Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Essex

Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 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

This privately owned children’s home provides care for four children. 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 has been in post since 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 23 to 24 September 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: 1258092 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2018 Full Good 13/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii)) 16/12/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should plan staffing levels to ensure that they meet the needs of children and can respond flexibly to unexpected events or opportunities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.15) In particular, review the overnight staffing arrangements to ensure that they continue to meet the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have successfully created a stable and nurturing home. They show the children love and attention and this helps the children to feel secure and settled. The Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 4 children arrive from school and enthusiastically greet the staff with hugs. They all spoke warmly about the staff. One child said, ‘I like ‘X’ [staff member] best, because she spends a lot of time with me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have helped three children to move from the home in a planned way. These children have moved to foster carers or specialist residential care. Transition support includes individual training for the foster carers and therapeutic outreach support. This tailored support prepares children effectively for transitions out of the home. The admission of children to the home is equally well planned and helps new children settle in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage children to be valued members of the local community. They water neighbours’ plants, and one child is involved in a local care kindness project. This increases the children’s self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have a very good knowledge and understanding of the children’s needs. The therapeutic model of care is embedded in the care planning. The majority of the children make good progress. When children need specialist help, the staff continue to ensure that they provide individualised care while other care options are considered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff advocate for each child’s rights to education. They seek and involve partner agencies where appropriate. When the children are not in full-time school, the staff provide them with a variety of social and community-based activities. These widen the children’s horizons and help them improve their social confidence and skills. One child spoke proudly about a garden planter that he had made and filled with flowers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Areas of the home have been redecorated and these include the lounge and the hallway. However, some children’s bedrooms are not decorated or furnished to a good enough standard. Some bedrooms contain broken furniture and one has a soiled carpet. The privacy screening in two bedrooms requires replacing and another bedroom window requires maintenance.

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

The children feel safe. They learn to trust the staff, who are significant adults in their lives. The children develop close relationships with the staff and each other. These increase their ability to resolve day-to-day issues amicably. The staff use consistent boundaries that help the children to feel secure. Regular praise, rewards and discussion encourage positive behaviour. The staff have taught the children to reflect on their behaviours. One child said, ‘I have learned strategies to help me calm when I’m angry.’

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

The staff are trained and skilled in supporting children with complex behavioural and emotional needs, including those who self-harm. They understand the children’s potential risks and detail these specifically in care plans. One social worker said, ‘The staff have gone above and beyond in terms of putting in protective measures for the child.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 5 The staff successfully minimise the challenges that the children face. Children’s behavioural incidents reduce significantly. The staff continue to provide the children with unconditional positive regard. They help the children learn how to express affection and remorse and this helps them to rebuild damaged relationships.

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

The arrangements for overnight staffing levels have not been reviewed. This fails to ensure that the supervision levels during the night are monitored effectively and are responsive to children’s needs.

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

The building is generally safe and the fire prevention arrangements are routinely checked. However, a battery-operated thermostat in the kitchen poses a risk to children. The local water company has served an improvement notice in relation to the insufficient arrangements for waste water removal. These aspects have been overlooked and fail to ensure that all areas of the home are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides competent leadership and is working towards a level 5 management qualification. She has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. The manager models high expectations for therapeutic childcare and this ensures that the home’s therapeutic model of care is embedded in the staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children speak positively about the staff and rarely complain about the quality of their care. However, when children raise concerns, effective action is taken to ensure that their views are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children benefit from a manager who is actively engaged in their care and wider network. One family member described the manager as ‘brilliant’. The staff act as advocates and appropriately challenge professionals. One professional said that the staff have ‘gone above and beyond’ to ensure that each child receives appropriate support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are well maintained and regularly updated. These provide the children with an understanding of their life histories and an account of their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced staff team values the manager’s support. Its members receive regular supervision and are well trained. Specialist training has been commissioned for the staff team. This equips the staff to respond appropriately to specific and complex behaviours. Regular group sessions with a specialist clinician have been introduced to encourage the staff to practise reflectively. The staff describe adopting a ‘whole-team approach’ enabling a consistent environment in which the children experience stability and security.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 6 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: 1258092 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: Metropolitan House, 3 Drakes Road, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Joanna Heller, social care inspector Angela Weston, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1258092 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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