Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 1 SC476261 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

This home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Date of last inspection: 5 December 2017

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged 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

During the month of February 2018, children’s behaviour began to spiral out of control. As a result, children have repeatedly placed themselves in situations of risk. For example, one child has been reported as missing from home to the police and to Ofsted on 10 occasions in February. She is vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. On some occasions, she has gone missing with other children as young as seven years old. They have run across a busy dual carriageway and into a housing estate and retail park. The children have been missing after dark, and have approached strangers. Staff have not been able to prevent, manage or minimise this behaviour effectively. This has resulted in children being exposed to the risk of significant harm.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children have caused damage to their bedrooms and communal areas of the home. One thirteen-year-old child who has lived here for almost five years kicked through a downstairs door a few days before the inspection. Another thirteen-year-old who has Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 2 lived here for three years has punched holes in her bedroom wall. Children have thrown eggs and dirt at the windows. One of these children told the inspector, ‘The house is just getting unsafe. I decided to spray paint my bike in the bedroom. I just want to leave.’ The children’s unsafe and distressed behaviour has not been understood or managed effectively by the staff.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some of the behaviour displayed by children has frightened other children. Ofsted was informed that one child was cowering in the corner when other children were up on the home’s roof and throwing tiles. Another child was taken to a holiday cottage approximately two weeks before the inspection because his violent outbursts were scaring the other children and staff could not manage his behaviour and look after him safely in the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

On 14 February 2018, the organisation suspended the registered manager from duties pending an internal investigation. The responsible individual notified Ofsted that the deputy manager would provide interim management of the home. However, other managers have also been asked to come into the home. High levels of sickness and the absence of key carers have left children increasingly anxious about who is in charge and who is looking after them. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘The children are finding it difficult that the manager is not here. [Name of child] has found it very difficult. She is scared of [another child]. She gets very scared. Having time away this weekend probably helped, but she is coming back into the same issues. They are still coming back to this environment.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Most of the home’s established staff have either left or are off sick. This has resulted in children only having the deputy manager, one shift leader and one member of staff who they know well. This means the majority of staff are unfamiliar to the children. These changes in staffing have resulted in children losing their key carers who made them feel safe. The deputy manager and cover managers are struggling to obtain sufficient numbers of staff from other homes and from agencies. As a result, children are demonstrating extreme anxiety about who may be looking after them. For example, a child who returned from a weekend away on the day of the inspection was anxiously asking who was here that she might know.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children’s school attendance had been a good feature of the home. For example, all children were regularly attending school and one child was exceeding their predicted grades in history and science at the time of the last inspection in December 2017. However, the three children who were present during the inspection had not gone to school. One child was standing on the pavement outside the home when inspectors arrived, and was initially refusing to go into the house. Another child had missed school because she was being brought back from being away for the weekend. A third child said that he would ‘try’ to go to school tomorrow.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leaders and managers have instructed staff to take children to hotels and/or holiday accommodation in an effort to separate them and reduce their fears and violent behaviour. One child has been away from the home for over two weeks in holiday accommodation, supported by two staff. The other three children have in turns been taken away for single nights or weekends in order to separate them from each other, Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 3 and in an effort to calm them down. One child returned from a weekend away on the day of the inspection. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘The hope was that the house is settled before they [two children] come back, but it isn’t.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The current staff working with the children are not able to protect them and/or re- establish their routines. Staff lack confidence and do not work as a team. One child told the inspector, ‘They try to trick us into going into our bedrooms, saying they want to check them and then they won’t let us out.’ A covering member of staff told the inspector, ‘I have never seen such a lack of passion. We are all really stressed and staff are in a bad mood. There is no teamwork. A cover manager swore at me because she thought [child] was apparently on her own outside.’ A member of the maintenance team told the inspector, ‘It’s like people are scared. They have lost confidence. Since Christmas, I cannot believe how a house can go down so quickly. I am worried that the little children are not getting enough. I know when the kids start hugging me, I know that it is bad. They don’t see me as part of the system.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the registered manager has been absent, the responsible individual has not been able to ensure that management arrangements safeguard children effectively. She said, ‘[Cover manager] and [deputy manager] are here to put the setting back together. Make it more therapeutic.’ However, on the day of the inspection, the cover manager stayed in the office. She focused on paperwork and did not brief staff or spend time with children. Inspectors found that staff were demoralised and unable to deliver the care required. One member of staff said, ‘We have not had time to think. We have just been dealing with behaviour. At the minute, the home is not safe. I think the staffing is all over the place. Without a core staff team the children are not contained and safe.’

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers have not ensured that children’s dates of birth are correctly recorded. For example, the record of admissions and discharges inaccurately shows three children’s dates of birth as the same year as their admission to the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2017 Full Good 31/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/11/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Statutory requirements

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 4 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b)) 12/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child that are kept up to date and include the child’s date of birth. (Regulation 36 (1)(b) schedule 3.2) This is with particular reference to ensuring that children’s dates of birth are correct in all the places where they are recorded. 12/04/2018

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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 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

Provision sub-type: Children’s home Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 5 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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Inspectors

Rachel Britten, social care inspector Michelle Moss, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC476261 6 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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