Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 1 SC456846 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 privately run home provides support, education and care for up to three children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma that has left them vulnerable. The inspector only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been in post since September 2022 and is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 3 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/11/2021 Full Outstanding 03/12/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. Children’s moves to the home are well planned. The staff help children to feel welcome and supported. This helps children to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff liaise with medical professionals to help children improve their emotional well- being and physical health. A counsellor is supporting one child to help her to understand her feelings. The staff supported another child to reduce his medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to the extent that he no longer requires medication. Staff are using strategies to help him to understand how he is feeling and to make positive choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoyed various activities during the school summer holidays, such as bowling and going to the cinema. Two children went on holiday with staff. This gives children the opportunity to spend positive time together and have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have supportive relationships with staff. One child said, ‘I know that staff care about me; they are always around. I can speak with them about anything.’ Children can identify staff who they are able to talk to about how they are feeling. This helps children to feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is comfortable and welcoming. One child has a pet cat and is supported by staff to care for it. The children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. This helps the children to feel that they belong, and that the house is their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of education and encourage children to attend. The children attend education and one child was unsuccessful in his college application. The staff are liaising with the headteacher of the virtual school to identify an education provision for him. In the interim, staff are supporting him to apply for employment. The children’s school attendance is generally good. However, when children do not attend, there is no plan for them to take part in informal educational activities. This fails to provide a structure to the day or prepare children to return to school.

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

The children said that they feel safe at the home. The staff manage safeguarding incidents well, which mitigates the risks to children. The staff have a good understanding of the whistle-blowing policy. They know who they can contact should they have safeguarding concerns for a child.

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

Staff use the missing-from-home protocol effectively. The staff request return home interviews, which are undertaken by the social worker. They encourage children to Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 4 talk about their reasons for leaving the home. As a result, missing-from-home incidents for one child have decreased.

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

The staff have supported children who had been involved in criminal activity to change and reduce these behaviours.

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort to keep children safe. Physical interventions are proportionate and overseen by the manager. The staff use de- escalation techniques well to help children when they are feeling worried or anxious. As a result, physical interventions are minimal and children feel safe and listened to.

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

The home is calm, with few incidents. The staff encourage the children to show kindness and respect towards each other. Generally, the relationships between children are good.

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good

The registered manager left the home in September 2022. A new manager has been appointed and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager is being supported by senior managers and has enrolled on her level 5 qualification.

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good

The manager failed to ensure that a risk assessment was completed for a child who was spending free time in the community. This may have prevented staff from mitigating risks to the child as they did not have clear guidance for managing this unsupervised time.

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good

The manager failed to ensure that a member of staff was provided with specific training around reviewing a child's risk assessment prior to the child spending time with her family. This resulted in the child spending time with a family member without supervision. This contradicted the child’s care plan and could have resulted in the child experiencing harm.

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good

The manager works effectively with the responsible individual and the designated safeguarding lead to respond to incidents and allegations. Internal investigations are thorough, external professionals are consulted and outcomes are objective and protect children. However, incidents are not always reported to Ofsted on time. This prevents Ofsted from monitoring the home effectively.

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good

The staff access training in core areas. These include first aid, physical restraint and safeguarding. The staff have some targeted training to support the individual needs of the children, such as training around self-harm and child sexual exploitation. However, one member of staff has not completed their level 3 qualification within the requisite timeframe.

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good

Information about children is primarily recorded on paper and is handwritten. Some recording is not legible and dates are incorrect. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 5 The manager has established a committed staff team that wants the best for children. The staff said that they feel supported by the manager. Supervisions are regular and the staff meet frequently to discuss the needs of the children. The staff said that these forums give them the opportunity to discuss their practice, which helps them to support children consistently. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s free time in the community is assessed for risks. 2 December 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff review children’s risk assessments and have the relevant training to keep children safe. 2 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate 6 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 7 qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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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

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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e)) 11 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, when a child is not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person works closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 8

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Recommendations

and clear recording. In particular, ensure that handwriting is legible and that dates on documents are correct. (‘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: SC456846 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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

Laraine Edmondson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456846 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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