Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 1 SC065855 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 privately owned. It provides care for up to three children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties due to past trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an interim manager in post who has submitted their application to register 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 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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/01/2020 Full Good 08/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children live in the home. Two of the children have not lived there for long but are settling in well. Since the last inspection, the home has had a new manager and a new staff team. The new manager has made improvements to the quality of care children receive. This is having a positive impact on children’s experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and has a warm and cosy feel. Children enjoyed decorating the home for Christmas. Children’s bedrooms reflect their individual characters and interests. This helps children to settle and feel comfortable in their surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home and enjoy spending time with staff. One child moved to the home from another home in the organisation. They were able to identify a staff member to move with them. This has had a positive impact on the child settling into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager undertakes thorough risk assessments when matching children’s needs to the home. They consider whether staff have the appropriate skills and experience and take into account the needs of the other children who live in the home. This promotes positive and trusting relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager takes prompt action to ensure that children engage with education. When children move in, the manager works closely with an education coordinator. This ensures that education provision meets children’s needs. Children have good routines. This is significant progress for some children. Before living in the home, some children had no routine or structure to their day. Now children feel they have purpose and enjoyment in their everyday lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager is an excellent advocate for children. Children use a software application to express their wishes and feelings about their care. One child finds it difficult to express their feelings and they used the app to tell the manager that they were being bullied at school. The manager then communicated this feedback to external professionals who, until then, were unaware the child was being bullied. As a result, this child felt listened to and professionals took action to ensure that the child felt safe at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager escalates concerns about the performance of placing authorities when necessary, for example, when they have concerns about children’s contact with family members. The manager is tenacious and goes over and above to assert the needs and safety of children in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The previous manager did not respond appropriately to one child’s complaint. They failed to investigate all aspects of the complaint. As a result, the child did not feel Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 4 listened to. This resulted in the child attempting to self-harm. Staff responded to the incident of self-harm appropriately.

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

Staff respond well to safeguarding concerns. They have a good understanding of the risks to children and the action they need to take to safeguard them. Staff work well with professionals such as social workers and the police. As a result, they understand and manage risk effectively.

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

Children contribute to their own behaviour management plans and risk assessments. Staff help children to identify how they would like staff to respond to them. As a result, children are more accepting of the action staff take to keep them safe. Safeguarding incidents are few and physical intervention is rarely used.

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

Staff provide clear and consistent boundaries for children. As a result, children are aware of the expectations in the home in relation to their behaviour. The manager recognises when boundaries are ineffective. They take immediate action to ensure that children’s needs are better met. This further increases children’s feelings of safety and security.

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

Staff take appropriate action when children go missing. They follow missing-from- care plans and go above and beyond to locate children, such as searching for them overnight and using mobile apps to locate them. The manager and staff use professional curiosity to identify any risk to children. They escalate with professionals any concerns they have about children’s behaviour in going missing.

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

Staff complete excellent reflection work with children. They use visual resources which help children to understand their feelings and behaviour. This helps children to articulate their emotions in a safer way, enabling them to develop much better self- awareness.

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

The manager notifies the regulator of significant events. However, they do not always include pertinent information. This could hinder the regulator’s scrutiny of safeguarding practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager is experienced and keen. They have taken significant steps to improve the quality of care children receive. Children and staff speak highly of the manager. Some staff who had stopped working for the organisation have returned because of their faith in the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example. They have focused on developing a new team of staff who are intuitive and child-focused. They have done so by modelling their expectations, such as, implementing changes in the language staff use when responding to children. They have upskilled staff to be nurturing and supportive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 5 The manager has developed new monitoring systems to evaluate the care children receive. They have good oversight of children’s progress and experiences. The manager implements changes to improve children’s experiences when necessary. For example, they have recently recognised one child’s anxiety related to identity and gender. The manager has implemented measures to ensure that this child feels safe in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They have a clear development plan in place. This includes any learning and reflections from children who have left the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training pertinent to children’s needs. Staff attend workshops outside of formal training to develop their skills. All staff receive regular and reflective supervision during which they discuss each child’s experiences and progress. As a result, staff know children and understand their needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff use team meetings to share information and practice. They also undertake audits of children’s case files together. Staff also undertake peer audits of each other’s recording. This encourages the staff to work together. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(e)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers and staff respond to and investigate thoroughly complaints made by children. Prompt and appropriate action should be undertaken to ensure children are satisfied that they have been listened to and that their views, wishes and feelings have been taken seriously. 12 February 2023

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 12 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 7 A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter; must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(e) (5)(i)(iii)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers include all pertinent information when informing the regulator of notifiable events.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review evaluates effectively the quality of care children receive. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: SC065855 8

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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

Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC065855 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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