Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children's home: SC456959 1 SC456959 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 is a privately owned children’s home. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care for children with social and emotional difficulties. difficulties)

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Information about this children's home

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in June 2020.

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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 on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine inspections on 12 April 2021

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Information about this children's home

We last visited this setting on 19 February 2021 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good Inspection report children's home: SC456959 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC456959 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2019 Full Good 03/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/06/2018 Full Inadequate 06/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC456959 4

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inadequate

There are no children currently living at this home. One child recently moved out of the home. This child’s care was compromised by poor safeguarding practice and ineffective management oversight. This meant that the child’s overall safety, progress and experiences were adversely affected.

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inadequate

Staff could not demonstrate the support that staff provided for the child to ensure that her overall needs were met and that she made progress from her starting point. The child’s plans do not sufficiently show the child’s journey or any progress that she made. Records do not demonstrate that the child was supported to meet her full potential. Ultimately, the child made little progress.

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inadequate

The ethos of the home is to provide a ‘ safe and nurturing environment to young people, providing support and opportunity to create a brighter future and achieve their personal best’. However, the provider could not demonstrate that this was a safe home for this child, and she was not supported to achieve her personal best.

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inadequate

Staff told inspectors that the organisation provides therapeutic care for children. However, it is not clear how this is included in the child’s plans to help staff care for the child.

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inadequate

A child’s move out of the home was not managed well. The provider immediately ended the child’s placement at the home and most of her belongings remain at the home. This does not demonstrate that the child had a positive experience moving on from the home. The child’s social worker’s team manager told the inspector that she was ‘appalled’ with this decision.

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inadequate

Some of the child’s records demonstrate that the child had positive relationships with the staff team. The child told staff about an incident of self-injurious behaviour. Therefore, staff ensured that the child received medical attention.

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

Safeguarding practice in this home is a serious concern. There is not a strong and proactive approach to managing risk. Staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe and do not have the skills to manage the child’s needs safely and effectively.

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

There have been missed opportunities from the manager and staff to take a proactive approach and support and engage the child to reduce the risk of harm. Staff do not demonstrate professional curiosity. For example, staff do not respond sufficiently to indicators of child sexual exploitation. This meant that the child was at Inspection report children's home: SC456959 5 risk of harm in the community. Consequently, for this child the risk of harm increased throughout her time living at the home.

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

Since the last visit to the home missing from home incidents have increased. While staff search for the child, staff do not demonstrate any professional curiosity about where the child is and who she is with.

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

The child’s risk assessments do not address all known vulnerabilities or effectively set out what action staff should take to reduce risk. Furthermore, staff do not have updated strategies to manage risk such as the risks from child sexual exploitation and mobile phone use.

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

Not all staff regularly read and review the child’s risk assessments. This does not demonstrate that staff know the current risks in respect of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in June 2020. The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is not leading the home in a manner that is consistent with the home’s statement of purpose. Records do not demonstrate that he leads and inspires a culture that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and that the care being delivered meets the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Case recording is poor. Children’s records are not kept up to date and signed by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager does not have effective monitoring and review systems in place to safely manage and oversee practice in the home. Incident reports do not consistently demonstrate that the registered manager is robustly evaluating incidents to reduce the risk of harm to the child and improve the quality of care that staff provide for her.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not completed all relevant training to meet the child’s individual needs. Not all staff have had training in substance misuse. This is a significant shortfall given the high risks in relation to substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Rotas do not include the hours worked by the registered manager. This is a breach in regulation and does not ensure that accurate records are available if there are any safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has not met the requirements from the previous inspection, and these are repeated. This does not demonstrate that the registered manager has made improvements in the home to improve the quality of care that the child receives and fails to ensure that the child is safely cared for. Inspection report children's home: SC456959 6 Due to the serious failings in safeguarding practice and management oversight within the home Ofsted made the decision to take immediate action and a restriction notice was served on the provider. Inspection report children's home: SC456959 7

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's homes aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

understand and apply the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child's welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience and neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This is particularly in relation to ensuring that staff consistently meet children's needs as identified in their plans. 28 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 staff— 28 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC456959 8 help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)

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Requirement Due date

This is particularly in relation to the provider ensuring that children’s educational needs are met. If children do not attend education then staff need to provide them with educational experiences. 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

help each child understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 28 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC456959 9 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The provider needs to ensure that children have updated risk assessments that include all known risks and strategies to manage risk. Furthermore, the provider needs to ensure that all staff have the skills to take action to protect children. 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager needs to ensure that he manages the home in line with the statement of purpose. He needs to have effective oversight of incidents so he can ensure that staff are meeting children’s needs. Furthermore, the manager needs to ensure that he reviews and evaluates children's plans to identify any triggers/patterns to children's behaviour. 28 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 28 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC456959 10 receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)) The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include 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)) 28 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children's home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The provider needs to demonstrate all hours that all staff have worked on rosters including the registered manager. 28 January 2022

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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: SC456959 11

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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, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Catherine Fargin, Social Care Inspector Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC456959 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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