Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Leeds

Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 1 SC428895 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children‘s home. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 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 requires improvement

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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: sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager has provided a mentor for one child. As a result, the child is being helped to experience positive opportunities and has a role model in their life.  The children identify how well they are cared for by the staff and this includes voicing that they are safe.  When the children come to live in the home, they do identify it as their home. This is providing them with a sense of stability, which previously they have struggled to achieve.  The children are being helped by the staff to understand their risks and behaviours and this is having a positive impact on the children‘s ability to safely develop their free time.

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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

 There has been a high turnover of staff. Using staff who are less qualified and experienced impacts on the quality of care being provided to children and young people.  The children are not engaging with specialist services that can help them with their emotional well-being and the staff are receiving limited guidance on how to ensure that the children‘s emotional needs are met.  The children‘s records within the home do not contain all of the pertinent information about their identified risks and needs. This leads to a gap in the staff‘s responses to current and future needs and support.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Outstanding 17/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/02/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children‘s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirements Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (―the Level 3 Diploma‖); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is— in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 35(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 05/01/2018

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 05/01/2018

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Requirements Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) This is with particular reference to risk assessments not containing pertinent issues to inform the staff and develop practice implementation. 05/01/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 4

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Recommendations

 Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 62, paragraph 14.6). This is with particular reference to evidencing that children and young people are aware of the sanctions given to them.  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 63, paragraph 14.13). This is with particular reference to the delay in sending a notification through to HMCI.  Children‘s homes have a duty to provide access to a telephone that children can

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Recommendations

use privately (regulation 22(3)(a)). This can include the provision of a mobile phone where appropriate and safe for the child, as long as an alternative is in place for the child to make telephone calls in private if their personal mobile phone is lost, out of credit or broken (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 58, paragraph 11.17). This is with particular reference to the children having access to a mobile phone to ensure they can make contact with the home when they are out on free time.  Staff should seek to meet the child‘s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the

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Recommendations

quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.7). This is with particular reference to the children being helped to maintain their standard of appearance.  When a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff should work with the child‘s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological, or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through regulation 5 – engaging the wider system to ensure children‘s needs are met, if this does not happen (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 34, paragraph 7.10). This is with particular reference to the manager utilising the company psychologist to develop staff practice and insight into the needs of the children, particularly as the children are not engaging with child and adolescent mental health services‘.  Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home‘s effective

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Recommendations

working relationships with each child‘s placing authority and with other relevant persons. These working relationships will also be key to success in delivering the care planning standard (regulation 14) (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 52, paragraph 10.3). This is with particular Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 5 reference to the manager engaging with other providers to review the patterns and trends in the local area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children‘s outcomes are improving as the manager continues to explore options for improving their life chances. For one child, the manager identified the need for him to have a positive male role model. She therefore brought in a youth mentor to spend time with the child completing activities. This is encouraging the child to have positive aspirations and interests. A professional said: ‗For [child], this has been the most stable period for them in the last 12 months.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making progress in their education. This progress is individual for each child, and is not necessarily academic progress because for some children it relates to an improvement in their behaviour which is enabling educational attendance to be sustained. A school reported: ‗[Child] would not have maintained her school placement if she did not have the stability of her placement.‘ Another child is also spending more time in the mainstream department of the school. As a result, staff have been able to identifying clear progress of working towards their educational outcomes. On observation, as a child returned home from school he presented all of his completed art work. The staff praised the child for his work and showed him how proud they were of his achievement‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children experience a planned move into the home and their needs are fully explored prior to admission. Their current risks and the impact of these on other children are considered in order to ensure that all children remain safe and secure. To further support the admission of the children, the staff undergo relevant training in preparation for meeting the children‘s identified needs. For one child, this has meant the implementation of ‗Prevent‘ training and support for the child and the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children‘s physical health needs are routinely met, but the children do not currently engage with services that can help them with their emotional well-being. To meet this deficit, the staff have consulted the company‘s therapist. However, this is not regularly implemented and this specialist guidance is not evident in the children‘s plans. In addition, although it is clearly identified by other professionals that one child has trauma and attachment issues, this is not in the child‘s home plan to ensure that this need is met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are helped by the staff to enjoy having contact with their friends and family. To support the longevity of these relationships, the staff quickly highlight any concerns so that arrangements can be changed and contact remains positive. The time spent with friends and family can include engagement in activities. One child said: ‗The home is good and I get to do activities and try new things, like Thai boxing, football and Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 6 laser tag; laser tag is the best.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a home that is welcoming and homely. They receive care from the staff that is nurturing and responsive to their ages and abilities. However, it was evident that although the children look well presented in their school uniforms, they require further support from the staff with other elements of their daily care. For example, everyday clothes are worn without them first being ironed.

