Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Halton

Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 1 SC457183 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately-run children’s home provides short, medium and long-term care for one young person aged up to 18 years, who has experienced serious behavioural, emotional and social difficulties and requires high levels of support in a smaller, more structured environment to ensure that his needs are properly met.

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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: 17 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2017 Full Good 16/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/07/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 2

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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— help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with the home’s child protection policies; that the home’s day to day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 17/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained- the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘‘the level 3 Diploma’’); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is- in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(5)) 17/08/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 3

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Recommendations

 Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care sets out the steps local authorities and their partners should take to prevent children from going missing and to protect them when they go missing. Children’s homes should have regard to the relevant aspects of this guidance. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 45, paragraph 9.25 & page 46, paragraph 9.31)  Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11) In particular, there should be written guidance for staff on how they should manage negative behaviour and promote positive behaviour.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role

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Recommendations

they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, staff should be provided with training on current issues that young people are vulnerable to.  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) In particular, young people should be consulted on improvements to the home’s decor and on plans and assessments in place for them.  Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether

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Recommendations

they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support, and where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27) In particular, independence plans for young people should be clear on what is expected of them and how staff will support and enable them to achieve independence. Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has made good progress since he moved into the home, in particular in relation to his education, in the reduction in risk-taking and challenging behaviour and in his improved relationships with staff. As a result, the young person is much more settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and young person now give education high priority. Despite a history of non- engagement in education, the young person now has excellent attendance at his sports college placement, where he also engages well in completing his core maths and English subjects, as well as the sports course. The manager and staff have developed good relationships with education professionals to ensure that the young person’s educational needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff promote the physical and emotional health of the young person on a day-to-day basis through healthy diet, physical activity and therapeutic support. Staff spend time talking to the young person about health-related issues to raise his understanding and awareness of issues that can have a negative impact on his health and development, such as substance misuse and a poor diet. This has helped to improve the young person’s overall health and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person maintains contact with people who are important to him. Staff are alert to the risks that contact can pose for the young person and have liaised effectively with the young person’s social worker to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. The young person has now made friends in the local area, and his friends are encouraged to spend time at the home. This has enabled staff to get to know the young person’s friends and make sure that these friendships are appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has begun independence work to prepare him for adulthood and independent living. However, the young person’s independence plan is basic and does not set out what is required of him or how the manager and staff will support and enable him to achieve independence. Consequently, the young person has made little progress in building his independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment has improved since the last inspection. Systems are now in place to monitor the conditions in the young person’s bedroom to make sure that it is maintained to a suitable standard. The company’s maintenance team was at the home at the time of the inspection, decorating the hall, stairs and landing. The young person’s bedroom has been soundproofed and decorated and furnished to his personal choice. Plans are in place for the living room to be decorated, but the registered manager was disappointed to be informed that the young person cannot choose the colour of the paint. This does not show that the young person is fully consulted about decisions such as how he would like his home to be decorated. Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 5

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

Safeguarding practice at the home helps to keep the young person safe from harm. Risks for the young person have been reduced, and the staff spend time talking to the young person to raise his awareness and understanding of the risks that he faces.

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

Risk assessments for the young person lack clarity and make it difficult for staff to understand the current risks that the young person faces or the strategies that they should implement to manage the risks. The registered manager recognises this shortfall and is working on making risk assessments more understandable.

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

The manager and staff encourage and support the young person to work with the youth offending service in relation to his past offences, and this has had a positive effect as the young person has not been involved in any criminal behaviour since the last inspection. A restorative approach is taken to manage negative behaviour. This approach, along with the focus on rewards and incentives, has resulted in improved behaviour. However, there is no behaviour management plan in place to ensure that the staff team has a consistent approach to managing behaviour.

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

The restrictions and strategies used to address the young person’s substance misuse have resulted in this decreasing significantly. However, the staff failed to consider the young person’s potential involvement in drugs when drug paraphernalia was found in his bedroom. Consequently, this was a missed opportunity to talk to the young person about the possible implications of this.

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

During a room search of the young person’s bedroom, a hammer was found. The hammer had been left in the home by the company’s maintenance team. Staff did not recognise the potential risks this posed, given the young person’s history of threatening and aggressive behaviour. Furthermore, measures have not been implemented to ensure that the maintenance team does not leave any more tools in the home that could pose a risk.

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

The young person is rarely missing from the home. However, the registered manager and staff are not familiar with the statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care. An independent return home interview was conducted by the local authority social worker on one occasion when the young person returned from being missing. However, the registered manager was not aware of this until she checked with the social worker during the inspection.

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

The manager and staff regularly consult with safeguarding professionals, including the police and the local authority, to gather information that will assist them in completing the home’s location risk assessment. The location risk assessment is detailed and evaluative, and outlines all known risks in the community. The strategies in place to manage the risks are clear to the staff and young person. This helps to keep the young person safe from harm when he is out in the community.

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

Staff have completed basic safeguarding training that enables them to help and protect Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 6 the young person. However, staff have not completed specialist safeguarding training on specific issues that the young person may be vulnerable to, such as criminal exploitation and gang involvement. Consequently, they are not able to raise the young person’s awareness and understanding of the potential risks that he faces and how to keep himself safe from these risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recognises that she is a new manager and has much to learn. However, she is committed to her role and is keen to develop her managerial skills. She is open to any advice and guidance from more experienced managers that will help her development and ensure that young people are provided with a good quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the time of the last inspection, staffing arrangements were inconsistent, but there is now a permanent staff team, and this has helped to make the home a much more stable environment for the young person. This has helped the young person to be more settled, make progress and improve outcomes. However, there is only one member of the staff team who has the relevant level 3 diploma qualification. Two members of staff have not completed their qualification in the timescale that is set by regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by their manager and receive regular supervision that enables them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young person. Monthly team meetings are regarded as a real strength by staff, as they help them to discuss and share good practice and provide the staff with information to enhance their knowledge and skills. A member of staff said, ‘I have attended many team meetings at other children’s homes I have worked at, and the team meetings here are the most beneficial that I have attended’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff undertake a thorough induction and all mandatory training prior to starting to work at the home. This helps to ensure that they have the necessary information, knowledge and skills to provide a good quality of care to the young person. The manager and the more experienced staff support new staff in their role by offering advice and guidance and by modelling good practice. A new member of staff commented that he found this very helpful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review systems at the home help the registered manager to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She takes effective action to adequately address any shortfalls identified to improve practice, the quality of care provided and the outcomes for the young person. The home’s development plan and workforce plan help the manager to focus on the ongoing development of the home and the staff team. Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 7

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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 difference 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: SC457183 8

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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, Middlesex W6 9RU

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457183 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 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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