Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose says that it provides residential care for one child. with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 28 October 2021. This is the first inspection since the home was registered on 28 October 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home looks beautiful both inside and out. It provides homely spaces for children and staff to relax in. Photos of the child living in the home are displayed throughout and their belongings personalise the rooms. However, staff have not repaired damage to the child’s bedroom wardrobe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before living at this home, the child had spent an extended period in hospital due to significant self-harm behaviours. The child is now making significant progress in most areas. This is due to the trusting relationships that they have developed with staff. Staff have enabled them to reduce the intensity of their self-harming and engage in complex therapy in a meaningful way. Before living at the home, the child could not tolerate physical touch. They now accept hugs from staff and will seek out physical affection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child struggles to attend college due to their mental health difficulties. Despite this, staff provide opportunities for them to engage in learning each day in the community. They teach them a range of topics through visits, discussions and engagement with nature. The home’s communication with education providers is good and there are continued efforts to find a suitable provision that the child can attend.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the child with a range of interesting activities that support their learning, health and social well-being. They attend an LGBTQ youth club that helps them build positive relationships and explore their identity needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The team is making good use of therapeutic support to ensure they consistently meet the needs of the child. This support runs through every aspect of the care the child receives. Staff are knowledgeable and skilled in therapeutic care and this is reflected in the quality of the individual responses the child receives. This is making a measurable, positive difference to the child’s outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s identity information has not always been recorded accurately as plans have been updated. There are instances where the gender of the child does not reflect how they currently identify.

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

Behaviour management plans are detailed documents that provide staff with clear information about the child’s behaviours and how to respond to them. These are underpinned by therapeutic research and knowledge. Staff are consistent in their approach and are knowledgeable about what responses work best for the child. However, there are a significant number of documents that could be streamlined to make information more accessible. Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 4 Risk assessments clearly identify known and potential risks to the child. These are also accompanied by detailed protocols that advise staff how to respond. However, they do not identify the level of risk associated with each behaviour. Furthermore, information detailing emergency responses is not placed at the start of the document where it can be easily seen.

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

Incidents of self-harm are managed in a skilled and sensitive way. Records are detailed and there is evidence of constant reflection to help improve the care the child receives. Considering the child’s age, the home manages the risk of harm well, balancing it with the child’s need for autonomy. However, on one occasion, a room search was not conducted when it was known the child had previously stored broken glass. The rationale for this decision was that the child usually hid such things on their person. Assessments were not updated with this information. The registered manager updated the risk assessment with this information during the inspection, once it was raised with them.

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

The home identifies risks and the needs of children effectively before they move in. However, not all members of the team were trained in how to respond to the use of ligatures before the child moved in, despite this being identified as a risk. This was due to a lack of availability of the specific training. The registered manager ensured that there was one trained member of staff on every shift.

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

Restraint has not been used in the home. This demonstrates the significant skills of the team in managing self-harm effectively and fully understanding the needs of the child. All staff are trained in restraint and those spoken to by one inspector know when and how to use this to prevent a child from seriously hurting themselves or others. Staff are skilled in responding effectively to the child to de-escalate behaviour.

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

Leaders and managers generally have good health and safety measures in place. However, an issue repeatedly identified during drills regarding a failure to swiftly evacuate in the event of a fire had not been acted on. During the inspection, the registered manager contacted the maintenance team and resolved this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong advocate for the child. They have challenged other agencies when their responses have not reflected the needs of the child. They have made formal complaints to help improve practice and help professionals to recognise that they are responding to a child who has experienced significant trauma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has developed excellent relationships with external professionals. This means that plans for the child reflect their changing needs and are developed in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide staff with good-quality reflective supervision. This has supported the team’s emotional well-being during challenging periods. However, Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 5 supervision records do not make use of clear targets that are reviewed at the following sessions to measure competencies and track development. Furthermore, sessions missed due to leave are not consistently rescheduled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that the team completes mandatory training in a timely way. Staff have access to the expertise of a trained psychologist. This helps them develop strategies to respond to the child that are underpinned by an approved evidence base and lead to positive change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not ensured that the home’s statement of purpose includes all the information required by schedule 1 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015. Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 27 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 27 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of a fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b)) 27 December

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to completing room searches when a child is believed to have stored harmful objects that could be used at a later date to cause further harm. 27 December Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure all staff are fully trained to meet the child’s needs, before the child comes to live at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.37)  The registered person should ensure that the home continues to provide a homely environment for the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that information about the child is recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. This relates to records showing the correct gender of the child when they have gender identity needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2649745 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, 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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Inspectors

Penelope Kutz, Social Care Inspector Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2649745 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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