Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 1 SC066187 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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 three young people, aged between 10 and 18 years, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides emergency placements as well as planned admissions. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 February 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people settle quickly and make steady progress across key areas of their lives.  Young people who have a wide range of complex and diverse needs settle quickly and develop a real sense of belonging.  Young people thrive in the very homely and family atmosphere.  Young people are valued and respected and develop meaningful attachments to staff.  Young people make wide-ranging progress and become confident in facing the challenges of growing up and becoming independent.  Young people are consistently able to express their views and opinions, explore their feelings and learn self-control.  Young people are kept safe.  The registered manager and staff strive to provide a holistic care experience for every young person and draw on research and external resources to improve their practice.  Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of the values and principles of ‘getting it right’ for every young person.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Strong partnership working makes a real difference to young people’s lives.  The registered manager and staff are not complacent and recognise areas of practice that require further improvement.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/11/2016 Full Outstanding 31/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people make excellent progress at this home. They enjoy and value the positive and meaningful relationships they have built up with staff. Young people feel secure and extremely satisfied about their care. One young person told the inspector, ‘I’ve made big changes to my life. I can now stay focused and now make informed choices. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the staff at [the name of the home].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Effective processes are in place to establish a baseline measure and to track progress. This means that staff are able to demonstrate an upward trend for all of the young people over time. Young people settle quickly and make steady progress across key areas of their lives. They become less guarded and more able to connect with the world around them. They successfully access learning, and all but one young person are positively engaged in full-time education. The one young person who is currently out of education is being supported to consider his options for the soonest possible return to full-time learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Particular health needs that can affect young people’s future outcomes are identified at the earliest opportunity. Staff actively seek out specialist health workers’ support. Through a process of assessment, one young person has recently received a diagnosis. As a result, the young person is now able to receive the right support that they need to progress in all aspects of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are very good at managing conflict, especially when young people are competing for staff attention. Restorative approaches are actively encouraged when harmful incidents have occurred.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are supported to take ownership of their own progress and development. Each young person is supported to complete and maintain a personal development plan, in which they can identify the issues most pertinent to them and explore how these can be addressed. This encourages young people to invest in their placement and helps them to engage with therapeutic interventions. Staff make sure that young people have access to specialist services such as counselling and therapy. This has helped one young person to accept help to raise her self-esteem and to develop her confidence. Young people continue to connect with these agencies when they leave the home. As a result, young people are more able to manage the challenges of living independently in society because they know where to seek support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff display high levels of acceptance of young people as well as an unreserved respect and optimism for their futures. Recently, staff and young people worked together to complete a piece of work entitled ‘Why our kids are amazing’. This celebrated the individual successes of each young person. One young person was recently supported to act on their wishes and regain contact with a family member after a long time. This increases freedom and has helped the young person to explore difficult issues in their background and to face challenges in Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 4 the development of their identity. Young people are able to take risks and expand their experience of the world.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Key-working is a particular strength of this home. Records and plans reflect strong commitment by key-workers in regard to the learning and progress of their allocated young people. Sessions focus on identified and prioritised areas of need and risk, based on ongoing assessment and review. The sessions are conducted in planned as well as opportunistic ways, and significant incidents are treated as an opportunity for learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people profit from a highly individualised approach to their care, and the staff make sure that this is within a set of boundaries applicable to all. As a result, young people are able to exercise personal interests and express their taste and preferences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Activities outside the home are varied and often adventurous and challenging. Young people are encouraged and supported to try new things, for example attending concerts and shows. Staff are sensitive in striking a balance between favourite activities, new ones, and more challenging ones.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

House meetings are lively, and all of the young people regularly contribute to meal and activity planning as well as discussing areas of dissatisfaction and difference. The registered manager responds to each set of detailed minutes as a way of helping young people to maintain perspective on issues and agreed actions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff develop programmes that help young people to develop their independence and life skills. Staff are creative in using real-life situations that help young people to learn. For example, one young person recently researched the costing of furnishing a flat. Another young person was prepared for independence through gaining a part-time job and managing a budget.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Moves in and out of the home are planned and managed with the utmost care and attention. This helps to maintain continuity and helps young people to make positive changes and to settle quickly. Staff work closely with placing social workers in managing and facilitating contact between young people and their families. Staff are flexible and strongly child-focused in managing these arrangements. This helps to sustain warm and friendly relationships with families and enables young people to benefit as much as possible from these contacts. One parent told the inspector, ‘The staff went out of their way to help my child and my family. They gave us great support. My child loved being there, and she misses it dearly. The staff continue to support and assist me with my child’s needs.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 5

