Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 1 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

A private company owns this home. The home provides a minimum 12-month programme for female young people who have experienced or are at risk of sexual exploitation. It is likely that young people who are admitted to the home will also have emotional, social and/or behavioural difficulties as a result of their experiences. The aim is to provide an individualised approach, with education, clinical and care professionals working together in support of a young person’s care plan. This is intended to create a care package that will best meet the needs of each individual young person. This is regularly monitored through team-around-the-child meetings. The registered manager has been in post for seven months. The provider runs a school, which opened in September 2018. The young people attend this school and it is inspected separately by Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/06/2018 Full Good 31/07/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 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 registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 31/07/2019

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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— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 31/07/2019

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Recommendations

 Children’s home staff should take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular course of action. Staff should discuss the decision with the child’s placing authority where appropriate. If a child makes a choice that would place them or another person at significant risk of harm, staff should assist them to understand the risks and manage their risk taking behaviour to keep themselves and others safe. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7) Specifically, ensure that children have the opportunity to take age and needs-appropriate risks to be able to demonstrate that they can make safer choices. When appropriate, relax the level of safeguards so that this can take place.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the

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Recommendations

home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 4 to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30). In particular, the registered provider and manager should ensure that the arrangements for return home interviews are agreed with placing authorities prior to children being admitted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff continue to support the young people to return home to their families. This was a positive trend at the last inspection. One young person recently left to move much nearer her family and another is having regular weekend contact at home as part of her plan to return to live with her relatives. When the young people’s individual care programmes are not working due to increasing risk from self-harm or missing, the home works closely with placing authorities to find a more suitable placement. The staff are committed to building relationships with, and to understand, the young people. The young people like the staff and have good relationships with them, particularly their key workers. The young people are able to talk to the staff about any worries they have. The young people experience normal day-to-day activities and enjoy going to the hairdressers and nail salons. The staff promote their interests, such as athletics, and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

provide new opportunities. The young people can join a local gym, go swimming and enjoy trips to shopping centres. When it is safe and appropriate, the young people go out on joint activities with friends they have made at school. The staff listen to the young people’s views and, whenever possible, accommodate their wishes and feelings. The young people are given appropriate explanations if they cannot have what they asked for. The young people shop with staff and cook a lot of their own meals. This encourages the young people to develop a sense of belonging and invest emotionally in the staff and the home. The manager has improved the travel arrangements to school, increasing the young people’s attendance. Generally, the young people meet their expected targets at school and achieve well. When there are difficulties with their behaviour, the staff work closely with the school to resolve this. The young people are in good health. They have regular health checks and the staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

encourage a good diet and regular exercise. There is integrated support from the clinical team that works with individual young people, and the team also gives staff advice about the care that the young people need. The young people benefit from a no- smoking and alcohol-free environment. Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 5

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

The staff keep the young people safe. The risks to the young people, such as self-harm, substance misuse, missing from home and child sexual exploitation, are clearly identified. Each young person has a detailed individual risk management plan that staff implement. On admission to the home and to promote safety, the young people are not allowed to have mobile phones or free time as part of the ‘stabilisation’ step of their care programmes. Staff complete room searches and bag checks, and the staffing levels are increased when it is assessed that these extra safety measures are needed. The young people are safer at the home. There is a reduction in the amount of time that they are missing, their offending behaviour decreases, and they are free from exploitation. The staff and clinical team work together to support young people to understand how they have been exploited and how to cope with their feelings. There are limited

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

opportunities at the home for the young people to demonstrate that they have learned how to protect themselves. This is because the level of safeguards at the home remain constantly high from the point of admission. The young people do experience less structured environments when they have overnight family contact. As this takes place away from the home, it is difficult for the manager to assess how well the young people apply their learning and new skills. The staff respond quickly whenever any of the young people are missing from the home. This helps ensure that the young people return safely. The staff are familiar with the signs that the young people may leave and encourage them to stay in and have some hot chocolate, which reduces the number of missing from home incidents. The manager and registered provider have not been able to develop arrangements with placing authorities that ensure return home interviews are always offered to the young people.

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

The young people take part in developing their own safety plans and agree incentives with the staff that are linked to their improved behaviour and individual goals. When there is challenging behaviour from the young people, the staff use appropriate de- escalation strategies. The use of physical intervention is a last resort. The manager has a good oversight of the quality and consistency of staff practice. The manager has acted to make the environment homelier for the young people. There is a new kitchen and a new dining table and chairs were delivered during the inspection. The young people can decorate and personalise their bedrooms and the manager will support the young people to move rooms if they don’t like the one they have. The manager ensures that the young people are listened to and she responds well to any concerns that they raise. There are gaps in the available records of actions taken

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

and outcomes for complaints investigated by the regional management team. On this occasion, this recording shortfall is not judged to have had an impact on the well-being of the young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a new registered manager in post since the last inspection. She is experienced and suitably qualified for the role. She has made a number of improvements, primarily focusing on forming a cohesive staff team. The manager provides staff with appropriate direction and guidance. There are suitable supervision arrangements and opportunities to learn and reflect about care practice. This is providing the young people with more consistent and predictable responses from staff. There are clearer expectations and boundaries in place and better communication from staff to the young people. This is improving the young people’s experiences of their care. Staff turnover has declined and staff morale is higher. Consequently, the young people who have complained about staff changes now experience a more stable staff team. The staff are committed to the care of the young people and work hard to help the young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

people succeed. The staff undertake a range of training to help meet the needs of the young people. This includes subjects such as self-harm, ligature removal and child sexual exploitation. The staff understand that the young people’s adverse experiences prior to admission affect their behaviour. Along with the clinical advice that the staff receive, they are able to give the young people sensitive, nurturing, individualised care. The manager maintains a good day-to-day oversight of staff practice and the young people’s needs, experiences and their progress. This is supplemented by monthly independent monitoring of the management of the home and the young people’s welfare. The last six-monthly written review of the home, completed by the regional manager, was overly descriptive and lacked evaluation about the impact that the home has on the lives of the young people. It also failed to take account of the views of young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

people, their parents, social workers and staff. The manager is due to produce her first review. The young people’s case records are detailed. These records reflect the support that the young people receive and demonstrate that their wishes and feelings are taken account of. Young people are able to see these records if they wish, which would provide them with a good account of their time at the home. The manager ensures that all relevant agencies, such as the local authority, placing authorities and Ofsted, are informed of significant events relating to the welfare of the young people. With the improved integration between the care staff, school and clinical team, the young people receive good all-round support.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 7 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: 1159272 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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Inspectors

Simon Morley, social care inspector Krista Hardy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1159272 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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