Children's Home run by 4d Care Ltd in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 1 SC064557 Registered provider: 4d Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private organisation runs this home. The home offers care for up to six children who may have experienced trauma, neglect or abuse, and family or placement breakdowns. The organisation provides education facilities on site.

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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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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2020 Full Outstanding 25/02/2019 Full Good 11/07/2017 Full Outstanding 02/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress and experiences are good. The staff clearly identify and understand the children’s social and academic progress. The home’s care planning processes enable the children to understand what they need to do to make further improvements in their lives. The staff support the children exceptionally well. This enables the children’s positive personal growth, both educationally and emotionally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Therapeutic methodology underpins the relationships between the staff and the children. Recreational activities are underpinned by theoretical frameworks. The children and the staff work towards common goals. This benefits the children tremendously by reinforcing their sense of belonging in a family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good academic progress from their starting points. On occasion, some of the children have been reluctant to engage in education. At such times, the staff provide the children with access to alternative education programmes. The staff creatively tailor education to the needs of the children. This results in children obtaining qualifications even if they cannot work towards GCSEs. The children’s feelings of self-worth improve, and they progress to the next step in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers said that the children have gained a sense of permanency from living at the home. Two social workers said that their children had previously lived in multiple placements that had broken down. Since moving into the home, the children’s behaviours have stabilised. This has led to a reduction in criminal activity and an increase in therapeutic engagement. Living at this home has increased the children’s capacity to keep themselves safe, and has enabled them to begin to address past trauma.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide exceptional support for children who are moving into and out of the home. The staff support children who no longer live at the home via outreach. This support includes acting as guarantors for rental properties so that the children can remain in their allocated education provision and remain local to the home. The support is above and beyond usual care practices, and has a long-standing and enduring impact on children at a pivotal time in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and, in the main, well maintained. However, there are some areas, such as the computer room and laundry, that would benefit from redecoration. One child’s bedroom carpet is heavily stained. In addition, there has been a leak in another room that has caused water damage to a ceiling. The manager had planned for some of these issues to be addressed, but this was delayed due to restrictions related to COVID-19. Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 4

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

The staff are skilled and experienced in dealing with self-harming behaviours. Although there have been several incidents of self-harm, the frequency of these is reducing over time.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. The children have a sense of belonging and safety at the home.

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

Risk assessments are regularly updated, are reflective of the children’s risky behaviours and are widely understood by the staff. Risk-mitigation strategies make children increasingly safe.

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

The staff understand the importance of online safety. The home’s online systems have appropriate filters to reduce access to unsuitable material. On occasion, some children have been able to bypass the home’s online safety features. At these times, staff have implemented safety measures to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

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

The staff use sanctions infrequently. Sanctions are reasonable and proportionate, and are implemented to create behavioural change and keep children safe.

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

The staff are not risk averse. When staff have found behaviours difficult to manage, they have remained committed to the children and have worked through these difficulties. This has led to clear benefits for children. The ethos of the home is to focus on the children’s achievements, rather than any difficulties that they experience. Risks and outcomes are carefully considered.

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

A fire had been set by staff in the grounds of the home. In the ashes of the fire there were broken glass and tin cans with sharp edges. These items are hazardous to a child’s health should they fall on them or use them to self-harm. The staff have failed to check that the grounds are free of hazardous items.

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

A child who smokes did not have a risk assessment in place. This child also collects cigarette butts and smokes them. This could potentially be hazardous to the child’s health. Risk-mitigation strategies should be identified to guide staff, and managers should ensure that these strategies are consistently adopted by the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has provided staff with additional financial recognition for their work during lockdowns and restrictions related to COVID-19. The management team provides staff with professional development opportunities that far exceed basic requirements. The management team fully invests in the staff team and actively promotes the staff’s positive well-being. This improves staff morale and benefits the children’s experiences of living at the home. The staff speak highly of the manager and feel supported in their roles. Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 5 The management team is innovative and creative. The managers provide the children with exceptional experiences, such as trips to Wales and Derbyshire and an Ironman-type trial. The trial is an endurance activity, and it collectively pushed the staff and children outside their comfort zones. These experiences give children an opportunity to grow, to develop themselves and to learn about their capabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This increases the children’s self-esteem.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has been proactive in its responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has kept the children and staff safe, and there have been no cases of children contracting COVID-19. The management team has been hindered by the restrictions and lockdowns, and has not been able to implement several actions due to the restrictions in place. Despite this, the management team has worked hard to ensure that children have remained occupied and engaged in education throughout the lockdowns and restrictions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an excellent role model to the children and the staff. He has been involved in charitable fundraising activities with the staff and the children. The manager, the staff team and the children recorded a song to celebrate the home’s 15-year anniversary. The manager leads from the front, but also fully immerses himself in activities at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The external monitoring of the home lacks rigour. Monthly visits have not always taken place. This limits the capacity to drive progress at the home. Some reports are very limited in content and do not convey the progress of the children adequately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A restraint record and a sanction record were not monitored by the manager. Lapses in monitoring reduce the manager’s capacity to ensure that staff practice is appropriate. Opportunities are missed to undertake lessons-learned activities that could further improve the quality of care provided for the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risks associated with children smoking are assessed, mitigated and understood by staff. 18 June 2021

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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—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that hazardous items are not accessible to children. 18 June 2021

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 18 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, monitor restraint, missing-from-home and sanction records to ensure that care practices have appropriate managerial oversight.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. (Regulation 44 (1)) 18 June 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is homely. In particular, maintain a good standard of decoration in all areas of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC064557 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8a New Road, Mepal, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 2AP

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Inspector

Lianne Bradford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC064557 9 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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