Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cornwall

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

The home provides care for up to two children aged between seven and 18 years, irrespective of gender, who exhibit behavioural, emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning difficulties. The home is part of a larger organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have created a comfortable and nurturing environment for the children who live in the home. There are trusting relationships between the staff and children, which helps the children to adjust to living in their new home. For example, one child talks to staff about his family arrangements and listens to their advice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff maintain the home to a high standard and the children are happy to use the open-plan sitting room and kitchen to watch television and to cook meals. Each child and staff member has a dressing gown, which creates a homely, relaxed atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respond consistently to the children’s behaviour. They value the children’s opinions and talk about issues to agree a way forward. For example, the manager visited one child before he came to live in the home. The manager was able to talk to the child about the home and give a brief description of the other child to help with the children’s introductions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer a range of activities and are creative in keeping the children engaged. There are photos of one child enjoying activities with staff. Staff respect the other child’s wish not to be photographed. One staff member is completing his forest school qualifications to enhance the range of educational and recreational activities available to the children. Staff regularly organise activities to promote the children’s health and well-being, including go-karting and bike rides. One child is reluctant to engage with activities, so staff have invited his friends to join in with him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to attend and do well at school. They are strong advocates for the children, to ensure that they have the best opportunity to succeed. Staff are involved in the daily school routine and know the children’s teachers. For example, all staff are confident about speaking to professionals to address any issues that are negatively affecting the children at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff sensitively manage arrangements for sharing information and keep in touch with the children’s families where possible. Staff have invited family members to visit the home. On another occasion, a family member was invited to attend a specialised training session which was relevant to a child’s well- being.

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

Staff understand and respond promptly to child protection concerns to keep the children safe. Staff have excellent working relationships with other agencies. They are confident about seeking support from professionals, including the police, to address wider community risks to the children. Staff help the children to stay safe online. They remain curious and vigilant in monitoring how the internet is used by the children. Staff have meaningful conversations with the children in order to gather information about their online behaviour. This allows the staff to create appropriate boundaries for each child around internet use.

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

Leaders and managers support staff to effectively manage any behaviour that puts the children or staff at risk of harm. They regularly update risk assessments and protocols to identify current risks. The clinical practitioner ensures that behavioural strategies are effective and help the children to stay safe. There have been no incidents of restraint or episodes of children going missing from home.

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

Leaders and managers develop placement plans around the children’s individual complex needs and high-risk behaviours. They carefully balance how each child’s plan might affect the other child. For example, one child requires extra security measures around the home, such as window restrictors. However, these are not in place for the other child and do not interfere with his experience of living in a comfortable home.

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

The manager monitors staff conduct to ensure that safeguarding concerns are robustly dealt with. This approach reinforces the home’s ethos and maintains high standards of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose promotes a therapeutic response to children. Leaders and the manager strengthen the staff’s practice by undertaking regular debriefs and clinical supervisions to embed learning. While some of the children’s high-risk behaviours persist, this approach has been positive and their placements in the home remain stable. For example, a court order which imposed restrictions on one child has been removed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is qualified and experienced. She has developed a strong core staff team whose members provide consistent support for children and for each other. For example, team leaders are confident and well trained, which enables them to act decisively and recognise when a concern requires escalation to other agencies to protect the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders promote good practice in safeguarding across all homes. The manager has developed a staff profile model to create a staff summary of strengths and weak- nesses including recent supervision records. This summary is shared with other in- ternal managers if staff transfer to another home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have worked hard to open this new home. It is well built and maintained to a high standard. However, the garden requires some maintenance to enable the children to fully enjoy it. The manager has created local links with neighbours to integrate staff and children into the local community. For example, she held a community meeting which has had a positive impact on the reputation of the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the grounds of the home are maintained to create a domestic environment. (‘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’.

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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, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nicola McClements

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Inspector

Justine Hosking, Social Care Inspector 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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