Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 1 SC476270 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a large private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to five children. Children are likely to have emotional and behavioural difficulties and may have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since December 2019. Managers have been in post since this time but have resigned without registering with Ofsted. The current manager applied to register but withdrew their application and is set to leave the home in January 2023.

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This monitoring visit

On 26 July 2022, Ofsted carried out an assurance visit. Serious and widespread failures were identified in the protection of children and the leadership and management of the home. As a result, a compliance notice was issued in relation to regulation 13.

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This monitoring visit

On 14 September 2022, Ofsted carried out a monitoring visit to monitor the progress made since the previous inspection. Some shortfalls remained and the compliance notice for regulation 13 was not met. A second compliance notice was issued for regulation 13.

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This monitoring visit

This latest monitoring visit was carried out to review the provider’s progress in meeting the compliance notice for a second time.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, leaders have made improvements to the environment. Children now have a newly decorated and refurbished cinema room and have had their rooms redecorated according to their preferences. Previous damage to a Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 2 shower and a child’s bed has been repaired. This now makes the home feel cosy and welcoming.

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This monitoring visit

Leadership and management of the home remains unstable. There has been no registered manager since December 2019. The current manager started in the role in July 2022 and applied to register with Ofsted. They then withdrew their application in November 2022 and intend to leave in January 2023. There are currently no plans as to who will then take over management responsibility. In addition, the responsible individual was also due to leave the service in December 2022.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have detailed monitoring systems to oversee the care in the home and have made clear plans to improve. The manager now evaluates and reviews all incidents. However, this oversight has failed to identify some shortfalls in incidents, which has led to risks to children persisting.

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This monitoring visit

Since the previous inspection, one child has had to be held to keep them safe. When this has happened, staff have recorded this appropriately in line with regulation. The manager has offered staff and children debriefs after incidents. However, after one incident, the manager did not identify and then act on areas of poor practice that led to the incident, to reduce the risk of recurrence. This further demonstrates a lack of effective monitoring systems in the home.

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This monitoring visit

When a child has gone missing, staff searched for them and informed police, however, the child’s local authority emergency duty team was not informed promptly. In one incident, staff did not adequately supervise a child in line with their plans and the child then went missing. The responsible individual and manager failed to identify this as poor practice and therefore this shortfall in practice went unchallenged.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual and managers have failed to follow safeguarding procedures when a child made an allegation of harm. On one occasion, there was a delay in reporting an allegation to the appropriate safeguarding professionals. This shortfall has been identified at previous inspections. Leaders and managers did not identify this shortfall in their monitoring.

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This monitoring visit

Managers and staff have taken limited action to help keep children safe from the risk of exploitation. Managers have improved the supervision of children on the internet since the last visit. However, direct work with one child has not focused on the area where they need support to reduce the risks. A serious incident occurred where a child was at potential risk online. The responsible individual and managers failed to identify the seriousness of this. While they did report this to the child’s social worker, they did not report it to the police or take further action to help protect the child and others.

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This monitoring visit

Clear plans are in place which provide staff with information about how to support children who may self-harm. However, in one incident, these plans were not Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 3 followed, resulting in the child gaining access to items which were used to attempt to hurt themselves with. The manager identified this in their oversight and sought additional training to support the team in improving their skills in this area.

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This monitoring visit

When one child has struggled with their emotional well-being since the last inspection, leaders and staff have consulted with the child’s social worker and the home’s therapist to get advice on the best ways to help them. This helped ensure there was ongoing support for the child.

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This monitoring visit

As a result of the persistent failures in leadership and management, the compliance notice has not been met for a second time and a notice restricting accommodation has been issued, so no more children can move into the home. Ofsted continues to consider all its enforcement options.

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This monitoring visit

Not all requirements from the previous inspection were reviewed during this monitoring visit. They will be considered at the next full inspection.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/07/2021 Full Inadequate 19/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 4

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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, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person working with other professionals when more specialist input may be needed for children, and promoting and advocating with other professionals where needed to engage them in progressing children’s care plans.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated. 12 January 2023

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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 12 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 5 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

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to incidents of bullying. They must be recorded and staff must take action taken to reduce incidents of bullying and intimidation.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that there are clear plans to help staff manage risks to children, and that staff follow safeguarding procedures and understand what these are. 29 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 6 This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring there are effective management systems in place to undertake robust audits and monitoring in the home, and that leaders and managers understand the quality of care provided to children and take swift action to address shortfalls.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated. 29 December 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; 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;

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 13 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 7 ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they have clearly considered the different needs of all of the children when considering moving new children into the home and how they can meet those needs.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit to carry on the home

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (1) (5)(a)(b)(c) (7)(a)(b)) 12 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. 12 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 8 If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to register appointed managers who are running the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 9

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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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Inspector

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC476270 10 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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