Midmeadows

Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 1 SC457025 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd 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 young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and operated by a private company .

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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 outstanding

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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: 12 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home is exceedingly warm, clean and welcoming. Young people are proud of their home and have a sense of belonging.  Young people make progress due to the good care and support that they receive from staff.  Young people really are at the heart of the home. Young people’s voices are heard and they contribute to the development of the home.  Staff work collaboratively with other professionals to help to keep young people safe.  Staff are knowledgeable and insightful about young people’s medical, sexual and emotional health needs.  Young people, family members and professionals recognise the progress that young people make and how this improves their life chances.  Staff are keen to learn and improve the service. For example, staff are developing the use of restorative approaches to help young people.  Staff have training that helps them to keep young people safe.  The manager is extremely passionate and committed to providing high-quality

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Key findings from this inspection

care for young people.  All professionals spoke highly of the manager and her work in helping young people to achieve better outcomes.  Diversity and acceptance are role modelled at the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/08/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is exceedingly warm, clean and welcoming. It is well furnished and decorated. Young people have helped to choose the wallpaper throughout the home and to decorate their own bedrooms. Young people are proud of their home and have a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people really are at the heart of the home. Their voice has an overall positive impact on the way in which the home is run. Young people enjoy daily conversations with staff, take part in house meetings and make suggestions about everyday things, such as the meals that they have and which staff member will support them to attend appointments. Most importantly, young people told the inspector that they feel that staff listen to their wishes and feelings. A social worker explained that a young person had requested a double bed. Staff actioned this request within 24 hours. Acting on what young people say helps them to feel listened to and empowered. In turn, this promotes their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress due to the care and support that they receive from staff. Young people enjoy spending time with staff, and they feel cared for and supported. One young person told the inspector that he wanted to play more sport and that staff had enabled him to join a football team. As a result, the young person’s physical and social well-being has improved. Young people also enjoy a range of other activities, such as going to the gym, playing snooker and playing board games. A young person said, ‘It’s fun here. Staff are chatty and get involved, they help you out, they support you, they push me towards my independence’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are knowledgeable and insightful about young people’s medical, sexual and emotional health needs. Staff support young people to attend appointments and to make decisions that will improve their health and well-being. Young people’s health needs are documented and understood by young people and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although young people have faced barriers to education, the registered manager and her team have worked tirelessly to ensure that young people attend education provision that is best suited to their needs. A social worker commented that the staff had been ‘very proactive’ and had secured his young person a college placement ‘immediately’. Prompt action by staff enhances the opportunity for young people to reach their full academic potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people can see that they are making progress. A young person told the inspector, ‘I’ve seen an improvement in my behaviour. I would have kicked off before, but staff have helped me to keep calm. It’s opened my eyes here, I go to college now. I’ve learned it’s not all about kicking off.’ A social worker commented, ‘I’m happy, (the staff) have worked hard to meet the young person’s needs. His behaviour is improving, Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 4 partnership working is good, they give reports and communication is very good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are being supported to develop their independence skills at a pace that suits their individual needs and abilities. Young people have developed skills such as cooking meals for everyone at the home and helping with the shopping. These opportunities enable young people to take on appropriate levels of responsibility and to develop life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to keep in contact with friends and family where it is safe to do so. This includes staff transporting young people long distances and welcoming loved ones into the home to enjoy a meal together. However, not all details about one young person’s contact arrangements were captured on his care plan. The registered manager took swift action to address this shortfall during the inspection.

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

Young people can sometimes display extremely challenging behaviours. Clear risk assessments enable the staff to understand the behaviour management techniques required to keep young people safe. Staff focus on re-direction as a strategy to prevent situations from escalating. They use restraint only ever as a last resort to keep young people safe. Sanctions, both positive and negative, are also used to good effect. Young people learn to recognise when they get things wrong, and begin to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. Positive behaviour is also rewarded and encouraged. All sanctions are carefully overseen by the manager to ensure that they are fair and proportionate.

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

Staff are developing the use of restorative approaches to help young people even more to understand consequences and see things from other people’s point of view. They have sought advice from the restorative justice co-ordinator to enable this. The restorative justice co-ordinator told the inspector, ‘(The manager) has a clear understanding of restorative processes and we have worked closely together in assisting staff members to use their skills when dealing with an incident’.

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

All staff are trained in understanding the indicators of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Staff are alert to any changes and know how to respond if concerns emerge. The registered manager engages the designated officer for safeguarding to attend team meetings to heighten staff’s awareness and their knowledge of safeguarding.

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

There have been occasions when young people have gone missing from the home. However, this is decreasing over time. Staff follow the ‘missing from care’ protocols whenever young people go missing from home. This includes staff making every effort to locate the young person. Young people are debriefed after they return home. This helps staff to understand the reasons why a young person goes missing from home and what has happened while they have been away from the home.

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

Managers ensure that the home is well maintained. This includes undertaking regular Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 5 checks of electrical, gas and fire safety. Fire drills take place and help young people to know how to exit the building safely in an emergency.

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

Staff are safely recruited to ensure that anyone employed is safe to work with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is experienced and holds a level 5 diploma in residential childcare. She is extremely passionate and committed to providing high-quality care for young people. She ensures that young people continue to make progress in line with their plans across all areas of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has an excellent understanding of the service, and she is transparent about the home’s strengths and areas for deveoplment. She has a clear development plan which includes actions such as having new windows fitted, further training to help to build on staff’s experience and understanding and developing the staff’s use of research-based practice. It is clear that the manager is committed to continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager considers the information about each young person who is referred to the home carefully. She strongly believes that every child deserves a chance to succeed, no matter what their past history is. She carefully matches the young person’s needs against the service and outcomes that she feels that she and her team can offer. She is realistic and provides care only to those young people whose needs the home can meet safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A key strength of the manager is the relationships that she has with professionals and young people’s families. Young people have arrived at the home with complex issues and the manager has quickly forged excellent partnership working arrangements to meet young people’s needs. All professionals speak highly of the manager and her work in helping young people to achieve better outcomes. A young person’s family member said, ‘I cannot stress enough how incredibly supportive (the manager) and her team have been. The staff are incredibly friendly yet professional. They are always very welcoming when we visit the home to take (the young person) out. I know that (the young person) is very happy living there. His independence skills have come to the fore and, with the support of the team, he is attending college every day and doing very well. He finally has the structure and support he needs and he has come on in leaps and bounds in the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

last couple of months. I really can’t praise this home enough and, as a family, we are so grateful that (he) is finally somewhere where he has the level of input and support he needs.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular supervision and time for reflection. The manager carefully appraises staff performance and development. Staff either hold or are working towards a level 3 qualification in residential childcare. All staff are within the regulatory timescale for completing their award. The staff team are happy, motivated and work well together. Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 6 Diversity and acceptance are role modelled at the home. Where staff or young people have a disability, this is carefully risk assessed and discussed, and mechanisms are put in place to ensure that everyone is treated fairly. The manager ensures that she is up to date with legislation such as the Equality Act 2010, and this helps her in her everyday practice.

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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 difference 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: SC457025 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

Louise Battersby, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457025 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 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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