Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for four children aged between 11 and 18 who have challenging behaviours and complex needs. It is one of a group of homes run by a large independent provider. The organisation has its own school, which the children attend. The home was registered in June 2019. The manager has been registered since the home opened. This is the first inspection since registration.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 26 to 27 November 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 2

p.1

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.

p.2

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

p.2

Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met.

p.2

Requirement Due date

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

p.2

Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and

p.2

Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(2)(a)(i)(iii)) 03/01/2020

p.2

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.2

Requirement Due date

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

p.2

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(b))

p.2

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are updated and accurate. 03/01/2020

p.2

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.2

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

p.2

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

p.2

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 03/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 3 registered person to ensure—

p.2

Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

p.3

Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(ii)(c)(f)) The care planning standard is that children—

p.3

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

that, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(d))

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that contact arrangements are accurately recorded in the child’s plan. 03/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees ─

p.3

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This is in particular regard to new staff. 03/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

p.3

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37(1)(2)(a)(b))

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, keep a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rosters worked and a record of any persons who reside or work at any time at the home, who are not mentioned in the rosters. 03/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 4

p.3

Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person must achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 51, paragraph 10.1) In particular, build a stable staff team so that children can build and sustain good-

p.4

Recommendations

quality relationships with the adults who care for them.

p.4

improvement to be good

This is the home’s first inspection since registration. The registered manager and responsible individual were absent from the home prior to the inspection. The manager and responsible individual have since returned to work and have begun to implement an action plan to address the shortfalls that were identified during this inspection.

p.4

improvement to be good

Lack of experienced staff and lack of guidance in the absence of the manager have contributed to placement breakdowns for two of the three children who were admitted to the home. One child came from a sister home and successfully moved on to semi- independent living. There were no children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff from sister homes have been working at this home to fill staffing vacancies. This means that children have not had the opportunity to build and maintain positive relationships with a stable, consistent staff team.

p.4

improvement to be good

The children’s health plans are sparse. They do not give the staff enough information about the children’s health appointments and the outcomes of these. As a result, it is unclear if some children have attended routine health appointments. Immunisation and past medical conditions have not been recorded.

p.4

improvement to be good

Therapists undertake an assessment of each child when they move into the home, and set targets. However, the records lack detail of these targets and information on how the Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 5 staff are to support the children to achieve these. This lack of detail makes it difficult to gauge children’s progress.

p.4

improvement to be good

Placement plans were not obtained by the home. The children had a ‘My Plan’ to create with the staff but these have not been completed. This makes it difficult for staff to find information and work with children consistently and in line with the placing authority’s care plan.

p.5

improvement to be good

Despite staff understanding how important it is to support the children to spend time with their families, contact plans are not clear. In addition, risk assessments have not been updated to help the staff to manage potential concerns. This led to a child going missing from the home.

p.5

improvement to be good

Children have had regular house meetings. Staff used those meetings to gain the views, wishes and feelings of the children. The manager and the staff listen to and act on children’s wishes.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff undertake key-work sessions with the children. The records of these meetings show the involvement of children. The meetings are child led and give the children the opportunity to talk about things that are worrying them.

p.5

improvement to be good

The children’s behaviour and risk management plans have not always been updated following incidents. This means that staff have not been working consistently with children to keep them safe.

p.5

improvement to be good

Important records lack necessary details. For example, the rota and the log book do not include names and times of the staff working at the home. This means that it is difficult to see if the home is adequately staffed and could inhibit the ability to review records in the future, for example in response to a historical allegation.

p.5

improvement to be good

The staff have actively searched for children when they have gone missing from the home. The children are welcomed back into the home. Staff offer them food and drink and give them the opportunity to discuss the incident. However, it was difficult to establish whether the children have return home interviews with their social workers within the required timescale, as no record is kept of social workers visiting the children.

p.5

improvement to be good

Sanctions are fair and proportionate. Staff understand the importance of recognising children’s positive behaviours and reward them when they have done something well. The children have been able to see that the staff recognise and celebrate their achievements.

p.5

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

The quality of leadership and management has been significantly impaired by the Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 6 absence of the manager and responsible individual. In their absence, management arrangements were ineffective.

p.5

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

Although comprehensive internal monitoring systems are in place, these have not worked in the absence of the manager. Consequently, the home has not been monitored effectively and, therefore, potential shortfalls have been missed.

p.6

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

Staff have undertaken all the organisation’s mandatory training. However, no staff hold a relevant level 3 qualification, due to most of them being on probation or not having worked with children for over a year. This means that, apart from the manager, no staff are suitably qualified in working with children in residential care.

p.6

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

Supervisions for new staff have not always been undertaken in line with the organisation’s policy. This means that new and inexperienced staff are not receiving the support and oversight that they need to carry out their complex roles.

p.6

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

The manager has a clear vision of how he plans to move the home forward. New staff are in the process of being recruited. The independent visitor detailed, in their latest report, the areas that need to be improved. The manager has implemented an action plan to address these shortfalls.

p.6

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.

p.6

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: 2534827 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspectors

Trish Palmer, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2534827 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8