Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 1 SC457430 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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 operates this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager, who is in day-to-day control of the running of the home, has been in post since 3 May 2019.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 18 December 2018

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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: SC457430 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/12/2018 Full Good 06/03/2018 Full Outstanding 15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/05/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare; help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; 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; regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7(1)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, to provide children with a forum, such as a house meeting to enable them to express their views, wishes and feelings. 15/08/2019

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 15/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 4 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(g)(i)(ii)) In particular, to give staff the opportunity to consult regularly with the company’s psychologist, as outlined in the statement of purpose, to give them a forum to discuss a child’s past and the impact this may be having on their current behaviour.

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Recommendations

 Staff supervision must enable staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15). In particular, for the manager to ensure that supervisors provide staff with consistently good-quality reflective supervision sessions.  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15,

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Recommendations

paragraph 3.10). In particular, to allow children access to the cloakroom toilet.  The registered person must challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan, as the expectation that a placement of a child without the necessary information would go ahead (in circumstances other than an emergency) is inadequate in relation to their role. It is essential that homes understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child’s placement, to avoid disruption and instability for the child in future and for other children in the home. For non-looked-after children, the home should ensure they have sufficient information from the child’s ‘placing authority’ (usually their parents/carers) and other relevant agencies to effectively assess whether they can meet the child’s needs before agreeing to the placement (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.5). In particular, to ensure that placement plans are up to date and contain the correct information.  The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 5 the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children continue to make progress from their starting points due to the individualised care they receive from the caring staff team. The staff’s support of one young person helped them to develop independent living skills, which led to a successful move to their adult home. A carefully planned introduction to the home helped a new child to settle. Staff are aware of the challenges involved in group living and work to mitigate these. The staff team’s continued support helps children to adjust to the new group dynamics, and helps children to manage their difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have improved attendance at school, have fewer exclusions, and are meeting their educational targets. This is enhanced by staff providing additional support when children are struggling. Children benefit from having good friendships with their peers due to the development of their social skills through going to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are many opportunities for children to spend time with staff and to enjoy physical activities in the community, such as going to the gym or trampolining. This offers the chance for children to have one-to-one time with staff when they need time away from their peers. Children develop trusting relationships with members of the long-standing staff team, and accept the advice and guidance from staff. This also enables children to accept support from external counselling and therapy sessions, which leads to an improvement in their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend their statutory meetings. This promotes their voice in the care planning arrangements. However, the children’s meetings at the home stopped several months ago and children do not know why. There is no forum for children to have group input into their care at the home, and to address and receive the manager’s feedback on their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable home, with personalised bedrooms. They have access to most areas in the home, but it is not clear why the downstairs cloakroom is kept locked and is only used by the staff. They have opportunities to care for a small pet.

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

Risk management is good. The staffing levels make sure that the children are appropriately observed and supervised. Detailed and individualised risk- and crisis- management plans give staff clear guidance on what actions to take and what strategies to use. The children do not go missing from home, do not misuse substances and are Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 6 not known to be at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation. Staff receive ongoing safeguarding training and have a good understanding of the individual risks and dangers the children face.

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

Behaviour is managed positively. Staff are resilient and instil clear boundaries. They remain calm even when children are directing their anger towards them. Staff effectively use de-escalation strategies for any child who is experiencing high levels of distress. As a result, there has only been one occasion when low-level physical intervention was necessary.

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

Staff understand how children’s experiences of neglect and trauma affect their emotional regulation and behaviour. However, there was an increase in the number of arguments between the children at the home following the admittance of a new child. There has been a gap in the reflective team meeting discussions with the provider’s mental health practitioner. If these discussions had occurred, they would have assisted staff in managing the unsettled group dynamics.

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

The home has been without a registered manager since June 2018. The previous manager is taking a planned leave of absence and is not registered. The current manager is new in post and is still to be registered with Ofsted.

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

The new manager has spent time with the children to develop a good understanding of their needs. He has good insight into their experiences and how these affect them. The child-centred manager is open, honest and transparent, a management style which the staff speak positively of.

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

The staff are now receiving regular supervisions. However, not all staff are receiving a consistent quality of reflection within their supervision discussions. The manager is not having oversight of the supervision sessions to ensure consistency among the team.

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

Other recording and monitoring are of a good standard, but one child’s placement plan was not up to date.

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

The requirement raised at the last inspection was met and the home now has an updated statement of purpose. The new manager has already identified areas for improvement, such as children not having memory books of the time they have spent living at the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 7 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: SC457430 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childcare Limited, 4th Floor, Waterfront Manbre Wharf, Manbre Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9RU

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457430 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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