Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: SC478468 1 SC478468 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 operated by a large private provider. The home provides care for up to five children who may have emotional or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2020.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 6 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC478468 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/09/2019 Full Good 05/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: SC478468 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a safe home. They receive care from a stable staff team who know them well and understand their needs. As a result, children who have lived in the home on a long-term basis are making good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak very highly of staff. They describe warm and trusting relationships and say that they feel confident in talking to staff about their worries. Children were also observed to have positive relationships with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and are able to clearly describe how they support each individual child’s anxieties or worries. Joint working with the home’s in-house therapist has enabled staff to develop their understanding of children’s emotional well-being and, as such, enhanced their practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive an extremely good level of support to maintain important relationships. For example, staff regularly travel a considerable distance and stay in a hotel to facilitate family time for a child who lives a long way from his family. In addition, children are encouraged to have their family and friends spend time with them at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff work carefully to ensure that children receive medical support when necessary and are clear about their own role in supporting children’s health. Due to staff vigilance and actions, one child received emergency treatment which is believed to have saved his eyesight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the individual challenges faced by each child in relation to education. Children’s levels of engagement in education remain variable, with some children attending regularly and experiencing positive outcomes and others struggling to engage. However, it is clear that staff work closely with relevant professionals to ensure that children have the correct support in place.

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improvement to be good

Children who have lived in the home for a long time are safer as a result of the care and support that they receive. There is clear evidence of risks to most children’s safety and well-being reducing over time, particularly risks relating to children going missing from home or being exploited.

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improvement to be good

However, there are significant concerns about one child who has recently moved to the home. This child has gone missing from the home frequently and there have been concerns about her being exposed to harm when she has been away. Inspection report children's home: SC478468 4 The acting manager has been proactive in sharing her concerns with relevant professionals. There have been a number of multi-agency meetings to discuss the concerns but, on some occasions, there has been a lack of agreement about how risks to the child should be managed. This means that strategies to protect the child may lack clarity or be ineffective.

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improvement to be good

All staff receive training in safeguarding at the start of their employment, which is regularly updated. However, on one occasion, a concern raised by a child was not managed in line with the home’s safeguarding procedures. This shortfall was promptly identified and addressed and did not have any impact on the child. However, further failure to follow safeguarding procedures could mean a child is not protected from harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff show good insight into the effects of children’s early life experiences and how these may have an impact on children’s behaviour. Staff manage children’s behaviours in a consistent and nurturing way. As a result, children have developed safer behaviours over time and serious incidents have significantly reduced.

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improvement to be good

Following a recommendation raised at the home’s last inspection, the use of sanctions to help children understand the impact of their behaviours has been reviewed. Sanctions are carefully monitored to help ensure that they remain consistent and proportionate. Children’s positive behaviours and achievements are consistently celebrated and rewarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2020. Currently this manager is on a period of extended leave and a suitably experienced temporary manager has been appointed. The temporary manager has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals, such as social workers and independent reviewing officers, is highly positive. They describe good levels of communication and express satisfaction with children’s care and support. A social worker commented, ‘I have been consistently impressed with the consistency and quality of care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe a supportive environment. They confirm that they regularly benefit from one-to-one supervision and team meetings. Staff also express satisfaction with the training that they have received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some shortfalls were identified in relation to the standard of record-keeping in the home. In some examples, unhelpful language was used, and in others, records of events were not as clear as they could have been. The temporary manager has identified these shortfalls and addressed them with the relevant staff members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is effective. Shortfalls are promptly identified and addressed. This helps to ensure that children live in a home which is constantly improving. Inspection report children's home: SC478468 5 An independent visitor attends the home monthly to assess standards of quality and safety. However, consultation with children and other stakeholders during these visits is limited. This matter has been identified by the responsible individual, who has taken steps to address it. Inspection report children's home: SC478468 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;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement specifically relates to the need to ensure clear multi-agency agreement when developing risk management plans, and to the need to ensure that the home’s safeguarding procedures are followed at all times. 3 September 2021

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 3 September 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person appointed to the home makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements Inspection report children's home: SC478468 7 for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. This assessment should include the feedback and opinions of children and other stakeholders. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff have clear guidance about how to respond to each child’s individual behaviour to enable them to manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogue and react appropriately and consistently if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: SC478468 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: Cambian Childcare Limited, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC478468 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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