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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 1 SC456474 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

This is a privately run children’s home which provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people who may have needs that are associated with complex emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. There is currently no registered manager at the home, but effective and timely steps have been taken to appoint a manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 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 requires improvement to be 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/05/2018 Full Good 26/06/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 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

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— the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is— in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st 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 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 08/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(v)) 08/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) 08/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular— provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or 08/11/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 4 neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a record is needed of the action taken with a staff member to address concerns, and the plans created to improve their care practice. 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. (Regulation 36(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, written copies of the local authorities’ p plans for the children need to be placed on file. This includes personal education plans, placement plans and care plans. 08/11/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2). In particular, although the staff are receiving supervisions, these need to be routinely presented in a finalised written record. The supervision records should be signed regularly and, in addition, the content needs to include details of any reflective discussions about the children.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes

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Recommendations

between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). This is with particular reference to staff duplicating records. Documents should be individualised for each child and should be factually accurate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are investing in the home. The group of children living in the home has changed, and this has had a positive impact on their behaviours and attitude. The children are choosing to spend time with the staff and each other, including sitting together at mealtimes, which previously did not happen. Children now live in a home that is calm and welcoming. Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 5 The children are engaging in education. The staff are working with the children and their teachers and tutors to motivate the children to progress their commitment to learning. However, there is no evidence that long-term plans to extend the children’s learning are made when they have part-time education timetables. This results in their days being unstructured and means that they only experience limited informal learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The identity of each child is respected and celebrated. Children feel comfortable and are confident enough to express their views and emotions, including those concerning their sexuality. The children were helped to grieve after the unexpected death of the home’s manager. One child talked about attending the funeral and being supported to ‘say goodbye’. The children trust the staff and they receive ongoing help and guidance that improve their understanding and management of their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from spending time with their families. The staff facilitate these arrangements and advocate for the children if changes need to be made to contact plans. This maintains the children’s relationships with their families. One parent said, ‘I am thankful they are looking after my baby. He is the happiest I have ever seen him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people experience positive moves out of the home. One young person was helped to move on towards independence. Children’s wishes and feelings are listened to, and plans are created to support them to move closer to their family homes.

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improvement to be good

The children’s risk-taking behaviours are reducing. The staff know the potential dangers to children in the local area, and safeguard them from antisocial behaviour and exploitation. The children infrequently go missing from home and incidents of violence and aggression towards staff and others are reducing in number.

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improvement to be good

Positive interaction between the children and the staff enables relationships to develop. The good relationships help the staff to de-escalate negative behaviours. However, there was an occasion when a staff member’s verbal response to a child was inappropriate. Although no complaint was made by the child, procedures were followed to share these concerns with relevant professionals. However, it is not evident what action was taken with the staff member in regard to addressing their care practices.

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improvement to be good

The children’s use of social media is not effectively managed, and children have access to the internet via their mobile phones. Although this enables them to keep in touch with the staff, they are also able to access inappropriate material online. The staff do have discussions with the children about the dangers associated with social media, and this is evident through key-working sessions. However, all staff do not consistently understand social media or the children’s use of it, and this means that the children are open to various forms of risk online.

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improvement to be good

The children say that they are happy that they have moved into the home. Where Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 6 possible, the staff ensure that the children experience planned moves. However, the assessments that are undertaken in order to identify the potential impact and risk of a child moving into the home are not robust, and do not reflect all information available. As a result, the children’s assessments are not accurate and their risks are not understood. However, the staff mitigate this risk through their good supervision of the children.

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

The home does not have a permanent manager, but steps have been taken to appoint someone following the unexpected death of the registered manager. The monitoring and oversight of the staff, their practices and the children’s records, are delegated to other managers within the company, including the responsible individual. This arrangement provides support for the staff, but the quality of the children’s records has not been maintained and there are evident inaccuracies.

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

The staff implement learning from training and team discussions. They use theoretical principles and clinical consultation to improve the delivery of care to the children. However, not all staff have achieved the required qualification and despite the staff receiving regular supervision, these records are not consistently on file. Additionally, the supervision records seen do not contain details of reflective discussions about the children and the care practices of the staff.

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

Partnership working with professionals and families is positive. This supports multi- agency care planning. However, written copies of the children’s plans, including personal education plans and the local authority placement and care plans, were not routinely maintained on the children’s files.

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

The committed team of staff work together to achieve the aims and objectives of the home. The staff are supportive of each other and advocate for the children to ensure their voice is heard and their needs are met. This means that the children’s outcomes and progression continue to be monitored and developed.

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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 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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 7 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: SC456474 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: Metropolitan House, 3 Drakes Lane Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspectors

Jennifer Fenlon: social care inspector Deborah Duffy: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC456474 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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