Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Halton

Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The child was spoken to during the inspection.

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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 11 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 19 February 2020

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 3

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inadequate

Children’s overall experience and progress are hindered by serious shortfalls in safeguarding practice and leadership and management.

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inadequate

The leaders and managers have not ensured that the home is a safe and welcoming environment for children to live in. There have been significant delays in adequately addressing damage to the home and repairs. For example, broken door handles, damp on the ceilings and several holes in the living room walls undermine the ethos of a well-cared for home.

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inadequate

Children do not have a positive experience of moving on from the home. One child’s placement ended when they were missing from home. This prevented the child from ending relationships with the manager and staff in a meaningful way. Furthermore, it does not demonstrate that all placement decisions are child centred.

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inadequate

The manager does not ensure that children are provided with the specialist health services that they need, such as child and adolescent mental health services. Therefore, children do not receive the expert support and medication that help them to manage their emotions and behaviour.

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inadequate

The manager and staff do not provide children with consistent boundaries or guidance. For example, the inspector observed the child smoking in the home and continually using inappropriate verbal language. This was left unchallenged. This does not help children to develop respect for others or obtain an understanding of the impact of their actions.

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inadequate

The staff do not proactively encourage and support the child to engage in activities outside of the home. The activities arranged for the child mainly involve watching television and playing alone on a games console. As a result, the child is not being provided with sufficient opportunities to pursue new hobbies and develop interests in the local area.

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inadequate

The manager does not obtain all relevant education documents, such as personal education plans. Consequently, the staff do not have sufficient knowledge of the child’s educational targets to help them support the child to continuously learn and achieve.

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

Managers and staff do not understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. The manager and staff have not appropriately managed incidents of a child being at risk of exploitation in the community. They failed to seek appropriate support for the child’s substance misuse and did not take appropriate action when unknown Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 4 substances, believed to be illegal drugs, were discovered in the home. This left the child at risk of harm. In addition, the manager did not record or appropriately report an allegation against a member of staff. Consequently, safeguarding procedures were not followed to keep all involved safe.

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

The staff are not consistently supported by managers when emergency situations arise in the home. For example, the on-call manager failed to provide assistance to staff when a child barricaded both staff in different rooms in the home. This incident lasted from 11pm to 6am, when the child went to bed. During this incident, the staff were unable to supervise and support the child during a time of crisis and did not respond appropriately to threats by the child to set a fire in the home. On this occasion, management decisions seriously compromised the child’s and the staff’s welfare and safety.

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

The manager and staff do not take swift or suitable action to address children’s substance misuse, such as swiftly reporting their concerns to the social worker and seeking support for the child from appropriate services. Additionally, the staff do not undertake meaningful direct work with the child to help them to understand risk and learn how to keep safe.

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

Risk assessments do not provide clear or effective strategies for the staff to follow. At times, staff have failed to implement the protective strategies identified in the child’s risk assessment and behaviour management plan. As a result, the manager and staff are failing to appropriately respond to and reduce the risks presented to the child. This includes the risk of fire-setting, aggressive behaviours, smoking, substance misuse and unsafe internet/mobile phone use. Consequently, the child remains a high risk to himself and staff.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff follow the agreed protocol. However, independent return home interviews are not always being undertaken when the child returns home. Opportunities for the staff to gain increased insight and an understanding of the reasons behind this behaviour are being missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has not had a registered manager since March 2020. Although the manager took up post in August 2020, she did not apply to register with Ofsted until April 2021. At the time of the inspection, her application was in progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual does not provide sufficient oversight, support and guidance to the manager, who is inexperienced and new to the role. For example, the manager does not receive regular professional supervision in line with the company’s policy and procedure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and manager do not ensure that the staff team provides continuity of care for children. Frequent staff changes has resulted in an unstable and inconsistent staff team. Consequently, opportunities for children to build trusting relationships with staff are undermined. Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 5 The responsible individual and manager do not ensure that staff are suitably equipped with the knowledge, skills and training to meet children’s needs. For example, staff have not received substance misuse training despite this being an identified concern for a child living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Weak monitoring and review systems are preventing continued progress in the home. Three requirements raised at the previous inspection have not been adequately addressed. This does not demonstrate the manager’s and responsible individual’s capacity or commitment to achieving the necessary improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and manager have not informed Ofsted of all serious incidents as required. This prevents the home’s regulator from scrutinising safeguarding practice, which weakens children’s welfare and safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and manager have failed to lead the home and deliver the outcomes as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. They do not demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge, understanding, experience and skills to manage and lead the home effectively. Consequently, children do not receive adequate care and protection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following this inspection, an emergency suspension notice was served on this home due to the serious and widespread concerns identified. Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the poor maintenance of the home. 25 June 2021

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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.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans. 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 7 (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the child’s personal education plan is obtained and implemented.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community. (Regulation 9 (1)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the child has access to services that support their emotional and social needs, such as child and adolescent mental health services. 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 25 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. 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(b))

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(a)(c)(e)(h)) 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 9 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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience, and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(a)(b)) 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)) 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the manager receives regular supervision in line with the company’s policy. 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 10

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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: 2542813 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childcare Limited, 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Marina Tully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2542813 12 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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