Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 1 SC459168 Registered provider: Cambian PLC

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

Although registered for four children, the home provides short- and medium-term care for three children up to the age of 18 who have experienced serious behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The home, which is owned by a private organisation, offers education.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2018.

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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2017 Full Good 20/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/05/2016 Full Good 22/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 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 ─

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Requirement Due date

understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ─

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to ─

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the home is clean and welcoming and maintained to a good standard throughout. 24/09/2018

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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—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; and 28/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 4 have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(vii)(xiii)) 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 ─

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Requirement Due date

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are updated, the content is shared with the staff and risk-reduction measures are acted on. 28/09/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(c)) 24/09/2018

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 01/10/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 5 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f)(h)) 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—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a 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

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b)) 15/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees ─

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 24/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if ─

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 24/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c)) 10/10/2018

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Recommendations

 The ethos of the home should support each child to learn, emphasising the value Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 6 of independent study and reading for enjoyment. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 29, paragraph 5.18)  Any allegation of harm or abuse must be addressed in line with the home‟s child protection policy. („Guide to the children‟s home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 44, paragraph 9.17) In particular, ensure that records clearly evidence all action taken in response to the allegation.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local 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

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Recommendations

children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Ensure that all children‟s case records are 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) In particular, ensure that the staff fully complete entries in records.

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improvement to be good

Five children have been admitted to and discharged from the home within a short space of time. Failure to ensure that children are appropriately matched has led to group dynamics that have been unsettled. Consequently, there has been an increase in police call-outs to the home. One child said that she felt unsafe when another child, who has since moved on, was living at the home. Transitions out of the home have not been managed well, with some children leaving after being arrested and not being able to return to the home. This does not give children stability. However, the home has taken some action that has led to an improvement in the information obtained before admission.

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improvement to be good

Some children‟s attendance in education has declined while they have been living at the home. However, one child sat GCSEs and obtained good results.

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improvement to be good

Reading books at the home are old and, in some cases, inappropriate and adult themed. Children said that they do not find these books appealing. This does not encourage or nurture reading.

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improvement to be good

The presentation of the home fails to provide children with a safe, welcoming and homely environment. The house is dirty in some areas and needs cleaning. Some areas need redecoration or paintwork touching up. Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 7 Children said that they are consulted and involved in decision-making during regular house meetings. The manager responds to children‟s requests in writing. Children know how to complain, and said that staff take their concerns seriously. The children could all name a member of staff with whom they would speak if they are worried or upset.

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improvement to be good

There are good interactions between staff and children. The high staffing ratio means that the children can do things independently with staff rather than in a group. This helps to reduce the negative behaviours that occur when the children are together.

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improvement to be good

A child commented that she likes living at the home and that the staff are great fun. She said that she does lots of activities with staff. These activities help the staff to build positive relationships with children.

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improvement to be good

The staff support and supervise, if necessary, contact with children‟s families. There are good contact plans, and staff record visits to help establish any trends, patterns or behaviours before, during or after contact. This helps to make sure that the children‟s contact is a positive experience for them.

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improvement to be good

Children‟s behaviour management crisis plans and risk assessments are not consistently reviewed or updated after an incident. The plans do not support staff to safeguard children or understand the implications of children‟s behaviours. This does not enable staff, particularly agency staff who do not work permanently at the home, to keep children safe. However, these plans were being updated during the inspection as part of the quality manager‟s audit visit.

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improvement to be good

Children influence each other‟s negative behaviours. Staff are not able to manage some of these behaviours, which has led to the police being called. This gives potential for children to be criminalised. The results of some charges are still pending. Since one child has left the home, the number of calls to the police has deceased.

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improvement to be good

A child said that she is being bullied at the home, and that staff are aware and have spoken to her. However, there are no records in the bullying log of the behaviour or the actions taken by staff. Consequently, there is a lack of information about the way in which incidents have been managed, which makes it difficult to monitor practice to ensure that children are adequately safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of children going missing have increased. On one occasion, two children left the home during the night and staff were unaware until the early hours. The manager reported the incident to the designated officer and undertook an internal investigation.

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improvement to be good

Staff actively look for children when they go missing and encourage them to return to the home. However, children do not receive a return to home interview from an independent person. There is a lack of evidence to show that staff encourage the Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 8 relevant professionals to provide these interviews. Consequently, opportunities to understand the triggers for behaviour and potential concerns that may have arisen while children are away from the home are missed.

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improvement to be good

Some of the records on children‟s files are not signed or dated. Consequently, there is a lack of clarity and accountability in the records.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort in order to safeguard the children. Records of these incidents are well recorded, and the staff provide a debriefing with children after each incident. This helps the children to reflect on their experiences and to look at ways to manage similar situations in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a decline in the effectiveness of the leadership and management of the home. The manager has failed to meet two of the three requirements and a recommendation set at the last inspection. These will be restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring lacks rigour and fails to identify shortfalls. Consequently, there is lack of oversight of the quality of care. The manager‟s monitoring does not identify trends and patterns and what the home needs to do to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The location risk assessment was updated during the inspection to incorporate more detail about the location of the home, the risks and how these can be reduced. However, more work needs to be undertaken to identify further risks and to safeguard children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff, including the manager, have not received regular supervision. New staff have not received fortnightly supervision as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. Staff do not receive the support that they should be able to expect and they do not consistently have formal opportunities to raise concerns or review their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to notify Ofsted of some safeguarding concerns. This prevents Ofsted from having an accurate view of the home and being able to ensure that staff take appropriate action to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have undertaken all mandatory training as defined by the organisation. However, not all staff have obtained a relevant level 3 qualification within the required timescale. Consequently, not all staff are suitably qualified to work at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Safeguarding concerns are reported to the designated officer, and clear records are kept. However, there is no evidence that follow-up work with the staff to reduce recurrence has been undertaken. It is therefore not clear whether staff learn from incidents or whether practice is improved. Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 9

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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: SC459168 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment, Chancellors Road, Middlesex W6 9RU

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Inspectors

Trish Palmer, social care inspector Natalie Burton, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC459168 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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