Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 1 SC457573 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

The home provides accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 12 May 2017.

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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

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: SC457573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/05/2017 Full Good 11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/05/2016 Full Good 08/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 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 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; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate

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Requirement Due date

according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive 12/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 4 relationships with children; are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; and that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation

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Requirement Due date

11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii) and (b)) 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— manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(iv)) 12/07/2018

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 12/07/2018

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education, learning and play, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 5 In particular, this is to enable staff to meet the emotional mental health needs of children and attachment disorders.  Children should be encouraged to develop positive relationships with others both in and outside of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’ page 43, paragraph 9.13) In particular, this refers to providing opportunities for children to engage with the local community.  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3) In particular, this refers to ensuring that supervision takes place monthly as outlined in the statement of purpose.  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Recommendations

 Homes set up for emergency placements as indicated and detailed in their Statement of Purpose will require sufficient staff trained and skilled in the admission and care of children, where their full background may not be known. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.6)

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improvement to be good

The progress for children is mixed, with some children doing well in all areas. This is disrupted by admissions to the home not always being informed by full and comprehensive information. The home’s policy on emergency placements does not consistently and efficiently take into consideration the impact on all children. This negatively impacts on children’s emotional well-being and stability in the home. As a result, some children admitted to the home struggle to develop positive relationships with their peers. The staff team is not always able to sustain and manage behaviours demonstrated when children are in a heightened emotional state. This then negatively impacts on local community relationships. The children are supported to maintain and re-engage with family contact. The staff provide supervision when required and support to enable positive family time to take place. The children are helped to develop a sense of belonging and build resilience.

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improvement to be good

The children are encouraged by staff to be responsible for their bedrooms and to carry out basic independence tasks, such as maintaining a tidy and clean room as well as Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 6 helping with cooking, shopping and doing their own washing. The children choose their own decorations for the home and develop a sense of pride in their environment. When emotions are expressed through negative behaviour, damage is sometimes caused to the home. However, repairs are consistently and quickly carried out to ensure that children are provided with a homely environment. The staff team implements restitution to enable children to understand the consequences of their behaviour, which are clearly understood. The children enjoy one-to-one time in and outside the home and take part in a range of activities, from visiting places of interest and fun parks, to children’s interests such as

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improvement to be good

horse-riding. The home also has its own pet rabbit which is cared for by the children, providing opportunities for social development and positive memories. The home’s provider does not provide internet access to children. As a consequence, this limits children’s potential to learn safely how to engage in social media with support from staff. The children are supported to maintain healthy lifestyles and good healthcare is maintained through routine dental and optical appointments. The children also attend school regularly and, where able, children are supported to maintain attendance at the same school as that prior to their admission. This promotes friendships with peers and enhances the stability of their placement.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and management behaviour plans are comprehensive and contribute towards protecting the children. However, careful planning in terms of emergency placements is not always effective. Thus, children are not consistently prevented from harming each other. The staff team works effectively in close collaboration with the organisation’s own clinical mental health practitioner. This supports a basic understanding and recognition of harmful behaviours demonstrated by children, notably self-harm and the regulation of emotions. The staff and management undertake a range of training in safeguarding matters through mainly online courses. However, the management is not proactive in identifying and making available further specialist subject training to ensure that the staff team is sufficiently skilled in meeting children’s complex, harmful behaviours. Thus, understanding and support is not always informed through knowledge.

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improvement to be good

The staff team is proactive in reducing the times when children go missing. Staff help the children to understand how to keep themselves safe. When children do go missing, the staff work closely with police, after having first searched the local area. The children all have clear missing from home protocols in place, which are followed by staff. However, children do not always receive consistent return interviews from their respective local authorities; therefore, learning from missing from home episodes is diminished, leaving children potentially at risk of further harm. The management and staff team demonstrate a commitment to ensuring that children are helped to feel safe. A social care professional commented, ‘The care and compassion Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 7 shown to [Name] was amazing during times when she was showing extreme behaviours.’ This supportive environment encourages positive relationships and builds

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

The registered manager has been in post since May 2017 and is due to leave. However, the new manager has been introduced to the children over a few weeks to support and reduce the impact of the transition. The current manager is highly skilled in developing exceptional relationships with children. The registered manager engages children in activities and spends a considerable amount of time in one-to-one situations to support children to understand the emotions that drive their behaviours. She also discusses with children the impact of such behaviours on their well-being and that of their peers. The manager also spends time responding to emergencies, even when she is not on duty. This shows compassion and dedication to helping children. However, this has impacted on supervision and monitoring processes, which are not always completed in a timely manner, thus diminishing oversight, evaluation and planning.

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

The children are not supported by the management and leadership team to develop positive relationships in the community. Recent events have resulted in several complaints in terms of anti-social behaviour seen near the home. The incidents have required staff to call the police to assist them with managing the behaviours demonstrated by children. The sense of belonging for children is, therefore, negatively impacted on. The manager advocates strongly for the children and the staff team feels well supported by her. The communication between professionals involved in the care of the children is good. One social worker commented, ‘They are good at maintaining communication and I am given weekly reviews and any issues of concern are immediately provided to me. The registered manager is contactable at any time and is always available.’ This helps to ensure that care planning is proactive to children’s current needs and supports their

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

overall well-being. This service is not fully operating within its statement of purpose and the children are not currently receiving consistently good care.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 8 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC457573 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

Michael Dack, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457573 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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