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

The children‘s safety is a priority for the staff. If the children are missing from home, the staff take appropriate measures to ensure their safe return. The staff are also quick to develop their practices so that they can further heighten their responses. For example, after a missing incident, the staff updated a child‘s protocol to include immediate searches of the local train stations. A child said: ‗In comparison to my last placement this home is better; the other home did not care, they did not look for me when I went missing, they just sent out the police. They really do look for me here and now I am not running off.‘

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

Bullying has been an issue in the home. The staff implemented measures in an attempt to safeguard all children from this form of harm, but unfortunately they exhausted all means of prevention and the incidents continue. This resulted in a difficult decision being made, which was that a young person needed to move out of the home. The children now report that they are happy and are able to have freedom of speech, as this was affected during the bullying episodes. A child said: ‗It made me feel horrible when [child] was here; it is better now. The staff did try to stop the bullying, which I was glad about as he was not nice to me. Things are okay now, and I get on with [child] and [child].‘

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

The children are being helped by the staff to understand their individual risks and the potential dangers within the community. For one child, this has meant that she can now have 30 minutes free time, which she uses to travel independently to the shop. However, although this child returns with no concerns, she does not have the means of contacting the home if she needs to.A child who previously had no free time has progressed to time away from the home. These arrangements are regularly reviewed and changes are made to address concerns and ensure that the children remain safe. However, the children‘s risk assessments do not fully detail the evident risks that some children may face, and this is inclusive of exploitation. The manager also does not attend provider meetings within the region to further develop her knowledge of local trends that could impact on the safety of the children.

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

The staff are innovative in the delivery of their care practices to try and help the children understand the issues that they face in today‘s society. This in turn is helping the children to remain safe, as they have a clearer insight into the dangers around social media, gangs and radicalisation. A professional said: ‗[Child] previously envisaged his life as a gangster, but now his initial presentation identifies he is settled and focused on other things. The staff engage him well and this is the most stable period in the last 12 Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 7 months of his life.‘

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The manager is suitably qualified and has a vast amount of experience. Comments from staff members included: ‗The manager is really good, she is really approachable and easy to talk to about any issues.‘ and ‗She is a hands-on manager and gets involved with the kids.‘

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The staff advocate for the children and the children are able to make complaints. These complaints are taken seriously by the manager, who responds effectively to them. A child said: ‗My worries about being bullied were listened to and I was helped by the staff to keep safe.‘

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The home has experienced a period of instability in respect of the challenges that a young person presented to the children and the staff in the home. During the same period there was a large turnover of staff. The manager has managed this deficit by the staff taking on additional hours, rather than using agency staff. This has helped to maintain a level of consistent practice and ensure that there are familiar faces for the children. However, the staff leave and move between homes within the company, and the new staff are not as experienced or qualified as the previous staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The manager has safely recruited staff to some of the vacant positions in the home. However, as a staff team, there remains a gap in their experience and practice knowledge. To bridge this gap, the manager is sharing her practice wisdom and experience to strengthen the staff‘s skills. However, the record of this training and guidance is not evident. Furthermore, the staff‘s supervision records are not detailed in relation to their practice needs and developments or how they can meet the complex needs of the children for whom they care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

There is clear partnership working with other agencies and this is enabling assessments to be made and plans to be created to meet the needs of the children. A professional said: ‗The staff and manager regularly attend meetings and share detailed information about the child. In addition, they are helping [child] to attend his reviews and he is now engaging in these meetings, which is really good.‘

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement

The manager has clear monitoring processes and has insight into the home‘s strengths and areas for development. The manager is able to evidence how she wishes to continue to develop the home to realise the ambitious vision that she has for the children who live there. However, although the children are making progress, there are omissions in some parts of their paperwork. These include confirmation of the children‘s understanding of their sanctions and the timeliness of notifications being sent to HMCI.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 8 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: SC428895 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC428895 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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