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

Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 1 SC434806 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 home provides care for three young people who need stability following previous family or placement breakdowns. The home is privately owned. The registered manager is on maternity leave. An additional registered manager was appointed in April 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 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: SC434806 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2018 Full Good 07/11/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 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 care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)) This is in relation to some errors and omissions found in some young people’s files. 01/09/2019

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are listened to and enabled to report any allegations at the earliest opportunity. Staff should report any allegation of abuse immediately to a senior manager within the home. Any allegation of harm or abuse must be addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17) Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people settle quickly after their admission. Staff spend quality time with them and soon build up good relationships. Recently, one young person and staff went climbing together to get to know each other. This then formed the basis of a very positive relationship and ensured that the young person had someone that they could trust from their first day at the home. Young people feel able to discuss their most personal issues with staff. This means that they receive good-quality help and support. Staff speak very positively about the young people. Young people are praised and respected for who they are so that their self-esteem improves. Staff make sure that young people feel special and cared for. When a young person was recently absent from the home, they came back to the nice surprise of new bedding and other items for their room. When one young person decided to throw away important belongings, these were

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

retrieved by staff and carefully cleaned and restored in case the young person changes their mind. Recently, the group of young people has changed. As a result, group dynamics have been affected. However, the manager keeps a close eye on how young people are affected. He listens to their concerns and supports them. The manager and staff never lose their focus on ensuring that each child has a good care experience. When young people move out of the home, this is normally because they are ready to transition to more independent living arrangements. Staff do not easily give up on young people who display risky or harmful behaviours. This means that young people do not experience unnecessary placement moves. However, when young people’s risks cannot be managed, leaders are not afraid to recommend more appropriate placements. Each young person is engaged in education and making progress. Staff keep a close eye

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

on young people’s learning. They listen to young people and try to find solutions when barriers to learning develop. Opportunities for young people to be involved in their community are plentiful. Recently, young people have been going for walks in the countryside, fishing and swimming. One young person is particularly looking forward to a fishing holiday to the seaside.

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

Young people are as safe as they can be, given their complex behaviours. They often come to the home in crisis after experiencing multiple placement breakdowns. This results in periods of heightened risk-taking behaviours such as going missing. Staff are very well equipped to deal with these behaviours. Young people experience a kind and nurturing approach at a time when they are under great stress. When young people go missing, staff are extremely good at working with other agencies such as the police. They keep searching until the young person is found safely. Links with the local community are excellent. Staff make it their business to know who young people associate with locally. Young people feel cared about and valued because of this Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 5 approach. The diligence and determination of staff gives young people a sense of safety and security. As a result of past trauma and loss, sometimes young people demonstrate challenging

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

behaviours. However, staff are resilient and child focused. They try to understand the underlying reasons for young people’s behaviour. They work together with them on behaviour management plans. After a recent restraint, a young person expressed a view about the way that their behaviour was managed. The team has welcomed his comments. Staff have already put plans in place to change their behaviour management techniques to suit the young person better. This is likely to reduce incidents of challenging behaviour. There is a reflective culture within the staff team. Staff openly question their own and each other’s practice. This means that safeguarding practice is transparent. Young people are also asked about staff practice so that improvements can be made. When young people make allegations, these are normally dealt with thoroughly and effectively. One young person has made a number of allegations. These are being

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

investigated by appropriate agencies. However, one of these allegations was not passed on to the designated officer for the local authority for their consideration. The manager has taken immediate action to rectify this. There needs to be better monitoring and review when the home experiences a high volume of complaints from particular young people, so that nothing of a safeguarding nature is missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads the home by example. He models caring and nurturing practice. Staff need little encouragement because they all genuinely care about the young people. Staff all agree that young people who are in crisis need to know from an early stage that they are genuinely cared about. Staff are recruited carefully. They are well trained and supported to look after very complex young people. They demonstrate energy and enthusiasm. They are very good at delivering high-quality childcare and make a positive difference to young people’s lives. Young people like the staff and become attached to them. On one occasion, leaders should have made more effort to establish background information prior to offering a placement to a young person. The strong learning culture has allowed the manager and organisation to reflect on and learn from this acknowledged shortfall. Several errors were found in some documents. For example, there were incorrect dates

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

in some records. Also, there is not always enough detail to show what happened in relation to important events in a young person’s life. More clarity is needed in risk assessments to make sure that safeguarding information does not get overlooked. This has not impacted on young people, but has the potential to do so if not put right.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 6 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: SC434806 7

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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 9RH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Nadia Hayes Benjamin Hitchin

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Inspector

Caroline Brailsford, social care inspector (Lead) Katarina Djordjevic, social care inspector (Team) Inspection report children’s home: SC434806 8 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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