Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 1 SC424851 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to six children with EBD (social and emotional difficulties).

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a qualified manager who registered with Ofsted in May 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 17 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 17 September 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/08/2018 Full Good 03/10/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making very good progress in the home. For example, a social worker commented that ‘the home has been outstanding with [the child]; the progress [the child] has made is unbelievable. [The child] is now happy and has grown in confidence.’ This means that children are supported to achieve their full potential.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s differences are celebrated in the home. Staff support children to explore their identity in a positive way and children feel safe to express themselves in the home. Children are encouraged to develop their self-esteem and confidence in how they perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others. The staff team is diverse and shares in children’s interests. This means that children feel valued, irrespective of their differences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are attending school are making good progress. Leaders ensure that they escalate concerns appropriately when there are barriers to children accessing education. Staff also ensure that children access a wide range of activities and that their interests are promoted. Consequently, children are ambitious, and their natural talents continue to develop.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed trusted relationships with staff. For example, children speak to staff about their worries and concerns, and say that these are responded to promptly by staff. Children say that they feel safe and know that staff care about them and their needs. As a result, children feel listened to and have adults in their lives who care about them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain and their complaints are taken seriously. The registered manager ensures that complaints are managed well, and restorative discussions take place when complaints are made by children. Consequently, children feel able to express their views and they are confident that any concerns they raise are addressed.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s physical environment lacks warmth and has an institutional feel. The registered manager has taken steps to redecorate some areas of the home, but other areas are in poor condition and require redecoration and repair. A child said that, ‘the home is too big and does not look or feel like a normal home.’ This hinders children’s experiences of growing up in a homely environment.

p.3

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

Children feel safe in the home. Staff ensure that there are clear boundaries and expectations for children, which help to keep them safe. Staff know the children well and understand their complex needs. Children are also supported to understand their own risks and how to keep themselves safe. As a result, incidents in the home are managed well and signficant incidents have reduced. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 4 Staff have a good understanding of vulnerabilities of children at risk of child criminal exploitation. One child has made significant progress and concerns have reduced to the extent that intervention from a specialist service ended sooner than originally planned. Staff ensure that they have regular discussions with children to develop their understanding of how to keep safe. As a result, children are increasingly able to identify risky situations and gain skills to make more positive choices.

p.3

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risk assessments and how to keep children safe. The registered manager has provided staff with training around the home’s safeguarding policies and procedures. The registered manager also follows up any shortfall during upskilling sessions and supervisions. As a result, risks to children are managed well.

p.4

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

Staff use physical intervention proportionately and for the least amount of time necessary. Debriefs are undertaken with children and staff as soon as possible after an intervention to ensure that they have opportunities to reflect. This helps children to develop empathy and promotes positive relationships within the home.

p.4

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

Staff mostly take appropriate action when children go missing. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the missing-from-care protocol. In contrast, the recording of the missing risk assessments lacks important information. This means that staff who are unfamiliar with the protocol may not take appropriate action when children go missing. On another occasion, there was a poor response from staff, but the registered manager’s oversight identified this shortfall, and a learning review was completed. Consequently, shortfalls of a similar nature have not occurred.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is ambitious for children and has high aspirations for the home. The registered manager is well regarded by staff and other professionals, who say that she is committed to achieving good outcomes for children. Children’s achievements are celebrated in the home and they are inspired to continue to make progress. This means that children are supported to achieve their potential.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and the quality of this is good. The supervision is reflective; it explores staff’s developmental needs and considers the impact that staff are having on the progress of children. As a result, staff are continuously supported to develop their skills to improve the quality of care that children receive.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that concerns are escalated with placing authorities and external agencies efficiently. There is good collaborative working. The registered manager advocates for children to ensure that professionals understand their needs and poor outcomes for children are challenged. This means that steps are being taken to ensure that children receive the help and support they need.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good oversight of some areas where there are shortfalls in staff’s practice. For example, there is good critical analysis of incidents and Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 5 learning identified to prevent poor practice. However, this is not consistent as the manager does not always pick up on shortfalls in staff’s recording of risk assessments and important information missing in children’s files. This means that monitoring systems are not consistently identifying poor practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not ensured that the regulator has received a report that reviews the quality of care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. As a result, the regulator is not able to review the progress that the children are making and the actions the home is taking to support this progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, there are areas of the physical home environment that are in poor condition, and require repair and redecoration. 25 January 2022

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 25 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 7 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

p.6

Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

p.7

Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

p.7

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that the regulator is sent a report outlining a review of the quality of care that children receive.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that children’s records are kept up to date. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and accurate recording. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered manager should ensure that the child’s risk assessment detail the procedures to be followed by staff when the child goes missing. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered manager should ensure that they are able to consistently deliver their leadership and management responsibilities. They should have sufficient capacity to ensure that they support staff and have oversight of the home. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7) Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 8

p.7

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 for children’s home: SC424851 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

p.9

Inspector

Mazviita Makiyi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC424851 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10