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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 1 SC451174 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 home is one of a number of children’s homes run by a large private organisation. It is registered to offer care for up to two children who may have social emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2021.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting in December 2020 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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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

Date of last inspection: 20 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/06/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection, although one child was away from the home visiting family. This is a settled home in which staff help children to enjoy predictable daily routines. The manager and staff know the children well, treating them with kindness and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their starting points. For one child, this includes attending education for the first time in several years. Staff work closely with teachers at children’s schools to ensure that there is consistency in support for learning and managing behaviour. Professionals and family members are pleased with the care and guidance that staff are providing to their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide high levels of support to children to help them maintain relationships with their family. This includes supporting children to spend time with their family members at the home or out on an activity even when this is a considerable distance away from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having a settled and undisrupted experience of living at the home. Placement breakdowns are very unusual, and children normally leave as part of a planned move. The staff understand children’s previous traumatic life experiences and the impact these have on well-being and behaviour. Staff are caring and patient, which helps children to build trusting relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff follow plans that have been put in place for children to gain independence skills. Staff encourage children to take responsibility for household tasks to help them prepare for living independently. Children earn rewards for practising these skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have access to the health services that they need. This includes support for children to stop smoking. One child has made positive progress with gaining weight and following a healthy eating routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a modernised older property in a busy urban area. Children enjoy accessing the opportunities and diversity in the local community including open spaces, beauty salons and entertainment venues. The home is spacious, and children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. However, some areas of the home require redecoration, repairs to window blinds and tidying of the property. Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 4

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

Staff provide children with a calm home environment. The children are respectful to each other, although they do not routinely spend much time together. Staff are successful at using de-escalation techniques, to avoid incidents escalating to physical and verbal altercations. As a result, there have been very minimal incidents of physical interventions at the home.

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

Staff use incentives, rewards and verbal praise to recognise when children do something well. The use of positive consequences has been used to capture and celebrate success. Children are able to choose the rewards they receive, for example one child had an appointment made and paid for at a nail bar. They said this made them feel special and boosted their self-esteem.

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

Children benefit from and make progress with the boundaries and routines staff put in place. Staff follow these with consistency, which is key to their effectiveness. Professionals said this has been essential and successful. For one child this has meant a significant reduction in smoking, and a vast improvement in participation in education and learning.

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

There have been two incidents of both children going missing from the home together. Staff respond in line with the missing-from-care protocols to help find and return children to the home as soon as possible. The manager identified the reasons and triggers leading to these incidents and put measures in place that led to these incidents stopping.

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

Risk-management plans for children are detailed and contain presenting risks. These are regularly reviewed and updated following any changes. Staff consult and plan with social workers to enable children to take age-appropriate risks. This includes gaining trust to have access to the internet. This helps keep children safe while gaining independence.

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

Staff access safeguarding training. This helps them to identify concerns of exploitation, gang affiliation, radicalisation and online abuse. Safeguarding concerns are shared appropriately with other professionals including sexual health and safety. This allows the most relevant professional to respond to any incidents and actively manage emerging risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported and valued by the manager. They enjoy working at the home. This helps to provide children with a positive atmosphere. The manager is aware of staff’s strengths and the areas in which they need support to develop. Staff are provided with a thorough induction. This helps them feel prepared for the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established good working relationships with professionals and family members who are positive about the communication and working Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 5 relationship with him. Children benefit from knowing that everyone is working together to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works hard to ensure that children maintain relationships with their families. They have helped children to re-establish relationships with families where these had broken down. This has been important for children when making decisions when thinking about where they will live as they approach adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child centred and has a detailed knowledge of the children’s needs. He has responded quickly and creatively when incidents have occurred meaning a child can no longer live at the home. This includes finding another placement within the provider quickly and putting together a staff team who the child knows and feels safe with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children’s needs well and how to support them. The manager considers in detail referrals for children to move into the home and the impact those new children may have on the children already living there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good overview of incidents involving children and carries out conversations with children after any incidents. However, monitoring of the home did not identify that doors with fire closers had been propped open. This was addressed promptly during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 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

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 31 March 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. In particular, ensure that maintenance and issues are resolved quickly, and the decoration and furnishings are updated as needed. Children should be supported to maintain tidiness in their personal spaces. (‘Guide to 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’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 7

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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, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC451174 8 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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