Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 1 SC456347 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 children’s home cares for children and young people, including those who have challenging behaviours and complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s registered manager resigned in order to take over the management of another children’s home run by the same provider in August 2018. A new manager was appointed in November 2018 and had applied to be registered. However, this manager resigned and withdrew their application to be registered during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/01/2018 Full Good 31/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 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.

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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 home’s day to day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b)) 24/06/2019

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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 promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)) 24/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)) 24/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 24/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 4 receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that the children’s home presents as welcoming and homely, both internally and externally. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people’s experiences have often been poor. They have lived in a very unsettled and unstable environment. Staff are not able to intervene effectively in disputes between young people so that they do not escalate. This has contributed to high levels of violence in the home. One young person has been the subject of racist abuse during altercations with his peers. Young people have also witnessed significance violence towards staff. For young people who have experienced violence and trauma in their past, this type of home environment is detrimental to any healing process. Their experiences at this home could cause them additional trauma.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some young people have been bullied. Staff were not able to prevent this bullying taking place. One young person was particularly affected by bullying and was subsequently moved to an alternative placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Placements have broken down because staff have not been able to manage or address complex and challenging behaviours. Following placement breakdowns, there have been brief periods of stability for the remaining residents. However, other very complex young people have quickly been admitted to the home without careful consideration. Senior managers have been overly optimistic in their assessment of the capability of the staff to support young people with complex needs. For example, within weeks of a placement breaking down, another young person with equally challenging behaviours moved into the home. This placement has also broken down because staff were not able to manage or control his behaviours. On another occasion, a young person was admitted to the home despite clear indications that the existing residents would be an unsuitable match.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some areas of the home are in need of decoration. For example, the hallway paintwork is marked and unwelcoming. The current state of decoration makes it difficult for young Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 5 people to take pride in their surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite these shortfalls, one established resident has made some progress. Her social worker reports that she has better life chances as a result of her placement. This young person has good school attendance. She also has a part-time job and is looking forward to her holiday in Spain with staff. However, this young person’s progress has been disrupted due to the often chaotic atmosphere in the home. Her sleep patterns are disrupted due to the behaviour of others. The young person says that she is sometimes very tired and that the atmosphere in the home can cause her anxiety at times.

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

Young people have not been kept safe. Staff confirmed this to be the case. Young people’s behaviour has, at times, escalated to a level which is dangerous. Staff have been unable to manage behaviours effectively. Staff have been injured on numerous occasions when they have tried to intervene. Young people have also been injured. Most injuries have been minor, but recent injuries have been more significant. One young person had to be taken to the hospital for medical advice about a knee injury.

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

Because staff are not able to manage behaviour effectively, they do not provide young people with a sense of safety. Some staff, particularly agency staff, have been bullied by the young people. This has included taunting, verbal abuse and physical abuse. During one recent incident, young people poured body lotion over two members of staff and then emptied bags of food on their heads. One member of staff was punched and pushed by a young person, and fell down several stairs. This demonstrates the level of disarray in the home. The levels of violence in the home increase the risk that young people will be criminalised. This is because staff are obliged to seek support from the police at times of crisis.

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

Two young people have formed an inappropriate relationship. On a number of occasions staff have not been able to prevent them sharing the same bedroom overnight. The failure to prevent young people sleeping together in the home is a significant shortfall. It demonstrates that staff are not able to provide a nurturing, safe environment for young people to address previous traumatic life experiences and learn about healthy, appropriate relationships.

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

Behaviour management strategies and risk management measures do not match the severity of the behaviour or vulnerability of young people. Ineffective behaviour management strategies mean that staff are not proactive and do not pre-empt potentially risky situations. On one occasion, a young person was taken to a visit at her family home. However, despite her vulnerability and known risks, staff did not ensure that she safely entered the family home. The young person later went on to find herself in a very risky situation. The social worker felt disappointed with staff practice on this occasion. The responsible individual is aware of this and has begun an investigation into the matter. Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The young people and staff have been let down by poor management decisions, particularly in relation to admissions of new young people to the home. The home has gone through cycles of crisis, placement breakdown, inappropriate admission of new young people, and further crisis. Staff have not been given sufficient time to stabilise the home and build strong relationships with the remaining residents after placements have broken down. The failure to manage behaviours safely is not due to any lack of motivation or effort from staff. Staff have done their best in very difficult situations, and they have demonstrated considerable resilience. They have remained child focused even when they have been subject to violent behaviour. However, they have become accustomed to the chaotic home environment and have learned to cope with challenging behaviour rather than tackle it. Leaders have not been influential in changing this

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This home had been a strong, stable service for a number of years until the established registered manager was transferred to another home in August 2018. An acting manager has been in place since November 2018. He had applied to Ofsted to become the registered manager but resigned on the day of the inspection. The acting manager has had two periods of absence that reduced management effectiveness. However, the responsible individual maintained a regular presence and has become very involved in the day-to-day management of the home. The responsible individual has also arranged for other managers from within the organisation to come and support the staff and young people through this difficult period. Although these arrangements have ensured that staff have continued to receive regular supervision and training, they have not addressed fundamental weaknesses in decision-making and behaviour management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff report that their concerns about the safety and welfare of young people have been ignored by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Young people have not always been listened to about their safety worries. For example, a young person contacted the police to report a volatile situation in the home and state that they did not feel safe. The reason that the young person felt it necessary to call the police was not properly explored by staff, who told the police that they were not required to attend. Also, one young person has complained to the manager about other young people’s controlling behaviour, but their complaint has not been responded to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Of the seven requirements made at the last inspection, six have been met. There have been improvements to staff supervision, education, monitoring, the home’s statement of purpose and communication with other professionals. There have also been more discussions with young people about their own wishes and feelings generally. However, the important requirement made at the last inspection about protecting young people has not been met. Leadership and management has not been effective enough to respond appropriately to this and to keep young people safe.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 7 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: SC456347 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: 4th Floor, Waterfront, Manbre Wharf, Manbre Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9RU

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Inspector(s)

Caroline Brailsford, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456347 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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