Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 1 SC456850 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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who may need support with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Since January 2019, the leadership and management arrangements for this home have been inconsistent. This is because the registered manager is no longer in post. In the last six months, there have been a number of acting managers.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, a new manager has been appointed. She is suitably qualified and experienced and has a clear vision for this home.

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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: 22 January 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/12/2017 Full Good 19/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(viii)) 10/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well- being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 —

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being; (Regulation 10(1)(2)(a)(i)(iv)) 10/07/2019

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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— 10/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 4 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(ii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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; and

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Requirement Due date

to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(b)(2)(a)(h)) 10/07/2019

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Recommendations

 For the children’s home to be a homely environment, the registered person should ensure that high standards are maintained throughout the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.39)

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Recommendations

This is with specific reference to having clear incentive and reward schemes, according to the young person’s level of understanding.

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improvement to be good

Relationships developed between the young person and the staff team constitute a key strength of the service. Staff clearly demonstrate a nurturing approach to care and the young person responds well to this. However, despite these positive relationships, the Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 5 young person has not made good progress in key areas such as education, health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there has been limited progress in improving educational outcomes. The provider has raised this matter with the young person’s placing authority. However, after a number of weeks the young person is still without a suitable education provision.

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improvement to be good

Aspects of the young person’s health needs are not fully identified, and therefore decisive action is not taken to manage these. For example, the young person is awake most of the night, and states that she has no desire to alter her sleep pattern as she prefers to sleep during the day. This lack of basic structure and routine is impacting the young person’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The staff support the young person to stay in touch with her family and have a good understanding of their family history and relationships. Staff are acutely aware of the impact that contact arrangements can have on the young person’s emotional well-being and support her sensitively during these times.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to gather the young person’s views. This is done through regular meetings, consultation forms and one-to-one formal and informal discussions. This supports and enables the young person to grow in confidence and empowers her to be involved in some of the decisions that affect her life.

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improvement to be good

Good behaviour is not consistently recognised or rewarded. There is no consistent reward system in place, and therefore it is unclear what the young person is working towards and what behaviour is expected from them. The new manager quickly recognised this as an area for development and has now implemented an incentive and reward scheme. That said, this is not yet fully embedded in practice.

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improvement to be good

The general decor of the home requires improvement. Wear and tear are evident throughout the home. The manager has secured agreement from senior managers to restore the house to the appropriate standard.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans are not yet robust. They contain a chronology of events but lack relevant detail about the management of risk. As a result, staff are not completely aware of the potential risks and therefore do not understand how to manage them. Safeguarding records are ambiguous and lack clarity. This means that there is little evidence to demonstrate how staff monitor and respond to emerging concerns. In the main, staff’s direct work sessions are helping the young person to understand risk. Staff have completed project work on anger management, dangers of substance misuse and exploitation. Because of this, there has been a reduction in the frequency and intensity of challenging and destructive behaviour. Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 6 Missing from home incidents are managed appropriately. Staff are proactive when the young person does not return home. Staff go out and actively look for her and alert all

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improvement to be good

relevant professionals to ensure that rapid action is taken to locate and minimise the potential for harm. Staff ensure that independent return home interviews take place. This provides the young person with the opportunity to talk about any issues concerning risk and helps prevent further incidents. Appropriate procedures are in place should staff need to raise a concern. Staff have a good understanding of whistle-blowing and are confident that the provider would take necessary action.

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

The newly appointed manager has a known history of successfully turning failing services around. She is known to Ofsted and has a positive inspection history. The manager acknowledges that the home has experienced considerable upheaval and a period of instability. She is acutely aware of what needs to improve and has a plan in place to address deficiencies.

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

The young person is supported by a consistent staff team. Staff turnover remains low. Staff talk positively about working at the home and feel well supported by the new manager. Regular team meetings, six-weekly supervision and relevant training ensure that staff practice remains effective.

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

Shortfalls in relation to monitoring activities were identified during this inspection. There is a lack of effective monitoring of areas such as risk management and the quality assurance of record-keeping. Due to inconsistent leadership and management, these shortfalls have been allowed to drift and improvement has been slow.

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

The registered manager named in this report is not in operation of this home. The provider is taking action to ensure that the registration certificate is updated accordingly.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 7 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: SC456850 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 W6 9RU

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Inspector

Ceri Evans, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456850 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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