Children's Home run by Cambridgeshire County Council in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 1 Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides short breaks for up to four children with a moderate to severe learning disability. One of the four children being cared for can live at the home permanently.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in September 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this home on 16 December 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted 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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 2

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy staying at the home. Parents spoke of a service that is highly valued by them and their children in terms of the respite that the short breaks provide for parents and the opportunity for children to experience different activities with caring and nurturing staff. However, some shortfalls identified at the assurance visit have not been suitably addressed and parents consistently raised concerns in relation to communication from staff.

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improvement to be good

Parents spoke positively of the care that children receive at the home. However, several parents also spoke of the need for improved communication. Concerns include update calls not always being made and children’s diaries not always being completed after stays. One parent said, ‘Communication is really poor. I don’t know what [my child] did on their last stay, as the staff have not told me.’ Contact records for communication with parents are not up to date and children’s plans do not outline how staff will communicate with families. Poor communication affects the ability of staff to work effectively with parents to meet children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The home is well equipped with a sensory room, large ball pit and specialist equipment to meet children’s needs. However, the environment needs improvement. Paintwork throughout is worn and flaking off in some areas. Some worktops in the kitchen are in poor condition. The manager is aware of the need for work on the environment to be completed and has put together a plan for this. Agreement has been made for the kitchen to be updated, but at the time of inspection there was not an agreed date for this work to be carried out.

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improvement to be good

Children can undertake a wide range of activities during their visits to the home. Recent trips have included a theme park, safari park and zoos. Parents said that children are given opportunities to undertake activities that they would not always be able to do at home. Children’s views about the home and things that they would like to do are sought by staff and acted on. Children’s individual needs are considered when seeking their views, with different communication tools used to do this effectively.

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improvement to be good

There are gaps in children’s plans which mean that staff do not always have the information they need to help children effectively. One child’s diagnosis of an allergy was not recorded on their health plan and another child’s communication needs were not accurately reflected in their plans. For children who stay at the home more regularly, there are not clear plans on how staff support their education. Some children’s risk assessments refer to information which is out of date, and targets that staff help children to achieve are not always updated regularly. This means that the Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 3 help that staff provide for children is not always based on up-to-date and accurate information.

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improvement to be good

Staff manage incidents well and intervene in ways that help children to de-escalate their behaviour quickly. Staff do this based on their knowledge of children’s needs and what children respond well to. However, monitoring of incidents is inconsistent, and managers are unclear on processes to do this. This includes several incidents of aggression between children and towards staff. Some incidents have not been reviewed by managers and others contain very limited levels of review. Poor monitoring of incidents means that opportunities to learn from them and develop practice are not always taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and are committed to ensuring that children are safe at the home. Staff are clear about how to raise concerns in relation to children’s well-being and have done so appropriately when needed. Staff understand the particular vulnerabilities of disabled children. Good levels of staff knowledge in relation to safeguarding help to protect children at the home.

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improvement to be good

Thorough checks take place in relation to the recruitment of staff to work at the home. Staffing shortages have necessitated the use of agency staff at times, who are also subject to these checks in advance of their employment. Safe recruitment helps to ensure that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children.

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good

Staff spoke of being well supported by managers, and managers being available for them when needed. Permanent staff receive regular supervision. However, this does not always include discussion about children’s needs and behaviour. In addition, agency staff do not receive supervisions. This is despite some agency staff having worked regular shifts over a number of months. Lack of practice-related supervision for all staff means that opportunities to consider how children’s very complex needs are being met and how incidents may affect staff are being missed.

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good

The manager has not ensured that systems are in place for effective monitoring of the home. Gaps in children’s plans have not been identified, some documents such as local authority care plans for children in care are not available, and there are unclear processes to identify and address patterns of behaviour. Monitoring was a shortfall identified at the last assurance visit and there has not been significant improvement made in this area. Consequently, information needed to care for children is not always in place and up to date.

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good

External monitoring by the home’s independent person has not always included gaining feedback from children’s parents and visits have often taken place when children are not at the home. Lack of feedback and observation of children limits the effectiveness of the reports and the intended safeguards. Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 4 The manager has worked with other professionals to ensure that children have equipment that meets their needs. When there have been delays in resourcing equipment, the manager has challenged other professionals to ensure that progress is made. This helps to make certain that the home is properly equipped to meet children’s needs. Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff communicate effectively with parents of children who access short stays at the home. 20 September

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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

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)) 20 September

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Requirement Due date

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.

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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 arrangements are in place to— 20 September Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 6 manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that agency staff receive regular supervision and that supervision for all staff considers the needs of children and how these are being met. 20 September

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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.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)) 30 September

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is well maintained and homely. (‘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: 2602980 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shire Hall, Cambridge CB3 0AP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Wendi Ogle-Welbourn

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Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2602980 8 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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