Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 1 SC412175 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

The home is privately owned. It provides care for up to four young people who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has experienced a period of instability in management. The registered manager left the home in April 2019. Another manager joined the home in April 2019 but left the home in December 2019 without registering with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is currently managed by an experienced manager who is aware that she is required to submit her application to register with Ofsted as soon as practicable and within six weeks of her appointment.

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 December 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2018 Full Good 06/02/2018 Full Good 14/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12(1)(a)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have a clear understanding of what constitutes bullying and work effectively with children to address this issue. 15/03/20

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff are equipped to manage children’s challenging behaviours, staff are given clear and 15/03/20 Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 4 consistent guidance to support children and there is consistency in the management of the home. The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iii)) 15/03/20

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

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, ensure that children’s files contain accurate information and reports are placed in the correct files. 15/03/20

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the manager promptly responds to all complaints and keeps clear records. 15/03/20

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the above principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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Recommendations

This is in relation to ensuring that a senior manager undertakes the debrief and has oversight of incidents of restraint when the manager has been involved.  As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 5 In particular, ensure that staff receive regular supervision and an annual appraisal.  Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph, 15.1)

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Recommendations

Ensure that when reviewing the location risk assessment, up-to-date information is included.

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improvement to be good

Children have experienced an unsettled period because of a lack of clear and effective leadership. Changes in managers and staff mean that children have received inconsistent care. This is because staff have not had sufficient guidance from managers and in turn they have not implemented clear boundaries and expectations for children. With the recent appointment of a new manager, this is improving and as a result, children are beginning to feel more settled.

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improvement to be good

Eight children have moved out of the home since the last inspection, the majority of whom moved in an unplanned way. Poor matching, coupled with staff not being able to manage children’s behaviours well, led to instability for children and meant that they did not all have consistently good experiences. Children who have recently moved into the home have been matched well, and staff are receiving training. This means that the children living together now are more likely to do so with ease and staff are more equipped to deal with any challenges that the children present.

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improvement to be good

Not all children attend school regularly. Children experience delays in receiving education because suitable school placements are not identified in a timely way. This affects children’s learning and means that they have not been supported to achieve their potential. The new manager is liaising closely with education professionals to address this issue and so improve outcomes for children.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint and there have been three complaints since the last inspection. However, in respect of one complaint it is not clear how managers and staff have responded to this and recorded what action they have taken. As a result, children can feel that their complaint is not taken seriously.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to develop age-appropriate independence skills. Children make good progress with things likes cooking, doing their laundry, and safely managing the time they spend in the community with their friends and on activities. Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 6 Children are encouraged and supported by staff to attend routine health appointments. This promotes children’s physical health. They also receive some good support to help them to manage their emotions.

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improvement to be good

When children have successfully worked towards individual goals, they have been rewarded. They respond positively to receiving these incentives and this motivates them to do well. This has contributed to children beginning to make some good progress from their starting points.

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improvement to be good

Children have their own pets that they take pride in caring for. This helps children to build important life skills, such as responsibility and empathy. It also enables them to develop a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, staff try to maintain contact with them and locate them as quickly as possible. Staff liaise well with the police to ensure a coordinated response. However, it is not clear from the records if children are always offered the opportunity to talk to someone independent on their return. This is a missed opportunity to understand why children go missing from the home and what has happened while they are away.

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improvement to be good

Staff have struggled to manage children’s challenging behaviours consistently and effectively. The police have been called out to the home to help staff de-escalate children’s aggressive and threatening behaviours. This increases the chances of children being criminalised.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical interventions only as a last resort to keep children safe. Generally, there is good management oversight of such incidents. However, when the manager was involved in one restraint, she undertook the debriefs with staff and the child and evaluated the effectiveness of this measure of control. This does not provide for independent scrutiny of incidents that involve the manager.

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improvement to be good

Children have experienced bullying in the home. When this happens, staff have not responded consistently. For example, although on most occasions staff have challenged children when they display bullying behaviour, some incidents have not been clearly recorded. As a result, it is difficult for managers and staff to establish patterns and trends and be clear that all incidents have been appropriately followed up.

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improvement to be good

The location risk assessment has recently been updated but does not consider up-to- date information regarding key issues in the local area. This has the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures that staff recruited to work in the home are subject to thorough recruitment checks. This means that staff working in the home are suitable to work with children. Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 7 Staff update children’s risk assessments to reflect current risks and behaviours. These documents provide staff with clear guidance on how to keep children safe.

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

For some months, the home has not benefited from effective leadership and good management oversight. This was recognised by senior leaders and a plan was put in place to address this. The new manager offers the children and staff clearer direction and has a plan in place to address the shortfalls and develop the service.

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

The new manager has undertaken a review of all systems and processes and updated staff on what is now expected. This work is still in its infancy and due to the volume of work needing to be undertaken, there are still some inconsistencies with staff recording and case records that need to be addressed.

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

Until recently, staff did not receive regular supervisions and so staff have felt unsupported at times. A plan is now in place to ensure that all staff have their annual appraisal, as soon as possible, as these are overdue. Staff told the inspector that since the new manager has taken up post, they feel better supported and have a clear direction of what is expected of them. This is helping them to improve the quality of care they provide to children.

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

New staff receive a good induction. All staff have completed their mandatory training as well as training to help them understand the needs of the children in their care, for example self-harm, autism spectrum disorder, county lines and child exploitation. This training gives staff the knowledge and skills to better manage children’s behaviours and risks. However, identifying and responding to bullying behaviour is an area that staff still need training in and the manager is making plans to address this.

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

The manager is planning to have the home redecorated. This will help improve the appearance of the home, and make it homelier and more welcoming for children.

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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 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 8 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: SC412175 9

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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 Darkes Road, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Shazana Jamal, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC412175 10 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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