Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 1 SC035657 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

The home is owned by a limited company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven children, aged between 11 and 18 years, who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, which have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager of the home was registered with Ofsted on 17 April 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children between the ages of 15 and 17 were living at the home, three of whom spoke with the inspector about their views and experiences since moving into, and living at, the home.

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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 good

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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: 31 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/08/2017 Full Inadequate 30/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 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

Specifically, the home must ensure individual risk assessments are reviewed regularly to assess whether risk management strategies are effective, and, when this is not the case, alternative strategies are agreed. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(i)) 30/06/2018

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible 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)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s polices on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations’, page 62, paragraph 14.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are making progress. Some young people are achieving very well in their education and with the preparation for adulthood. This includes young people who have recently started living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and each other. They are asked to Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 4 contribute their views about the home and all said that they feel their views are listened to and valued. This helps them feel that this is their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has strengthened the planning for young people moving into the home. This includes making sure that impact assessments reflect the needs of the young person and carefully consider the needs of the young people already living at the home. One young person said, ‘The manager discusses with us when a new young person is going to move in. This helps us to make sure they feel welcome.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are continuing to build on their knowledge and understanding of the young people. Commissioners and placing social workers said that the home is providing effective support for the young people. The staff provide regular updates on the young people, celebrating their progress and making sure care plans continue to meet individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently been decorated and refurbished to make sure it feels homely and provides a safe environment for the young people. The change in the environment has been welcomed by the young people, who now take pride in their home. They have personalised their bedrooms and been involved in choosing the colour scheme for the home. The games room is the final phase of the refurbishment and young people are looking at games and furnishings to provide an additional area to spend some of their leisure time in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education, including further education and training. When a young person has not engaged in education for a significant period of time, staff access a range of resources and educational training to encourage and support young people to attend. This helps them to prepare for the transition to adulthood in a planned and positive way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people are supported to access community healthcare resources, including doctors, dentists and opticians. Additional services are available, and the staff work in partnership with a range of healthcare services. This includes the drug and alcohol team, to provide advice and support to young people who have a history of substance misuse. This means that staff understand the signs and risks associated with this and take action to minimise these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual risk assessments are in place for all young people. However, when there are multi-agency risk assessments in place, the home’s risk assessments do not consistently provide a clear link with the additional risk assessments. The manager took action to ensure that this is addressed.

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

Young people said they feel safe at the home. There have previously been some incidents of bullying. Staff and young people have general discussions around bullying and how this feels for all involved. As a result of this open discussion and support, young people confirmed that this is no longer an issue in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 5 Behaviour management plans identify potential behaviours and how to manage these. However, although there have been some challenging behaviours, when a negative consequence has been implemented, this has not been recorded within the consequence book. This means effective monitoring of consequences is impeded.

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

Risk management plans are in place for the young people, and staff have updated these. However, some behaviours have placed young people at risk of harm from alcohol and substance misuse, along with being absent or missing from the home. The manager has taken action to address this by working in partnership with other agencies to formulate a multi-agency risk assessment. However, the home’s risk assessment does not link with this, and this could create some confusion in the management of individual risks. In addition, some young people are not receiving an independent return home interview. However, staff have contacted the placing authority and explained that this is required.

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

Staff undertake regular health and safety checks to make sure that the home is a safe place for the young people to live in. The area risk assessment is kept under review and updated to reflect any changes within the local area. This means that staff are aware of the potential risks and take action to minimise these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced in working with young people. He and the staff have high aspirations for all children, supporting them to gain qualifications and skills for their future. The staff share the vision for the service and work in accordance with the aims and objectives of the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been changes within the staff team. All staff have had relevant induction training as well as the opportunity to complete team training to enhance their working practice. Those staff who do not hold a relevant childcare qualification have commenced the training. The manager is keen to ensure that all staff are qualified as soon as practicable to further enhance their skills and knowledge. One other area identified by the manager through monitoring is the further development of recording and reporting. Some records lack clarity and the manager is addressing this in team meetings and through training. Staff said they feel very well supported by the manager and his knowledge and skills are enhancing their ongoing development. This is further underpinned by regular and effective supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals said the manager and staff team effectively communicate with them and share weekly updates of the young people’s progress. One social worker said, ‘The team at the home have provided support and stability to enable [name of young person] to progress well. It has been a very positive for him and he recognises this has helped him prepare for the next phase in his life.’

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 6 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 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: SC035657 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

Sarah Oldham, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC035657 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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