Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 1 SC456911 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

This home is run by a private organisation. It provides accommodation for up to six children. The home offers mental health support to children who may have experienced neglect or emotional abuse or had traumatic experiences which have left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The home‟s registered manager resigned on 28 February 2018. The post has been vacant for eight weeks.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 17 October 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/09/2017 Full Inadequate 30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 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 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 staff—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the location risk assessment considers risks in the local area such as other children‟s homes, roads, pubs, clubs and shops, waterways, bridges and building sites. 14/05/2018

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the arrangements for the management and oversight of the home are effective in the absence of the registered manager. 14/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers 14/05/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 4 the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, make immediate arrangements to ensure that all of the fire doors close fully. 27/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children‟s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1)) 14/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff receive supervision and annual appraisals at the frequency set out in the home‟s supervision and appraisal policy. 14/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. Regulation 45 (1)(3)(4)(a) 14/05/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 5

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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Recommendations

 Evaluation of missing from home incidents should be undertaken. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.31) In particular, develop the evaluation of incidents of missing from home to help the staff to understand why the incidents have occurred.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control and discipline are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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improvement to be good

The children‟s overall experiences and progress are mixed. The number of incidents of children going missing has increased significantly since the last inspection. One child has been arrested and charged on two occasions and is due to attend court. Despite staff‟s best efforts, one child has disengaged from the staff and does not attend school. One child had a well-planned move into the home and has settled in quickly. The staff work hard to forge positive relationships with children.

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improvement to be good

One child has moved to the home recently and has immediately started going to their new school and engaging. The staff understand the importance of education for children. However, one child has disengaged from their school placement. The staff remain persistent in encouraging this child to attend. The home does not have a working computer to support education and learning.

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improvement to be good

Staff try to be consistent in their approach to working with the children. However, the use of agency staff at the home has increased recently. At the time of the inspection, agency staff provided almost 25% of staff cover. A social worker for a child who was recently admitted to the home was concerned that an agency worker supervised the child on a family contact visit. Inconsistent staffing undermines the children‟s ability to make strong relationships with the adults who care for them.

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improvement to be good

The home arranges and facilitates contact with family and friends. One professional said, „The home is good, they [the staff] are flexible and ensure that [the child‟s] contact is natural.‟

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improvement to be good

Despite one child‟s disengagement, the staff are persistent in their attempts to Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 6 encourage social interaction and the development of independence skills.

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improvement to be good

The staff promote physical exercise such as swimming and football. A range of activities is offered to the children, in the home and in the community. The children benefit from and enjoy activities such as motocross, golf, trips to the seaside, high ropes courses and go-karting.

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improvement to be good

Staff give the children opportunities to share their views about their care, in both group and individual sessions. Children say that they trust the staff and feel listened to. The good relationships between the staff and children mean that the children will speak to staff if there are any issues. The children know how to make a complaint and whom to talk to if necessary.

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improvement to be good

The home is generally well maintained. However, essential fire safety measures were lacking, with five fire doors not closing securely. The provider was asked to make immediate plans to ensure that the fire doors close properly as this poses a risk to children and staff.

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improvement to be good

The mitigation of risk is not sufficiently detailed in the home‟s location risk assessment. Local risks posed by other children‟s homes, roads, local businesses, waterways, bridges and building sites are not considered. Therefore, the assessment of local risks to children is ineffective.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home or leave without permission, the staff are proactive in looking for them and encouraging them to return home. The number of incidents of children going missing from the home has increased, with 44 recorded incidents since the last inspection. There is a lack of monitoring and review of the information that the home holds in relation to these incidents, including the views of professionals. This means that the effectiveness of the procedures and responses to children who have been missing from home are not explored adequately.

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improvement to be good

Staff use positive incentives to encourage good behaviour. Positive consequences are used more than negative ones. However, these measures are not scrutinised and analysed to assess if they are fair.

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improvement to be good

The training that the staff receive equips them to understand effective safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home does not currently have a registered manager. The deputy manager is responsible for the daily running of the home. There is a recruitment campaign across the organisation to employ managers and core staff. The organisation has not made suitable arrangements to provide cover in the absence of Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 7 a registered manager. There was no system to forward the registered manager‟s emails, and some information was inaccessible during the inspection. This means that the deputy manager does not have full and proper oversight of the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

External monitoring is good. However, due to a lack of suitable arrangements to cover the registered manager‟s role, the most recently completed internal review of the quality of care that the home provides and the current statement of purpose have not been submitted to Ofsted within the required timeframes. The current review and assessment of the quality of care is now overdue by one month. Failure to ensure that monitoring is timely makes effective oversight of the care provision difficult and means that opportunities to drive improvement may be missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not receive practice-led supervision or appraisal in line with the organisational policy. The deputy manager has had no recorded supervision on file since July 2017, and their last appraisal was in 2015. One member of staff has no appraisal on file and their last recorded supervision was dated October 2017. This is despite the member of staff saying that they have frequently requested a supervision. This means that staff have no formal opportunity to reflect on their practice and consider their development in a structured and planned way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff are offered a comprehensive training package. All of the staff are working towards achieving the relevant level 3 qualification within timescales. The staff are positive about their work. They value feeling part of a team and are supportive of one another.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The organisation has a mental health practitioner who works with the children when appropriate. The home works well with a number of agencies, and professionals gave positive feedback. One social worker said, „They [the staff] are really good at communicating. They send me weekly reports and keep me informed. They have done a really good job of settling [the child] in and they get on well with him. They seem genuinely interested in him and have developed good relationships.‟

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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

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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 8 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: SC456911 9

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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

Ricky D‟Arcy, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC456911 10 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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