Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children's home: SC476236 1 SC476236 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. The home provides care for up to four children aged 11 to 18 years who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 21 July 2021. She is currently completing a level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential childcare.

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 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: SC476236 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/07/2019 Full Good 12/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC476236 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children currently live in the home. They have lived in the home for between six and nine months. Children who have moved out of the home since the previous inspection moved in line with their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff know children well. They have a good understanding of children’s needs and respond to them with sensitivity, compassion and respect. As a result of these positive relationships, incidents of children going missing from home and self-harm decrease. Children told the inspector they feel safe living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children understand their rights and entitlements, and uphold these. When children make a complaint, their concerns are listened to and addressed. However, the response to children has fallen short of the organisation’s specified timeframe. This shortfall was down to senior managers and the manager was diligent in chasing a response for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is measurable educational progress for all children. Children attend education and work experience placements. As a result of this, children are increasing their learning both educationally and socially. Staff and teachers share information daily. This positive approach ensures that teachers and staff know what is happening for children and they support children’s needs well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are leading healthier lifestyles. For example, staff support children to stop smoking, with positive outcomes. This includes working with children to understand the negative impact smoking has on their body.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff supported one child to successfully complete an interview for paid employment. Staff and the child made a fortune teller (a form of origami children’s game) and the staff wrote down a variety of positive attributes the child has, giving her examples that she could share at her interview. Consequently, the child has a greater insight into her qualities and was able to use this to support a positive sense of herself and a successful interview.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children joined in a community project during the COVID-19 pandemic. They made postcards and delivered hampers to older people in the local area. This helped children further understand kindness and feel part of the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have made the house a homely environment for children. There are photos of children displayed on the walls and children spend time with staff, cooking and talking about their day and their interests. Children choose to spend time with staff. This promotes children’s sense of belonging and supports positive relationships between staff and children. Inspection report children's home: SC476236 4 Staff work with the placing authority to support children to see people who are important to them. This includes gradually increasing time spent with family to include planned overnight stays. As a result, children’s identity and positive family relationships are promoted.

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

Staff promote the safety of children and successfully help them to make positive choices to stay safe. One child’s parent told the inspector how much progress their child has made. Their child is now much safer than before they moved into the home.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. This is a significant decrease for all children. When they do go missing, staff quickly look for them. However, on some occasions, staff did not follow children’s individual risk assessments correctly and there have been short delays in contacting the police. In agreement with the placing authority, the organisation employs an independent person to conduct return home interviews. However, these are not always carried out within the required time frame. This delay means that children are not given an early opportunity to share their experiences. The manager identified this weakness and is taking some action to address it.

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

Staff support children to manage their feelings. For example, children all have an individual sensory box they use to help distract them. Additionally, they wear a coloured band to alert staff to their feelings. As a result of this approach, staff can intervene early to support children’s emotional needs and help them to access therapeutic services.

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

Children actively seek staff support to talk about things that are troubling them. Staff spend time with children, listening to their concerns and advocating on their behalf when required. One parent told the inspector the staff ‘genuinely care about my child’.

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

Alarms are used on children’s bedroom doors at night. Managers have not carried out a rigorous assessment of children’s needs to support the requirement for this measure. As a result, the alarms may have been used unnecessarily. This detracts from an otherwise homely environment.

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

During the inspection, several window blind cords were observed to be loose, posing a potential risk to children. On being informed of the potential danger, the registered manager was quick to have this addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there is a new registered manager for the home. This is her first registered management position. She is working towards her level 5 leadership and management qualification. She has worked in the home for many years in various roles and therefore knows the home well. Inspection report children's home: SC476236 5 The registered manager is passionate about the care children receive. She is supportive, encouraging of children’s aspirations and provides children with a welcoming homely environment to live in. The registered manager is supported by a very knowledgeable deputy manager. They work together well in communicating their vision of how children should be understood and cared for to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have positive relationships with external agencies, including social workers, schoolteachers, police and a therapist. Social workers report they are kept well informed about children and the communication is very good. All professionals speak highly of the manager and the progress the children have made since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported and they benefit from regular supervision. This allows staff to reflect on their practice and the care afforded to children. Where staff practice falls short of the expected standard, the registered manager is quick to address this, by taking appropriate action. Staff receive appropriate training to support them to care for children. The majority of the staff team have completed a level 3 diploma in residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the appropriate checks. This helps to ensure that staff who work at the home are safe to do so. New staff members complete a thorough induction to enable them to understand the home’s ethos and how best to work with children to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has failed to ensure that after a physical intervention discussions have been held with staff and children in the specified time frame. Inspection report children's home: SC476236 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

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 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)(a)(v)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff reporting children missing from home in the time frame specified in their individual risk assessments.

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Requirement Due date

Also, to ensuring that cords on window blinds do not pose a risk to children. 23 November

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 23 November Inspection report children's home: SC476236 7 This specifically relates to staff being spoken to within 48 hours of the physical intervention they were involved in. If the registered manager has been involved in the physical intervention this should be done by a more senior manager.

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Requirement Due date

The manager should speak with children within five days of the physical restraint.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to complaints being dealt with within the specified time frame set out in the complaints procedure. 23 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. This specifically relates to return home interviews

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Recommendations

being completed within the statutory guidelines of 72 hours. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report children's home: SC476236 8

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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: SC476236 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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

Jodie Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC476236 10 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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