Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 1 SC459168 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for four children, irrespective of gender. The children may have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse or had traumatic experiences that have left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in June 2019. There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 16 to 17 September 2019

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 29 May 2019. This inspection identified that poor levels of staffing, inexperienced staff and poor management had led to children becoming criminalised and unsafe. These failures contributed to the most Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 2 serious shortfalls that were found during that full inspection. Ofsted served a compliance notice in respect of the leadership and management of the home. At the monitoring visit on 15 July 2019, the provider had met all the steps that were set out in the compliance notice. Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/05/2019 Full Inadequate 06/12/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 4

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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 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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(f)) 29/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained–

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the Level 3 Diploma’); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, 1 April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the 30/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 5 individual

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)(6)(a)(b)) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months.

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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

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, incorporate a realistic evaluation of the impact of the previous shortfalls on the quality of children’s experiences. 29/11/2019

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. Staff should work to make the children’s home an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health, in line with the approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  Staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive

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Recommendations

behaviour and recognising when children have managed situations well. (‘Guide Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 6 to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.39) Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 7

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improvement to be good

The home has experienced a turbulent year, with several unsuccessful placements. There are continuing shortfalls in the number of both qualified and experienced staff and in managerial oversight.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not advocate healthy eating. Menus include frozen chips and chocolate cereals that have little nutritional value. Staff encourage physical activities, but there is little uptake. The staff have not monitored a child’s weight or height, therefore they are unaware of any changes to the child’s physical health.

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improvement to be good

Children have good school attendance and established school routines. The staff work in partnership with schools, sharing information daily. However, the staff lack specific knowledge of the children’s entitlements, such as pupil premium. The manager has not chased a child’s education health and support plan, this is despite the child being at school for three months. This may result in an uncoordinated approach to the child’s learning.

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improvement to be good

There are areas of the house that require painting, maintenance and cleaning. Flaking paint in the bathrooms and cobwebs detract from the otherwise homely, cottage-style house.

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improvement to be good

The home is running at minimal occupancy. This has enabled the staff to provide high levels of support and plenty of activity choices. Children are currently happy and settled. Most staff maintain good relationships with the children. There is a degree of challenge from the children, who can target inexperienced staff. Discriminatory remarks are always followed up by reflective discussions. These discussions help the children to consider their actions and words.

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improvement to be good

The staff help the children to explore their individual identity. Life-story work is child- centred and details the child’s significant adults. This work helps children to understand their life events leading to placement at the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff provide activities that reflect children’s preferences and personal choices. Children enjoy holidays abroad, visit the beach and go to theme parks and local shopping centres.

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improvement to be good

The staff manage and reduce risks and, therefore, the children are safer. Children no longer go missing from the home, and this has minimised the associated anti-social behaviour. This reduction in risk-taking coincides with a significant reduction in the number of children who live at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 8 Safeguards for children are outlined effectively to alert staff. When mobile telephones increase risks, the staff have a checking system. However, this system is not responsive or intelligence-based, meaning that increased risks could go unnoticed. This has not been monitored effectively by the manager.

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improvement to be good

The staff focus on reinforcing positive behaviour. Although they reward positive behaviour, there is a lack of strategy in their approach. Children can receive generous rewards that are not planned or monitored effectively. This can lead to inconsistences that give the children mixed messages.

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improvement to be good

The restrictive physical interventions are proportionate. Follow-up discussions with the children encourage their reflection and learning. External safeguards work well. A recent allegation was picked up in an external monitoring visit and notified to the designated officer and Ofsted thereafter.

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

The manager is qualified to level 5 and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. She has provided interim management following a difficult period. Although improvements are evident, shortfalls continue in managerial oversight and in the review of incidents.

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

The staff team is new and building its skills and experience. There are very few qualified staff. Some staff have failed to achieve a suitable level 3 qualification within the requisite timescale. The majority of the staff are working towards a level 3 qualification.

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

The managerial monitoring is poor. Records show that staff respond inconsistently to concerns. Despite the manager being made aware of one serious concern, this has not been properly reviewed or addressed and could lead to safeguarding incidents being missed.

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

The manager’s six-monthly review of care fails to fully explore the issues that led to the previous safeguarding concerns and subsequent unplanned endings for some children. The review fails to include the shortfalls of the wider organisation and how these have contributed to children receiving poor care.

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

The children’s records have been adapted to be more child-friendly and other documents have been combined to minimise staff’s reading time. The manager has had limited capacity to streamline lengthy documents, due to the organisations convoluted procedures.

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

Staff supervision and support have improved. The staff supervision records are honest and reflective. Supervision encourages staff to consider their practice and to balance this in the children’s best interests. The manager has guided the staff in their practice and gained the respect of both children and staff.

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

The staff have developed strong relationships with the children’s families and their social workers. Reports from parents and professionals are positive, and they consistently said Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 9 that the children are notably happier since moving to the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 10

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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 difference 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: SC459168 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Drakes Road, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Deirdra Keating, social care inspector Mark Anderton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC459168 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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