Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 1 SC457068 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

The home provides care for three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an interim manager in post who has applied for registration 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good 18/04/2018 Full Good 26/04/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of inspection, there is one child living in the home and one child has recently moved out of the home. Children receive individualised care from a child- centred staff team who know them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff support children to make progress within education. There is clear communication between teachers and staff. Staff ensure that they encourage learning in the home. This is completed in a creative way, such as reciting timetables over dinner and using playing cards to practise maths equations. Furthermore, children are encouraged to attend after-school clubs. This practice helps to ensure that children are reaching their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities. For example, children enjoy ice skating, visiting theme parks and bowling. One child has been supported to join a community youth group and swimming lessons. Another child has recently celebrated a birthday with a trampoline party with her school friends. These activities enhance children’s social experiences, develop their interests, and enhance their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are supported. Children are registered with local health services and attend their reviews and appointments relating to their health. The manager and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of children’s health needs and areas where additional resources are required. Children have access to therapeutic sessions and, as a result, their emotional well-being is promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are occasions when staff consult with children through key-working sessions. However, this is not consistent practice. For example, there was no evidence in place to suggest that staff had supported one child to share her views before their review meetings. In addition, one child’s records did not explain the reasons why she wanted to move to a new home. This compromises good communication and children’s ability to reflect on and influence their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value children’s relationships with their loved ones. Families speak very highly of the support and communication from staff. In addition, children are supported to spend time with friends. As a result, children maintain close links with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm and welcoming home. The children have been supported to personalise their bedrooms, and photos and mementos are displayed throughout the house.

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

During the inspection, the staff demonstrated a good understanding of children’s risks. However, children’s written risk assessments lack sufficient detail. For Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 4 example, one written document fails to consider how staff would respond to a child using an e-cigarette in the home. The manager explained that she was aware of this shortfall and had started to make changes to written documents.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home are rare, despite children having a history of doing so in previous placements. Staff are proactive when children go missing. Staff will search for children alongside liaising with other agencies to ensure that children are located safe and well. Return-home interviews by the placing authority are not consistently taking place. When they do take place, information from these discussions is not always shared with the setting.

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

The use of restraint is infrequent and used only as a last resort. Following any incidents, children and staff are provided with the opportunity to discuss their views. The manager then considers this as part of her evaluation of incidents. This provides an opportunity to learn from incidents and ensures that children and staff are effectively supported.

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

Children respond well to incentives and rewards. Some children have individualised reward charts that provide the opportunity to receive a present of their choice. More recently, staff have introduced a system whereby children receive daily letters that capture children’s achievements and encourage positive behaviour. When things do not go so well, children receive appropriate consequences. The manager ensures that they are discussed with the child to increase support and avoid such behaviour being repeated.

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

Alarms are used on children’s bedroom doors at night. Managers have not undertaken an assessment on children’s needs to reflect the requirement of this measure. As result, the monitoring systems may be used unnecessarily.

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

Multi-agency working is effective. The manager has sought additional advice when required and facilitated multi-agency meetings to discuss children’s progress. One professional said, ‘the staff are brilliant, communication is clear and [name of child] is thriving’. This practice ensures that services are working together to meet the needs of the children.

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

Staff carry out regular health and safety checks. This ensures that children live in a physically safe environment.

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good

Since the last inspection, there has been a change in day-to-day management of home. A new manager has been appointed to cover the absence of the registered manager. The interim manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted. The manager is child focused. They acknowledged the shortfalls identified during this inspection and provided reassurances that improvements will be made. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 5 Children are cared for by a stable staff team. Staff are positive about managers and the support they receive. Supervision records include reflection on staff practice and identify areas for practice development. Team meetings are held regularly and provide an additional forum for sharing information and reflecting on practice.

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good

Formal training and internal workshops are used to upskill the staff team. However, the manager has not identified that some staff have not received specific training to meet the needs of some children. For example, staff have not completed training on the effects of substance misuse. The manager organised the required training for staff during the inspection.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that there is a clear procedure to follow when the local authority designated officer has requested that an internal investigation is carried out following a complaint being made about staff practice. This has meant that a complaint by a social worker has not been concluded for three months. At the time of inspection, the investigation remained ongoing. This impacts on the effectiveness of any investigation and has the potential to impact the children’s experiences in the home.

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good

The manager does not have effective systems in place to monitor and review all the of care provided. For example, the manager does not review and scrutinise records of self-harm incidents. This has meant that the manager has not identified when staff have used a punitive approach with the child at a time of distress. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff have provided the correct care and support to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 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 ensure —

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Requirement Due date

help each child to prepare for any review of the child’s relevant plans and to make the child’s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff supporting children to understand their care plans and prepare for their reviews.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered manager should ensure that the children’s care plans consider and contain the children’s wishes. 15 March 2023

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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 experiences, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child; 15 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that there are systems in place to monitor and review incidents of self-harm.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children. (Regulation 24 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that door alarms are only used as set out in the child’s agreed risk assessment and in line with the home’s policy. 15 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response;

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Requirement Due date

describe the measures which may be necessary to protect children following an allegation of abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

describe how and to whom staff are to report, without delay, any concern about abuse or neglect of a child. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that there is a clear policy to follow when there is an allegation of abuse. 15 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return-home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC457068 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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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Bryony Jones and Jennifer Lightowler

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Inspector

Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC457068 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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