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

Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 1 SC476262 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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children. The home specialises in providing 12-month therapeutic placements for children who have been or are at significant risk of child sexual exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new interim manager in post who is yet to register with Ofsted.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 5 November 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/11/2019 Full Good 08/10/2018 Full Good 12/12/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 3

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improvement to be good

Three children live in this home. One child has recently moved in and told the inspector that staff and children have made them feel very welcome. The home environment is spacious, well decorated and cosy. Children like their bedrooms and are able to personalise them. As a result, children feel comfortable in their surroundings and this contributes to their sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Overall, children say they are happy living in the home. They are able to identify some staff who they have positive relationships with. One child said they feel ‘in control’ when these staff are there. However, they also said that they do not like some staff because of ‘the way they talk’ to them. As a result, they feel anxious and unsettled when those staff members are present.

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improvement to be good

Managers are not always informed of the future plans for children. One child has lived in the home for 17 months and has completed the home’s 12-month therapeutic programme. Managers are unclear about the care plan for this child. This child has reported to staff that they no longer want to live in the home. Managers have not escalated this enough with the child’s placing authority. Consequently, this child is living with uncertainty about their future care.

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improvement to be good

Children’s transitions into the home are not always well planned. Managers agree to placements for children before they have thoroughly considered their needs, as well as the needs of the other children living in the home. This could be unsettling for children and cause them further instability.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to overcome barriers to education. They advocate on children’s behalf to ensure that they attend an educational provision that is suitable to their needs. This helps children to experience positive learning environments that help them to engage with their education. As a result, children are motivated to progress and achieve their future aspirations.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to keep in touch with the people who are important to them. This helps some children to maintain meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging within their families. Managers and staff communicate well with family members. However, managers do not always accurately carry out risk assessments to ensure that children’s contact with others is safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always given clear guidance on how to manage known risks to children. Risk assessments contain inaccurate information, including spelling errors Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 4 and incorrect dates. Furthermore, they are not always updated after incidents occur. This undermines the safeguarding practice in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always respond appropriately to keep children safe. A recording of a significant incident describes how staff gave one child a razor. This child has a history of self-harming behaviours. The recording of this incident describes the child as appearing ‘in a relatively low mood’. Staff do not know for certain whether this child self-harmed. Neither did they share their concerns with other staff members. The action taken by staff during this incident compromised the child’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of children going missing from the home are low. When children go missing, staff actively look for them and usually work closely with the police to secure their return home. However, on one occasion when one child went missing, staff did not follow the correct procedure. The police were not notified in line with the child’s risk assessment. This may have delayed the police locating them sooner.

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improvement to be good

Managers respond to and investigate allegations thoroughly. They liaise with social workers and the designated officer. This ensures that there is external scrutiny of safeguarding measures in the home. However, safeguarding notifications are not always submitted to Ofsted in a timely manner. This hinders the regulator’s oversight of safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

Children contribute to their safety plans. However, these are not always reviewed after each incident or revisited with children. Furthermore, they are not consistent in practice as staff complete safety plans with some children and not others. This is despite children displaying similar behaviours. This inconsistent practice could compromise the safety of children.

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improvement to be good

Staff complete some good-quality key work with children. Staff are creative in their approach to this. They get to know children’s interests and use them to design activities. This helps children to learn while doing something they enjoy. For example, staff helped children to design and make a ‘self-soothe’ box. They use this as a strategy to manage their feelings safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has not taken effective and timely steps to ensure that the home has a permanent registered manager. The home has not had a registered manager for 42 weeks. The interim manager has been in post for four weeks. Children and staff said that the new manager has made ‘positive changes’. One child said that ‘things are better’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and review systems are ineffective They have not identified shortfalls in staff practice or recordings. Despite a recent internal compliance inspection identifying some areas for improvement, leaders and managers have not acted promptly to address these and there is not yet an action plan in place to make the necessary improvements. Furthermore, the independent visitor does not always consult with children, staff and professionals to obtain their views on the quality of Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 5 care delivered to children. This hinders the external scrutiny of the home and does not help the provider to improve the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not always provide staff with appropriate training. For example, children living in the home sometimes display self-harming behaviours. However, staff have not received adequate training in relation to self-harm. As a result, children who self-harm do not always receive the support they need. During the inspection, the manager took steps to arrange for this training to take place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision. However, this does not help staff to improve their practice. Staff are not encouraged to reflect on the support they provide to children, and managers do not use supervision to challenge staff’s practice, such as when there are disagreements among the staff team. This inhibits staff’s development and compromises the quality of care that children receive. Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 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 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 to 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;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager and staff’s understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. This 14 February 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 7 includes understanding each child’s individual risk assessments, as well as having the ability to undertake the necessary steps to keep children safe.

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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 to aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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 (a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that children are cared for by staff who have the skills, knowledge, experience and ability to meet their needs.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the manager should develop effective monitoring and reviewing systems to understand and improve the quality of care that children receive. 14 February 2022

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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 requires the registered person to ensure— 14 February 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 8 that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iii)(e)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager escalating with the local authority the need for children to have a clear plan of care.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that matching risk assessments are undertaken before children’s placements are agreed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home; (Regulation 27 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider recruits a suitable individual who registers with Ofsted. 14 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the 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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that necessary improvements are made to the quality of children’s records. 14 February 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a detailed record of supervision is completed for each member of staff. This should include reflective discussion and clear actions for staff to undertake to further their professional development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2 and 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person appointed to carry out visits to the home does so, in a way which enables them to consult with children and professionals. This includes ascertaining children’s wishes and feelings in regard to the quality of care they receive. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: SC476262 10

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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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Inspector

Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC476262 11 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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