Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 1 SC436372 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd 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 is registered to care for six children and young people between the ages of nine and 17 years who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 22 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

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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: Good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/07/2018 Full Good 10/04/2018 Full Inadequate 25/07/2017 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 3

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improvement to be good

The home has been through an unsettled period, largely due to changes in staffing. The registered manager has recently left her post.

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improvement to be good

Children have found it difficult to invest in and maintain relationships with staff, due to a lack of consistency of caregivers. Consequently, children’s progress and experiences have been variable. While this has been a difficult period for children, they have also had some very positive experiences at the home. Children have forged some positive relationships with staff. For one child, being able to form positive relationships with key staff has underpinned positive outcomes.

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improvement to be good

Some children are making progress in education. However, due to inconsistency in staffing, some children have not received the support they need to engage fully in their education.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. Staff record information about children’s health needs clearly, and there is a good record of health appointments and any follow-up required. Healthcare needs are well understood, and staff have ensured that children receive timely support for their emotional and mental health needs.

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improvement to be good

Children are provided with opportunities to share their views about their care and about the daily routines of the home. Children know how to make a complaint and they know who they can talk to if they have a concern. However, children do not always receive feedback on their concerns and are sometimes unaware of what action adults take in response to issues raised. Staff do not consult with the children when considering whether a new child should join the home. The home has a new manager. New systems have been put in place to improve consultation with children and communication has started to improve for both children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to see the people who matter to them. For example, staff have planned activities for families to make their time together feel more meaningful.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise and celebrate children’s achievements. They speak about being proud of the children. They support children to attend meetings and make a contribution.

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improvement to be good

Before leaving her post, the registered manager had raised concerns about staffing difficulties and the appropriateness of the home for one of the children. This difficult situation went on for a protracted period, which had a detrimental effect on this child, other children and the staff. Leaders and managers have reflected on this and on concerns about poor placement planning. Plans are in place to manage future placement matching differently. Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 4

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improvement to be good

Poor placement planning and matching has led to increased risks to children. Poor placement matching contributed to instability in the home. Children spoke about how stressful the situation has been and said that they resorted to taking themselves to their rooms to be out of the way.

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improvement to be good

Staff have failed to follow safeguarding procedures in a timely manner. At times, safeguarding practice and responses have been chaotic. This is due to inexperienced staff and insufficient staffing. Bank staff were drafted in to work with children with complex needs and risks. The experience and skill of the staff team was inconsistent with the complex needs of the children in placement.

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improvement to be good

A lack of professional curiosity has previously led to delays in addressing safeguarding concerns. However, more recently, staff have responded appropriately to safeguarding matters and have made timely referrals to safeguarding agencies.

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improvement to be good

There are processes in place to respond to children’s complaints and concerns about bullying. However, staff do not always recognise bullying between children, so the onus is on children to recognise and report bullying, rather than the adults caring for them.

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improvement to be good

There are inconsistencies in how physical interventions and de-escalation strategies are recorded for children. Some handwriting is not easy to read and, at times, there is a lack of detail about what led to a child needing to be restrained. Staff are not always debriefed following restraints. The new manager has started to demonstrate improved management oversight of physical intervention in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children’s placement plans and risk assessments are sufficiently detailed. There is a clear chronology of incidents and these plans are regularly reviewed.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment is carried out in accordance with safer recruitment protocols. This means that all staff are subject to rigorous vetting processes.

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improvement to be good

Despite the difficulties that arose during a challenging period in the home, children say that they feel safe. One child said that they feel completely safe at the home.

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

The registered manager has recently left the home and a new manager has been appointed. Senior managers acted quickly to appoint a new manager.

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

The previous registered manager had expressed difficulties in overseeing the management of the home, maintaining staffing levels and managing appropriate admissions to the home.

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

Staff retention is an issue at this home. This has directly affected children as they have struggled to confide and trust staff with their feelings, due to the fear of the staff leaving. One child had accepted that staff leaving was part of his lived experience at the home. The Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 5 responsible individual has confirmed that stabilising the staff team is a priority action for this home, and that staffing needs to be stable prior to any new admissions being considered.

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

Similarly, the home has experienced continual changes in leadership and management. However, the new manager has made a significant, positive impact on the home’s functioning in a very short period of time. She is keen to take the home on an improvement journey.

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

Only one member of staff has the relevant qualifications to fulfil the role. The rest of the staff are new in post. Despite additional staffing being commissioned by the local authority, this has not always been implemented. There have been occasions where there were insufficient staff on duty, placing a strain on the staff team and increasing potential risks to children.

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

Staff have access to introductory mandatory training and other training resources. A shortfall has been identified in relation to training and development for senior staff. Although staff show commitment to their learning and development, currently only one member of staff is qualified. Most staff are new and have been in post for less than one year.

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

Staff have not received regular supervision. Consequently, staff have not been appropriately supported at times when they have felt tired, stressed and overwhelmed. Staff morale has been low and this, in turn, has had an impact on the children. Team meetings have not happened regularly, and staff have not always felt listened to.

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

A requirement is respect of the leadership and management of the home was set at the assurance visit and has been reset following this visit. Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 6

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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 work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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

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Requirement Due date

of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)) This particularly relates to having sufficient, appropriately skilled staff and ensuring that managers monitor the quality of care provided. 30 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 30 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff— provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(iv)) This relates to effective and robust placement matching processes being in place. 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

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Requirement Due date

registered person to ensure— 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)) This specifically relates to ensuring that there is a prompt response to safeguarding concerns, and that these concerns are managed by a consistent staff team and manager who understand safeguarding processes. 30 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 30 May 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children are placed in an emergency, as indicated and detailed in their Statement of Purpose, that there are sufficient staff trained and skilled in the admission and care of children, where their full background may not be known. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.6)  The registered person should ensure that staff are 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 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) Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC436372 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 Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Bev Allison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC436372 10 to 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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