Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 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

This children’s home is registered to provide care for one child, aged between eight and 18 years, with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in October 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted has not previously inspected this service, which was registered in October 2021.

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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 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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 3

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inadequate

One child is currently living in the home. At separate times two children have lived here since October 2021. One child moved to this home from another home in the organisation because staff there were unable to care for her safely. Staff at this home were also unable to meet her needs or provide nurturing and appropriate responses to her. Managers failed to properly assess how her needs would be met at this home.

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inadequate

Prior to this child moving into the home, the registered manager did not escalate her concerns about the suitability of this decision to senior managers. In other examples, the registered manager has not challenged professionals when she has had concerns about poor practice or when children needed help because their liberty was restricted.

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inadequate

Staff did not provide effective guidance and boundaries to prevent the child from going missing, to reduce the likelihood of them going missing again or to successfully manage the child’s behaviour to keep her safe. During incidents, staff missed opportunities to intervene sooner and to prevent incidents from escalating. They did not act to reduce risks to the child or to provide reassurance to her. In one incident, staff did not seek help from the police swiftly enough when the child accessed alcohol in the home and removed the home’s vehicle. The child, staff and members of the public were at risk of significant harm as a result of staff’s poor practice.

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inadequate

Although it is early days, the child currently living at the home has settled in well and is positive about the care she receives from staff. The child has returned to education after a significant gap and has made progress with her behaviours, such as a reduction in episodes of going missing, anti-social behaviour and alcohol misuse. The child has not had any incidents of going missing or alcohol misuse since living at this home.

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

On one occasion, with the previous child who was living in the home, staff did not follow her behaviour management plan and left her at risk, unattended in a public place. They did not seek on-call advice or ask for assistance. This resulted in the child going missing and experiencing very serious harm. Staff records failed to detail this poor practice and led to delay in understanding what had happened to the child.

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

Staff and managers do not consistently follow safeguarding procedures or respond swiftly enough. This includes not informing the local authority’s emergency duty team after the serious incident when a child was left at risk in a public place, or notifying the local authority designated officer within required timescales. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 4 Staff lack the skills to consistently help children behave appropriately to prevent damage to property, oppositional behaviours, self-harm and attempts to access keys and money. As a result, incidents escalate, police are involved, children are not always kept safe and do not make progress with their behaviours. Staff have not had sufficient training, guidance and support to ensure that they are confident and competent in managing these behaviours.

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

The child currently living at this home is safeguarded and her welfare is promoted. When she has raised a concern, this has been dealt with effectively and she has felt listened to. She said that she feels safe living at this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A number of factors led to failures in the care of one child by staff, managers and leaders. Managers took effective action to address the concerns after the events. However, increased oversight, professional curiosity and earlier intervention could have prevented harm to this child. Management investigations into incidents are thorough and challenging. Much learning has been taken from these significant incidents and further work is underway to fully reflect on and understand them, and to prevent them recurring in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The majority of staff at this home are relatively inexperienced and have yet to develop the skills for the role. Staff do not have the level 3 diploma in residential childcare and this could well be one of the factors contributing to staff having been unable to meet the complex needs of one child in their care. Staff receive, and are up to date with, a range of mandatory training, including around safeguarding and child sexual exploitation, which is provided online and face to face. However, some staff did not apply their learning from this training in the care of one child. Leaders and managers have reviewed practice in the home and are providing increased oversight and direction to ensure that practice continues to improve. Staff spoke positively to the inspector about the direct support they receive from the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Safer recruitment processes are robust at this home. The registered manager ensures that there are comprehensive records in place that include identity and Disclosure and Barring Service checks. When concerns are highlighted after checks, the registered manager completes risk assessments to review where further action may be needed. References are appropriately sought and verified, and staff benefit from a full induction process. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 31 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 31 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 6 help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii))

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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 that staff—

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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

and 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 31 May 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— 31 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 7 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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; 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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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; 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

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

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 31 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— 31 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 8 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)) Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 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: 2643362 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Elworthy

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2643362 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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