Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 1 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 children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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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

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress in all areas of their lives.  Risks for young people reduce.  Leadership and management of the home are strong. Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 2  Young people’s physical and emotional health needs are met with the support of in-house psychologists.  Young people are supported to overcome the challenges that they face.  The home receives excellent feedback from families and placing social workers.  Staff actively and flexibly support young people to spend time with their family and friends.  Young people are prepared for independent living, including learning to drive.

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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

 Staff have not always been mindful of young people’s backgrounds.  Records of staff supervision are not always adequate.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 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 is that children receive care from staff who provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6(2)(iv)) 12/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulations 33(4)(b)) 12/03/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress. They form positive relationships with staff and each other. Young people’s care plans are well written and individualised. All plans are implemented in collaboration with other professionals and in-house psychologists. This ensures that the plans accurately meet the young people’s needs. All young people attend and engage in education that is appropriate to their needs. Some young people did not engage in their education prior to moving to the home. Staff and managers are proactive and involve young people in identifying choices in their education, for example singing and drama. Staff help young people secure apprenticeships in their chosen field of work. As a result, young people’s educational attainment, engagement and aspirations improve. Young people attend appointments for their physical, psychological and emotional health needs. Young people who need additional psychological help benefit from the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

organisation’s psychologists who provide assessments and ongoing support. The psychologists help the staff to understand young people’s needs better. Consultation with young people is good. This allows them to have a say in the way that the home is run and what is available to them. A clear and robust complaints procedure ensures that young people are able to discuss their concerns. Young people are kept up to date with the progress and outcome of their complaints. Young people report that they are happy with this process. Independence planning is strong. A young person has recently passed her driving test Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 4 following a series of driving lessons provided by the organisation. Young people are fully involved in cooking, baking, budgeting and keeping areas of their home clean and tidy. This helps to prepare them for living independently as an adult. Staff support young people who live far from home to stay in touch with their family and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

friends. Staff drive long distances to help with home visits, including overnight stays. A parent said: ‘The home does a great job, [young person] is a challenging child, she has come a long way, she used to have tantrums but these have reduced. Staff are absolutely lovely, they know how to handle [young person]. They are positive, and I get on with staff. They let me know what is going on, and they are doing well on keeping her safe. She has ran off a couple of times, but they go out and follow in the car. They keep her safe… They’ve got her very independent with cooking, and other things.’ This support helps young people to maintain familial relationships and retain a sense of their identity. Staff provide a range of activities for young people, ranging from activities in the home and garden, to visiting places of interest. Young people also enjoy shopping, going to the cinema and to the gym. These activities help to ensure that young people enjoy

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

themselves as well as improving their self-esteem and confidence.

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

Young people are placed in this home because they are at risk of child sexual exploitation. Young people are, therefore, closely supervised by staff. Consequently, young people rarely go missing. Young people learn new skills to help manage their emotions and behaviours. Overall, the number of incidents, physical interventions and the use of consequences is low. The registered manager takes prompt action when he identifies that a young person is at an increased risk, for example in respect of self-harm. There are detailed key-work sessions to discuss the young person’s behaviour and the impact that this may have. This helps to ensure that young people are safe and that they feel cared for. This support ensures that these risks reduce. Safeguarding processes are implemented and correct procedures are followed. Appropriate referrals are made to safeguarding professionals when young people make allegations against staff. The registered manager maintains a robust approach to

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

safeguarding through regular appraisal of these cases. The registered manager notifies partner agencies and parents about significant events in a timely manner. This ensures that any action required to keep young people safe is suitable, appropriate and swift. Staff are trained in safeguarding, which enables them to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities and keep young people safe. Risk assessments are thorough and detail the risks for young people and strategies for staff to follow. A placing social worker said: ‘Staff have been brilliant. There are good risk assessments, and good communication. They send over weekly reports, are very proactive in sharing communication, good at putting solutions in place for [young person] if there have been issues, and constantly reviewing plans. When [young person] was first placed, she was at high risk of child sexual exploitation. This risk has really reduced… They are always on

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

board with the care plan… They’ve been brilliant.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager. He is currently enrolled on the level 5 diploma in leadership and management. The registered manager is aware of the shortfalls in the home. He is ambitious to develop the staff and has a clear understanding of the skills of the staff team, recognising where additional support is required. There have been some minor shortfalls in staff practice that are not congruent with the ethos of the home and its statement of purpose. However, the manager is proactive in addressing such shortfalls quickly to ensure that young people receive good-quality care. For example, the manager addressed issues with a staff member after a young person was allowed to watch a film on television that was not appropriate. Although this was promptly addressed by the registered manager, staff did not consider the young person’s background or the impact that this might have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is good. Staff report feeling supported and they receive regular supervision from the registered manager. This helps them to develop their practice. However, the progress of young people is not always adequately discussed within all supervisions. In particular, records of the registered manager’s formal supervision (undertaken by the responsible individual) are weak in some areas. This has been acknowledged by the responsible individual and the impact reduced because of the informal sessions that are regularly held. The registered manager is committed to ensuring that young people receive appropriate services to meet their needs and has challenged other professionals when these have not been provided. The registered manager welcomes external scrutiny and challenge. The registered manager’s evaluation and results of file audits, complaints and internal and external monitoring tools are used to enhance and develop practice. This results in a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

well-managed home. Partnership working with family members and placing authorities is a strength. The registered manager meets with the parents of young people who are potentially moving into the home to answer any questions and attempt to reduce anxieties. As a result, parents and placing social workers report excellent communication. Requirements from the last inspection have been met.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: 1156103 7

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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

Sandra King, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1156103 8 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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