangements, including the presence of a full-time line manager in the home, to ensure effective oversight and leadership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates a good understanding of young people’s needs. She has positive relationships with young people and staff and demonstrates high expectations of standards within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager confirmed that she is provided with adequate resources to ensure that the service provided is consistently in line with the home’s statement of purpose. At the time of the inspection, improvements were being made to the home, which was being redecorated and refurbished. The registered manager was able to provide evidence of additional staff resources being made available to meet one young person’s needs, as well as additional resources being made available for events such as holidays.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is evidence of effective joint working with community professionals. The registered manager is proactive in requesting the input of external agencies to help meet young people’s needs. In addition, the registered manager ensures that opportunities are taken to engage in networks, for example the local missing from home and child sexual exploitation network, which meets on a regular basis to share concerns and good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

It was confirmed that the whole staff team took part in a recent Ofsted survey. The results were extremely positive, with all staff reporting that they felt well supported and fully equipped to carry out their roles effectively. This was echoed by discussions with staff who described the management team as very approachable and supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular one-to-one supervision, as well as regular team meetings. Team meetings are well attended, and minutes of these show that staff engage positively in them. Staff are invited to share their views and ideas for development, as well as any concerns they may have. This creates an open culture within which people feel able to express their views.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an effective training programme in place, which helps to ensure that all staff have the skills and knowledge required to provide safe and effective care. At the start of their employment, all staff are required to undertake a range of mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding and safe behaviour support. This training is regularly refreshed, to help ensure that staff maintain their skills and knowledge. Training to assist staff in understanding young people’s individual needs is also regularly identified and arranged. Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 8 The registered manager makes effective use of internal quality-assurance processes. This helps her to quickly identify any areas for development and address them. There is a useful system in place to record and monitor adverse incidents, accidents or near misses, which assists in identifying patterns or trends. The registered manager ensures

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

that any such incident is carefully considered, so that any potential learning is identified and communicated to the staff team. This helps to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some shortfalls in relation to notifying Ofsted of significant incidents were identified during the inspection. It was found that one such incident had not been notified and that there had been an undue delay in another example. This undermines the ability of the regulator to carry out its monitoring function because it is not kept appropriately informed. Consequently, the welfare of young people is not fully promoted. A requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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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: SC456535 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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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456535 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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