Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 1 SC456846 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 run home offers support, education and care for up to three children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma which has left them vulnerable. The manager started working at the home in January 2019 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 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

Date of last inspection: 16 January 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in 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

16/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 3

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improvement to be good

This home has been without a registered manager since October 2017. Since this time, there have been three different managers. This has led to inconsistent care for the children. The staff turnover at the home has been particularly unsettling for one child. Following a judgement of declined effectiveness at the interim inspection in January 2019, the current manager was appointed. Since then, there have been improvements at the home.

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improvement to be good

All the children now attend school and are making progress. Staff communicate effectively with schools, take the children to and from school and support them at school when needed.

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improvement to be good

The children’s views and opinions are gained through weekly house meetings and daily conversations. The children know how to complain and are encouraged to do so. However, the guide that the children are provided with when they move into the home does not have information on how to contact an independent listener or advocate. This limits the children’s options if they want to speak with someone who is independent of the home.

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improvement to be good

The organisation has a mental health practitioner who visits the home regularly to meet and socialise with the children. The practitioner attends monthly team meetings to provide staff with training and guidance on supporting the children with some of the more difficult behaviours and challenges that they present. This helps the staff to take an approach that is tailored to children’s presenting needs.

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improvement to be good

The children who live at this home are traumatised because of earlier childhood experiences. They display high levels of challenging and difficult behaviours, and the home has been damaged as a result. The staff respond quickly. The interior of the home is well maintained.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met by staff who support them to attend appointments. Children benefit from seeing their families if it is appropriate for them to do so.

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improvement to be good

Staff get to know the children well and build strong relationships with them. The staff provide positive role models for the children.

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improvement to be good

Bullying is a significant issue at the home. The management team takes this seriously Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 4 and challenges bullying behaviours when they arise. The staff work with children to address such behaviours. Staff at the home de-escalate unwanted and challenging behaviours. They have intervened several times to disrupt aggressive and violent bullying. Physical interventions are used as a last resort. However, the recording of physical interventions has, at times, been incomplete or been non-specific about the type of hold used. Failure to ensure that accurate information about physical interventions is recorded correctly places children and staff at risk and does not enable effective monitoring of practice.

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improvement to be good

There have been clear improvements to the environment since the last inspection. The children chose the paint when their rooms were redecorated. The interior of the house presents as homely and nurturing, with pictures and ornaments on display. However, several internal fire doors were found not to close properly. The manager made immediate arrangements to have the doors repaired. Fire doors that do not close properly pose an unnecessary risk to children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Children do not go missing from this home. The new manager has changed the way in which staff respond when a child leaves the home without permission. Staff follow the child but give them space. Staff report the child as missing if they are out of sight after a certain amount of time. The children invariably return to the home safely. However, on one occasion, a child ran from the house into the road. Staff responded appropriately and the child was unhurt. To mitigate this risk, managers state that the gate at the front of the home is always to remain closed. A faulty gate latch makes this difficult and the gate often blows open in the wind, making the barrier between the home and the road ineffective. This lack of security presents a risk to a running child.

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improvement to be good

The staff are adequately trained in safeguarding children and are aware of their responsibilities. Additional training is provided to fully support the staff in their roles. Training in understanding knife crime, gangs and self-harm is being provided to the staff over the coming weeks.

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

The last registered manager left in October 2017. Since then, two managers have been recruited and have left. This has led to inconsistent leadership and been unsettling for the children and the staff.

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

The new manager began working at the home in January 2019, following the last inspection. She has applied to register with Ofsted. The manager has a relevant level 5 qualification and is experienced in children’s residential care.

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

The staff said that they feel supported by the manager and are now receiving supervisions in line with organisational policy. The manager has updated several records at the home, including the local area risk assessment and statement of purpose. Monitoring has improved, but more attention needs to be given to reviewing documents. Some records produced by the staff lack detail and are not explicit enough. Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 5 Consequently, records do not always give a true picture of events.

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

Although there have been improvements to the interior of the house, at the time of the inspection the front and rear gardens of the property contained rubbish, cigarette debris and unwanted items. This detracts from what is otherwise a well-maintained property.

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

External monthly visits result in reports that provide challenge and suggested actions. The most recent internal review of care was produced by the previous manager.

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

Feedback from children, their families and external professionals was positive. One of the children’s social workers said, ‘Since the new manager started, there has been an improvement with communication. The staff are timely about letting me know of any concerns or issues. They are good advocates for [the child]. They have pushed to get him into school, which has been very successful. The staff are proactive in managing the difficult relationships between the children. The manager wants the child to have normal experiences such as going to cubs and going to swimming lessons.’

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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

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, make immediate arrangements to ensure that all the fire doors close fully. 17/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 16/05/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 6 The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; and

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

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 (1)(a)(b)(3)(a)(iii)(iv)(vii)(c))

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, clear rubbish from the front and rear garden.  The children’s guide should help children to understand how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph

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Recommendations

14.4)  Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) In particular, ensure that the front gate is secure and not left open. Inspection report children’s home: SC456846 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 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 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 Childcare Limited, 4th Floor, Waterfront Manbre Wharf, Manbre Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9RH

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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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