Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Middlesbrough

Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 1 SC454266 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 provides care and accommodation for up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 December 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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is good because:  Young people attend full-time education in mainstream schools, or further education alongside work placements. They are making good progress.  Young people receive good-quality care from a dedicated staff team.  Young people feel safe and valued. As a result, they are settled, incidents of missing from home are infrequent and there is no need for any physical intervention.  Young people move on successfully to live independently.  Good-quality collaborative working with partner agencies ensures consistent progress and good outcomes. The children’s home’s areas for development:  The fire risk assessment needs to be reviewed in relation to the storage of old documents.  The manager must ensure that a clear plan is in place to address areas of improvement.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/09/2016 Full Good 24/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/08/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 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 fire precautions regulation states that: If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— paragraph (1) does not apply; and the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(a)(b)) In particular, review the fire risk assessment in relation to the storage of archived files in the staff sleep-in room . 31/01/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be

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Recommendations

addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4). In particular, ensure that there is an action plan in place to address areas of concern. Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are settled and happy in their home. They enjoy living in a spacious, detached house. The house is indistinguishable from other homes in the area, and young people are not stigmatised as living in a children’s home. All the young people are from the local area, which means they are able to maintain important friendships and contact with family. Good-quality care planning ensures that the needs of young people are met. Regular reviews of plans ensure that the care young people receive is adapted to meet their changing needs. As a result, they make good progress in all aspects of their lives. Staff have successfully supported several young people into independent living. Young people work well with their key workers. Focused discussions take place informally. This works well, as the individual young people do not feel under pressure to complete formal tasks. Young people are engaged and involved in their care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This empowers them to take some control of their lives. As a result, young people are making excellent progress with their independence skills. The dedicated manager and staff team show genuine care for all the young people. Young people have trusting relationships with the staff. They go to them for support and listen to their advice. There is a family feel in the home, and young people are happy and relaxed with staff. Young people do well in school because of the consistent care they receive. All young people have a mainstream education provision. One young person has applied to a specialist school and is waiting for his entrance exam results. Two young people are attending further education alongside work placements. Young people want to do well and to have achievable goals. They are proud of their achievements. The provider employs an independent mental health practitioner. Young people struggle

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with a direct approach from specialist services. As an alternative, the practitioner delivers training and guidance to staff. In turn, staff provide appropriate advice to young people. This works well as young people have established trusting relationships with the staff team. Young people enjoy participating in a range of activities and all have interests and hobbies outside of the home. In addition, young people have the chance to socialise with friends in the home and out in the community. Their growth in social and life skills improves their confidence. As a result, they forge positive and meaningful friendships. Staff build good relationships with family members. This has allowed young people to maintain, and in some cases restore, important bonds. Reflective and restorative work completed with young people is effective. Young people work with staff to achieve their plan to return to live with family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Five young people have moved on since the last inspection. Four have moved successfully into independent living and one has moved to a new placement. Careful planning and support ensured these moves met the needs of each young person. All of Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 5 the young people remain in touch with staff. This shows young people that positive relationships can be maintained.

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

The home is close to all the young people’s families. Young people know the local area well. The locality assessment focuses on areas of potential risk for the current residents. Partnership working with the police ensures regular updates and new information about risk are available. This local knowledge helps to protect young people from new and emerging risks. As a result of the good relationships with staff, young people understand risk in the community. A comprehensive range of risk assessments enable staff to safeguard young people. Staff use the assessments to support discussions. Consistent use of restorative practices empowers young people. Young people develop new strategies to manage difficult situations. One young person is learning more about boundaries and, as a result, he has a better understanding of social situations and appropriate responses. All young people have individual risk assessments and a plan for free time in their

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

community. Staff follow procedures for managing missing episodes consistently. The majority of young people in this home are over 16 and are moving on to independence. Consequently, they are wanting to spend more time with friends and family. When there are incidents of young people going missing, positive discussions take place with them to address their reasons for going missing. Young people understand risk and work alongside staff, and missing from home episodes have reduced as a result. The enthusiastic staff are good role models for young people. Their consistent and measured approach shows respect and care for all. Young people mirror this good example. Staff are calm and patient. They show young people that disagreements can be talked out and aggression is unnecessary. As a result, young people learn how to regulate their emotions. Regular training ensures that staff remain confident in the

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

application of physical intervention, although there has been no need for any physical restraint. Complaints information is available and accessible to young people. Young people know how to complain and who to complain to. Independent advocates are available if required. One young person raised a frustration regarding money. Although not an official complaint, this was addressed sensitively. There have been no complaints since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been appointed recently. He has over 10 years’ experience of working with young people. He is working towards his necessary qualifications. The manager organises his staff team effectively, and has spent time rebuilding their confidence following the departure of the previous manager. The staff sleep-in room is currently used for storage of old documents. There is a great quantity of paper in a room that has one exit. This poses a fire risk and compromises the health and safety of staff and young people. The manager is aware of this and has raised the issue with senior managers. Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 6 The manager has completed a reflective and accurate assessment of the home, incorporating the views of all concerned. This ensures the good quality of care and positive outcomes for young people. He has identified necessary improvements to reduce missing from home incidents. Although these improvements have been made

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

effectively and episodes have reduced, an action plan to address this is missing from the assessment document. As a result, it is not possible to see the action taken within this document. Effective external monitoring by an independent visitor complements improvement plans for the home. The staff team is stable and long-standing. Thorough recruitment procedures ensure that new staff are qualified and suitable for the job. A recently promoted deputy manager complements the management team. This ensures the manager can have oversight of both homes he is registered to manage. The team had a difficult period over the summer months, as the previous manager had resigned. Although this had an impact on staff morale, it did not impact on the consistent care provided to young people. Since the new manager has been in post, staff morale has increased and leadership has been restored. Good-quality and regular supervision ensures that staff build on their skills. As a result,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

young people enjoy a consistent approach to their care. Staff can talk to their manager and deputy informally. The manager is accessible and supportive. A staff member said, ‘[Name of manager] is easy to talk to. I get monthly supervision and feedback on my progress and areas to improve on.’ The manager and staff have built good professional relationships with partner agencies. This ensures that young people receive good-quality care. Staff recognise the importance of planned moves and the happiness of young people. A professional said, ‘I recently placed [name of young person] at [name of home] and have been pleased with the service so far. The manager was flexible and conscientious in terms of an introduction plan.’ As a result, young people make consistent and measured progress. In addition, the manager challenges services appropriately and effectively. Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 7

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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: SC454266 8

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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

Abigail Maspero, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454266 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 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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