Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 1 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 is one of several owned and managed by a limited company. The home can care for up to two children who may present with needs that are associated with behavioural and/or emotional difficulties and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since February 2021 when the home opened.

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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 inspection of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCIFF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine 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 requires improvement to be 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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a caring and nurturing environment in which they receive care and support that bring stability to their lives. They receive the help that they need to recover from harmful experiences and to move forward in their lives. A parent said that they were proud of what their child had achieved and how they had turned their life around.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build warm, consistent and positive relationships with children. They show children that they care about them and know what is important to them. Children told the inspector that they are happy here and have people around them that they trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child spent a considerable amount of time talking with the inspector and staff about the pandemic and their views on the vaccination programme. Staff skilfully counteracted the child’s opinions with views based on facts. This helped the child to consider all of the available information and make an informed decision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are strong advocates for children’s education. Staff are proactive in helping children overcome barriers to their education. One child receives education at home, and it is clear that they have built a strong bond with their tutor. The manager is liaising with the school to ensure that this tutor remains with the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff focus on supporting children to build skills to allow them to be more independent in the future. One child is working full time and is saving money for when she moves into semi-independence. Staff are carrying out work with her to help her to develop her budgeting and independence skills. This means that children are well prepared with the skills they need for when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work tirelessly to ensure that the children remain in contact with their family and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents of the children said that they are happy with the progress that their children are making and relish the opportunities to spend more time with them.

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

The manager and staff have created a safe home environment that protects children from harm. Children feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. They know that they can talk to staff about their worries and that the staff will help them to be safe.

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

Staff have a sound understanding of the risks for each child; however, this is not reflected within the child’s risk assessments. Risk assessments are complex documents which are not specific. This means staff new to the role may not be fully informed of the action they need to take to keep children safe. This is evident in staff’s response to an incident in November 2022 when they did not follow the Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 4 child’s risk assessments or home’s policies. This placed the child at the risk of harm. The manager swiftly identified the shortfalls and has taken action to prevent a reoccurrence.

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

Children are increasing in confidence and self-esteem. As a result, they are much more able to manage difficult situations and to consider their actions.

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

Children know and understand the house rules. For example, they know that they cannot use their games consoles before a set time, if they have not gone to school. Staff are consistent in their approach to supporting children and, as a result, the number of incidents in the home has declined.

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

The home is a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment. Staff work hard to make it as homely as possible and regularly talk to the children about what they would like to see in the home. The locks on the ground floor doors detract from the homely feel and are not necessary.

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

Staff recruitment is sound and means that children are cared for by suitable, vetted staff.

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good

The home is led by an enthusiastic and qualified registered manager. She works in partnership with the staff to ensure that the children are supported, and their individual needs are met.

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good

There have been several staffing changes since the home opened, with bank staff and the manager covering shifts to support the children. New staff have been recruited, but they do not hold a recognised qualification or come from a childcare background. Therefore, only the manager has a childcare qualification. Staff rotas are current; however, they do not show the actual hours that the staff are working, especially the manager.

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good

Several staff are in the process of completing a qualification, but their progress has been hindered because their assessors have changed several times. The responsible individual is speaking to the training provider about this.

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good

The manager’s monitoring of the service is generally sound. She is aware that record-keeping is a key area of development, as is ensuring that all staff obtain a childcare qualification.

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good

Reports by the independent person are informative, but do not sufficiently scrutinise staff’s practice or record-keeping and very few actions are made following their visit. This means that many of the shortfalls identified at this inspection had not been identified. Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 5 The manager works in partnership with other professionals to ensure that children have the right support. She ensures that professionals are kept up to date on the children’s progress and any emerging concerns. Professionals are complimentary about the manager and comment on her commitment to the children.

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good

The organisation has recently received a whistle-blowing concern and is in the process of investigating the concerns. However, the responsible individual has not notified Ofsted of this concern. This was an oversight on their behalf.

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good

Records and documentation are not consistently maintained to a good standard. Some records such as incident records, substance misuse forms and individual work records do not provide sufficient detail and miss key information. This does not help the child to reflect on their time here or the support that they were provided with. Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 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

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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)) 28 February 2022

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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 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; 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and

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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)(d)(h))

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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.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the staff rota identifies the actual hours worked by staff. 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 8 When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that, for children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of the children, they will in most cases be homely, domestic environments. In particular, that the locks are removed from the communal room doors on the ground floor. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person must ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policy on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information about the children in a non- stigmatising way and is recorded in a way that will be helpful to the children. In particular, that the records and documentation tell the story of the child’s time in the home and document the help and support that they received. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph

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Recommendations

14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 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’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 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

Chris Scully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2618541 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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