Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Wolverhampton

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 1 SC359846 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of a group of homes operated by the same organisation. The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Five young people have lived here during the six months since the last inspection. They are not making progress with their emotional and behavioural difficulties. This is because staff do not deliver high quality, nurturing care. The manager and deputy manager do not lead with sufficient skill and insight. Staff are often off sick, late, covering at other homes or away from the home while allegations are investigated. Staff shortages are ongoing. Young people do not enjoy good-quality relationships with staff or receive well- planned care from them. One young person said, ‘There are too many changes of face. Things are not handed over properly. They should see when I want a cuddle but they don’t because there are different people around all the time.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people’s bathrooms and bedrooms are not kept clean and well maintained. Staff do not make sure that there are enough soap and clean towels. For example, the staff will remove soap if young people have been silly with it. Young people do not have bins Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 2 in their bedrooms for rubbish, or anywhere to put their dirty laundry. The garden is full of cigarette ends and discarded packaging. The garden fence is broken. There is nowhere to sit and nothing to do in the garden. Staff do not see any link between physical and emotional good health. They do not prioritise helping young people to develop responsibility for their own good health and their personal space.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers are not proactive about providing well-organised activities or routines. This means that young people often do not settle to sleep at night or take much care of their personal hygiene. Young people are slow to get up and those that go to school are often late. In the last six months, three young people have not engaged in any education.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are bored and disengaged. They do not respect staff and so the incidence of damage, violence and sexualised behaviour is high. This leads to crises, allegations, arrests and sudden placement breakdown. For example, on one evening the young people refused to go to their bedrooms to sleep. Despite the increase in challenging behaviour by young people, the deputy manager carried on with a late evening supervision session with a senior member of staff. This left one agency member of staff to cope with all the young people. This resulted in violence, damage to the property and an allegation against the agency member of staff. Similarly, on the night before the inspection, a serious incident led to the arrest of two young people and complaints of sexual and physical assault from two members of staff.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff do not build positive, nurturing relationships with young people or show them empathy. For example, managers and staff did not tell one young person that he was being moved to a solo placement, despite him expressing his unhappiness about living here, and his opinion that staff were against him. The manager and staff did not show insight about the trauma and attachment difficulties that lay behind his disengaged, anxious and sometimes violent behaviour. On his last day, the staff on duty had to request police assistance on two occasions to manage him. His experience of living and leaving here was negative.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers do not have the skills to interpret young people’s presenting behaviour and help them with underpinning emotional problems. For example, staff and managers do not recognise the help that one young person really needs when he repeatedly complains of medical and health issues. Another young person says that staff and the managers do not give her the right help to enable her to show the placing authority her capacity to commit to an independence plan. This young person continues to miss important appointments and still shows damaging and immature responses. She has been let down because she has not received skilled, well-planned care to progress emotionally and behaviourally.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager’s monitoring of the home is not insightful enough and does not lead to improvements. She blames the location of the home for issues with young people going missing from home and not engaging. She has not identified the significant impact of poor staff practice. She does not ensure that staff get regular supervision, support and training to understand how the work makes them feel. She knows that young people’s Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 3 behaviour does not improve when staff impose fines, but she does too little to address staff’s feelings and frustrations, or their inability to form positive relationships and devise restorative approaches. In a recent young people’s meeting, staff said to young people, ‘Smoking is not allowed in the home and supervised spend will be put in place if this is broken. Not settling on time will affect reward money. Things broken are to be paid for.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager fails to take account of young people’s concerns about bullying and unfairness. She does not address complaints and allegations with rigour or insight. She does not ensure that young people always have a chance to talk to staff or herself after incidents. She fails to ensure that young people always have the opportunity to see an independent person when they return from being missing. She does not talk to young people about what is happening, or reassure them when staff and young people are not there after incidents. All this means that young people do not have confidence in staff or the manager. One young person said that he would rather speak to Childline about his worries. Another young person told the independent visitor, ‘Staff make things up about me and do not let me see incident records.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager fails to ensure that young people’s plans are relevant and helpful. Staff’s key-work sessions are basic and lack ambition for what young people can achieve. Young people and staff cannot tell from plans what work needs to be done to help them progress. For example, one young person’s plan says that he has no contact with family, when in fact he recently visited them. No work has been done with him about his views, wishes and feelings in regard to his family or his short- and long-term goals. Similarly, the manager does not ensure that staff commit to continuously helping young people collect memorabilia about positive experiences of daily life here. As a result, young people are cynical and unmotivated. One young person said, ‘Nothing will happen as a result of your inspection.’

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2017 Interim Not judged 03/05/2016 Full Requires improvement 27/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 4

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(b)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour, and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11 (1)(2)(a)(ix)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(2)(c)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d)) * 15/04/2018 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 5 The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(viii)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) This is with particular reference to noting in a timely way all the actions that are taken, so that complaints are well managed, overseen and completed in a timely way. 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(2)(f)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(2)(a)(x)) 15/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that as well as longer-term support for children to move on from the Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 6 home effectively (Regulation 6(2)(b)(vi)), the home has an important role in supporting each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children and their parents are supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person makes best use of information from internal monitoring (including under regulation 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 7 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’.

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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: Alison Blyth-Bishop

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Inspector

Rachel Britten, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC359846 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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