Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 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

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2018.

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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 15 October 2019, to carry out a full inspection. 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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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

Date of last inspection: 15 October 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2019 Full Good 11/07/2018 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Good 31/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel settled and are making significant progress from their starting points. The children scored living in the home as eight or nine out of 10 and all said that this was because of the staff and their relationships with them. Staff use various ways to ensure that they are listening to children’s views, including children’s meetings, ‘You said, we did’ and a compliments box in the home. Staff then act on these views if it is appropriate to do so. An example of this is that one child said that they had all asked for a black-out curtain for the cinema room to recreate the atmosphere of being in a dark cinema and that the manager had ordered one for them. This supports children in making strong, meaningful relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and maintained to an exceptional standard. Children are given the opportunity to redecorate their bedroom when they first move into the home, and their views are sought when re-decorating the rest of the home. One child proudly described helping staff to sand down and paint furniture in the living room, so it matched the colour scheme she had chosen for the room. There are photographs of the children enjoying time with staff displayed around the home. There is a substantial outdoor space for the children to enjoy, with a large patio area, which the deputy manager is currently modernising. The care that staff put into the home helps children to feel valued and to develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enjoy spending time with the children and are creative in engaging them in activities. This has included painting plant pots and growing sunflowers for mental health awareness week. Children are supported to pursue their interests and attend clubs. Friendships outside the home are encouraged and, as a result, children can enjoy the same experiences as their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared well to move on to independence and complete an individual programme of activities to achieve this. One child said that this includes menu planning, food shopping, preparing all her own meals and doing her own washing. This provides children with the opportunity to learn new skills and prepares them for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain in the home. There is only one recorded complaint, and children said that they feel safe and confident in speaking to staff should they want to raise an issue. The complaints leaflets are readily accessible in the home and are also included in the children’s guide, which children are given a copy of on admission. This provides children with a range of options should they wish to make a complaint, thus empowering them to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in full-time education, employment or training and making progress. Staff attend all education meetings, listen to the children’s wishes and, where necessary, advocate on their behalf. Consequently, staff transport children a considerable distance each day to ensure that they can remain in their education Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 4 provision. This level of commitment supports children with continued education progression.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is important in this home. Staff support them to attend health appointments, including for routine and urgent check-ups. While some children continue to smoke, the use of alcohol and cannabis has significantly reduced over time. One child continues to have outstanding immunisations despite this being known when she was first admitted to the home. The manager identified this shortfall in her monthly audit but has not followed this up with the key worker. While this has not negatively affected the child, it shows a lack of management oversight.

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

Children said that they feel safe living in the home. Staff take immediate action to keep children safe and provide appropriate follow-up steps, including seeking medical support or contacting the police. Safeguarding procedures are consistently implemented by staff, who understand their responsibilities. This was seen during the inspection, when one of the children made a disclosure to the manager. This consistent approach has been effective in reducing risk-taking behaviours, including incidents of being missing from home and self-harm. Furthermore, there have been no incidents requiring physical intervention.

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

Staff provide children with a very clear message that children’s safety and well-being are given a high priority. On the rare occasions when children go missing from the home, staff are relentless in their efforts to secure their safe return. This includes persistently trying to contact them by telephone and remaining in contact with family members, as well as driving to all known locations where they might be to locate them. Once children are found, return home interviews are offered.

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

Reports, including impact risk assessments, and presenting behaviours risk management and incident crisis management plans, are clear and easy to read and have a detailed plan of how risks will be managed by staff. There is a system in place for keeping records up to date in a timely manner. However, one example has been identified of a known risk not being included in the child’s case record. This means that staff do not have an accurate understanding of all known risks, which could place children at risk of harm. In addition, some factual inaccuracies have been identified in children’s records. Although this has not had a negative impact on the children, it is important that staff have the correct information in order to provide appropriate care for the children.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed, which provides assurance that they are suitably vetted and qualified to provide care.

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

A review of documents shows that there is one serious incident that has not been notified to the regulator. This failure means that Ofsted is unable to scrutinise information to ensure that children are kept safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She is passionate and has high expectations of herself and her staff. She has an ambitious vision for further developing the service and is supported by a stable and committed team of staff. This means that children benefit from consistent staffing arrangements, which helps to provide them with stability and security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have developed positive working relationships with children’s social workers, professionals and families to ensure that the children’s needs are met. One social worker described the level of communication with the home as being excellent, which is a view supported by all professionals spoken to. One parent said, ‘In all the years [name] has been in care, this is the happiest they’ve been and the most involved I’ve been because staff are encouraging this.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that new staff joining the home receive an induction and structured training programme that is relevant to the individual needs of the children. Training records are kept up to date and identify the type of training completed, for example online or face-to-face, and when training needs to be reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, but this is variable in quality. Some supervision has little focus on the individual needs of the children in the home, and there is no opportunity for reflection of practice. Staff feel supported by the management team and are confident to seek advice and guidance. One member of staff said, ‘[The manager] is really approachable. I know I can go to her whenever I need to. She is supportive and doesn’t get frustrated with me constantly asking questions.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One member of staff has recently been appointed to the position of shift leader and, as such, has supervisory responsibility for a new member of staff who is within her probationary period. The shift leader does not have the necessary substantial relevant experience of working in a children’s home to undertake this role and has not completed any supervision training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The most recent statement of purpose, while available at the time of the inspection, contains inaccuracies. This means that parents, Ofsted and other professionals do not have the correct information to scrutinise to ensure that children are cared for in line with the statement of purpose. Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 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 registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. Regulation 16 (3)(a) 30 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. Regulation 40 (4)(c) 30 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to: respond to the health needs of children including the need for immunisations. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.12)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that any staff member in a deputy or supervisory role such as ‘shift leader’ should have substantial relevant experience

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Recommendations

of working in a children’s home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.21)  The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 7 practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered manager 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

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Recommendations

will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1236026 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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

Paula Shepherd, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1236026 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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