Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 1 SC456846 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 offers support, education and therapeutic care for up to three children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma and/or family or placement breakdowns. The manager of the home has been in post since November 2017 but is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/06/2017 Full Good 14/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 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. 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)) In particular, ensure that the location risk assessment considers risks in the local area such as gangs, exploitation, roads, pubs and shops, waterways and fisheries. 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular the registered person must ensure that— medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (2)(b)(c)) 27/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that 22/06/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 4 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)) In particular, make immediate arrangements to ensure that all of the fire doors close fully.

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Recommendations

 Homes should encourage children to understand they can speak to an independent advocate, Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), Ofsted inspectors or other relevant persons if they have concerns about their safety. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.11)  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept, and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4) In particular, ensure that records of supervisions are clearly timed and dated, and that the staff member receives a copy.  Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

In particular, sign and date each record of missing from care, and make a clear record to show if a return interview was requested for the child and if it took place.

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improvement to be good

This home has been without a registered manager since October 2017. Although there is a manager in post, he is not registered with Ofsted. This limits the judgement to requires improvement to be good. Staff build good relationships with the children, their families and other professionals. However, the experiences of children are mixed. During the inspection, one child had been missing from care for several days, and is thought to be involved in criminal activities. The plan is to move the child to a new placement once he is no longer missing. Another child’s placement ended after an escalation in risk-taking and challenging behaviours. This was despite the best efforts of staff, who have worked hard to sustain both children’s placements. A parent of one of the children said, ‘The home bent over backwards to help and I appreciate everything that they have done.’ The children have regular key-working sessions during which their views and opinions

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improvement to be good

are gained. Children are confident to raise issues because they have positive Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 5 relationships with staff. However, children are not made aware of some of the ways to make a complaint. This limits their options if they want to complain about the quality of their care. The staff are focused on the importance of the children’s education. Both children are in full-time school placements and making progress. The deputy headteacher of their school said, ‘The staff are very involved, they do everything that they can for the children. I wish that all parents were as caring as they are.’ The home facilitates contact between the children, their families and friends. The children have made friends in the local area. The home provides the children with a balanced, healthy diet, which the children help to choose. Children are able to take part in a range of activities including cinema trips,

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improvement to be good

bowling, trips to the coast and meals out. The organisation employs a mental health practitioner who attends team meetings to give advice to the staff about the children. Staff ensure that the children attend health and dental appointments. There are processes in place for the handling, storage, administration and recording of medication. However, staff do not follow these processes. A child had not been given their medication for five days. The reason for these omissions was not recorded, and the child confirmed that staff do not routinely offer the medication. This failure to consistently provide medication to a child can jeopardise their mental well-being.

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improvement to be good

The manager has updated the fire risk assessment. However, nine internal fire doors do not close properly. During the inspection, the manager made immediate plans to have the doors repaired as this shortfall posed a risk to children and staff. The location risk assessment does not sufficiently address risks in the local area. The risks of gangs, child sexual exploitation, roads, pubs, shops, waterways and fisheries are not assessed in detail. Therefore, the mitigation of risks to children is ineffective. Staff are proactive in looking for children when they leave the home without permission or go missing from care. The number of incidents of children going missing has decreased recently. Records of the incidents give a full account of the event. However, these records do not always state if a return from missing interview was offered to the child, or the rationale if one was not offered. This means that analysing and monitoring

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improvement to be good

the reasons that children go missing is not effective. The staff are skilled at de-escalating difficult and challenging behaviours. Physical interventions are used rarely. Staff receive training that equips them to understand safeguarding practice. Positive behaviour is encouraged by the use of rewards. Sanctions for negative behaviour are appropriate and agreed with the child. This means that sanctions are not punitive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 6 The manager of the home has been in post since November 2017. He is suitably qualified and experienced. However, he has not submitted the necessary documentation to register with Ofsted for more than 26 weeks. Some records, such as up-to-date care plans and risk assessments, are not present on children’s files. This means that staff do not readily access the most current documents. In addition, it is not always clear who has written the record, and some records have no date. Staff receive practice-led supervision from the manager in line with organisational policy. However, these sessions can be ad hoc. One member of staff said that they did not have formal meetings with the manager. The supervision sessions are not accurately dated or signed as a true account of what was discussed, and staff are not routinely given a copy of these records. The statement of purpose was updated in January 2018 but a copy was not sent to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ofsted. Failure to provide updates means that Ofsted is unable to monitor the home effectively. There have been recent changes to the team which have been unsettling. Despite this, the staff are positive and value being part of a team. The staff are well trained. All eligible staff are enrolled and working towards achieving a relevant level 3 qualification within timescales. Feedback from families and professionals was consistently positive. One social worker said, ‘Communication is excellent. [The manager] does a lot of work when [the child] goes missing. The manager talks to the teachers at his [the child’s] school so that he knows who his friends are. [The manager] links in really well with everyone and is very multi-agency minded.’

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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: SC456846 7 Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 8

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

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 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 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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