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

Staff safeguarding practice is comprehensive. This includes staff having access to risk- assessment tools that help them to support young people who are at risk of going missing from home, self-harming, sexual exploitation, aggression and offending. Staff also have access to professional literature to support young people’s emotional well- being. This extends to literature on labelling feelings, recognising rising anger, the ability to empathise and mixing socially. Staff encourage young people to talk about situations that make them feel excited, happy, angry or worried and to support them to read and understand the feelings of others. Consequently, young people make exceptional progress in understanding feelings and emotions.

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

Allegations or suspicion of potential harm are responded to with expertise and urgency. Staff demonstrate excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and protocols and follow these. Responses are thoughtful and measured.

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

Staff see the use of physical intervention as a last resort measure. Instead, they focus on de-escalation. There is a strong emphasis on post-restraint practice, and the written comments of young people show that there is meaningful reflection on events. These sessions are well timed and enable young people to participate constructively. Recording and managerial oversight of incidents are of a high standard and clearly indicate that the seriousness of restraint is understood.

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

Excellent inter-agency working strengthens young people’s safety. Safeguarding agencies highly value the proactivity action of the staff. This approach has an excellent impact because young people are also encouraged to build their own relationships with all professionals. For example, young people work directly with the police, missing from care agencies and support groups for sexual exploitation. As a result, young people become less reliant on staff to keep them safe because they develop their own positive strategies to make safer choices and associations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has been in post since October 2014. She has completed the level 5 diploma in leadership and management. The leadership in this home is strong and aspirational in seeking ways to improve outcomes for young people. Together, the registered manager and staff provide young people with a high standard of care. All staff have, or are working towards, the level 3 diploma in residential childcare, within the expected timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is keenly motivated to enrich the care experience of young people and to prepare them for tackling the next phase of their lives with confidence and competence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager uses feedback from stakeholders to prioritise young people’s care. A range of methods is used to secure the views of placing social workers, Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 6 independent reviewing officers, school leaders and the young people. As a result, all stakeholders are regularly canvassed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are robust in their approach to care planning and are able to marry the day-to-day needs of young people with the overarching placement plans of placing authorities in an effective manner. They also enable young people to develop a sense of ownership and engagement in the plans and targets for their care and progress. The feedback from placing authorities and other professionals is very positive and reflects a strong sense of partnership with the home. A social worker told the inspector, ‘The staff always communicate with me excellently and I have no concerns. It is clear that my young person has great relationships with all of the staff and I trust that the care they provide is excellent.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When plans are not working, the registered manager is quick and decisive in her challenge. She will often take the lead in arranging professionals’ meetings to decide the best way forward for the young people. This prevents drift and secures good-quality decision-making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff draw on the resources and expertise of outside agencies. For example, staff have introduced materials used in mental health services to support and improve key-working. They consult research findings and other academic sources to inform and improve their practice in advancing outcomes for the young people. This outstanding practice has a significant and measurable impact on young people’s experiences and overall progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is a member of a local neighbourhood and care forum. This broadens her knowledge and insight and improves her strategic approach to improving the quality of care, particularly in developing the locality risk assessment and managing young people’s best possible transitions in and out of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people benefit from a highly motivated and caring staff team. Staff are supported by regular supervision and training and by attending vibrant team meetings. Staff are confident and trusted by leaders and managers, and this gives them freedom to explore creative and new ways of working with the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers maintain a firm grip on all aspects of the running of the home. The high quality of recording, as well as the monitoring systems in place, enable close scrutiny of the emotional well-being, progress and safety of all the young people. This routine monitoring is underpinned by leaders’ and managers’ impressive knowledge and understanding of each young person’s needs.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 7 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: SC066187 8

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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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Inspector

Lisa Walsh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066187 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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