Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Manchester

Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 1 SC043972 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

This privately owned home is part of a large organisation. The home is registered to care for up to five children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since 23 October 2016. An acting manager is in post but has not yet submitted an application to Ofsted to be the registered manager.

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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 inadequate

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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: 29 November 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2017 Full Good 24/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Outstanding 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 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 and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c)(i)) This particularly refers to the removal of damaged and unwanted electronic equipment and office furniture from communal spaces and ensuring that there are sufficient soft furnishings, photographs and pictures to create a homely environment for young people to live in. 01/07/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— meet each child‟s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child‟s relevant plans. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(x)) 01/07/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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)) 01/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 4 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to

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Requirement Due date

each child. use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b)(2)(b)(d) (e)(h)) 01/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children‟s home if—

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Requirement Due date

the person is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children— the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has— within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children; worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and by the relevant date, attained the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 5 Diploma"); or a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma. The relevant date is— in the case of a person who starts managing a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 3 years after the date on which that person started managing a home; or in the case of a person who was managing a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2017. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(3)(a)(b)

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Requirement Due date

01/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 5 The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 01/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure of control, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)b)(i)(ii) and (c)(iv)) 01/07/2018

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Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some reason, the registered person must work closely with the placing authority and school, so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  Ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 43, paragraph 9.9) This particularly refers to ensuring that staff plan key-work sessions and review their effectiveness to ensure that young people are

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Recommendations

supported to develop the skills to keep themselves safe.  Ensure that staff understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.39)

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improvement to be good

Young people receive inconsistent care from staff as not all staff are committed to meeting the emotional and behavioural needs of young people. For example, one member of staff openly talks of their dissatisfaction at working in the home. Young people are fully aware of this and have complained about the staff member‟s attitude towards them, the manager and other staff. The manager has yet to take decisive action Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 6 to address this issue.

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improvement to be good

The behaviour of some staff in the home means that young people are living in an atmosphere that is often tense and negative. This means that young people do not always receive the nurturing and supportive care that they need.

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improvement to be good

A high turnover of staff at the home over the last six months has been unsettling for young people. As a result, there have been fewer opportunities for young people to develop trusting relationships with staff. Despite this, young people spoke positively about the majority of staff who look after them.

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improvement to be good

Young people have received changeable and inconsistent care over the last six months. Notwithstanding this, all young people have made progress in many aspects of their lives. An independent reviewing officer informed the inspector, „This is one of his most stable placements he has had. He has done really well.‟

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improvement to be good

In most cases, staff provide young people with the necessary support they need to meet their academic potential. One young person is due to sit a GCSE exam a year early and another young person is currently completing his examinations. These are significant and impressive achievements when considering the young people‟s starting points.

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improvement to be good

In contrast, staff have not yet established a plan to address one young person‟s exclusion from education. The depleted management team and lack of experienced staff have impacted on the care planning to address this issue.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to meet the health needs of young people. Planning by staff to prepare one young person for a vital health treatment is exceptional and well considered. For example, tailored counselling has been identified and a plan is in place to support the young person throughout the process.

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improvement to be good

Young people do not experience a homely environment in which they can relax and feel well cared for. For example, a lack of photographs, pictures and soft furnishings means that the home is bare and lacking in home comforts. Damaged electronic equipment and discarded office furniture in communal areas detract from the appearance of the home.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are of a variable quality. This means that staff are not always given clear guidance about how to keep young people safe. For example, guidance about how staff should respond to missing from home incidents is not explicit. Despite this, staff do take the necessary action to safeguard young people when they go missing from the home. Staff are swift in their response and work collaboratively with local authorities and the police.

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improvement to be good

Staff learn from missing incidents and put in place plans to reduce the likelihood of such incidents occurring again. For example, in response to one young person going missing, Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 7 staff put structured activities in place on the days that staff had identified he was most likely to go missing. This was successful in stopping this emerging pattern of behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake direct work with young people to support them to understand how to keep themselves safe, both online and in the community. However, these sessions are often reactionary rather than planned. This reduces the effectiveness of staff‟s direct work with young people.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, one young person expressed their opinion to the inspector that staff are inconsistent in their approach to behaviour management. This is exacerbated by the rules of the home continually changing as new staff and a new manager came into post. This is unsettling for young people and means that they do not receive reliable and predictable care from staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always implement behaviour reward strategies. This means that there are missed opportunities to recognise young people‟s achievements and to celebrate their positive behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Staff are successful at using de-escalation strategies to avoid the need for physical interventions and, as a result, the use of such measures is rare. Despite this, on the one occasion that a physical intervention was required, managers did not review the use of this intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has not experienced stable leadership for a prolonged period. Specifically, there has been no registered manager since 23 October 2017. Furthermore, there have been two changes of acting manager since this date, with the latest manager starting in post on 19 March 2018.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The change in management has contributed to the poor retention of staff. Staff vacancies continue to be a problem. There is no clear plan as to how to achieve a permanent and stable workforce. This means that young people do not experience continuity of care from familiar staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff and managers have not been able to shield young people from the turmoil and impact of these changes. A young person told the inspector, „[The manager] is just picking up the pieces from the last manager, who was themselves picking up the pieces from the last manager.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The current manager has not yet applied to Ofsted to be the registered manager. Notwithstanding the manager‟s lack of experience, she is a dedicated and hardworking manager. Her grasp of the young people‟s needs is strong and she is proactive in implementing plans to meet these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has a realistic understanding about the quality of care that staff provide to young people. However, an inexperienced staff team and a lack of deputy manager Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 8 mean that the manager is overwhelmed by the changes that are required to ensure that young people‟s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive supervision consistently. When supervision sessions are completed, these are not always recorded. This is a missed opportunity to support staff and address performance issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The change in managers and staff have impacted upon relationships with partner agencies and young people‟s families. Ineffective communication is at the heart of this. On a positive note, there is a consensus that following the appointment of the current manager, collaborative working has improved. One social worker explained how the manager‟s constructive challenge was helping to shape the care planning for one young person.

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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 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: SC043972 9

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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, Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment, Chancellors Road, London W6 9RU

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Inspector

Paul Robinson, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC043972 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 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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