Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 1 SC359846 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

This home is registered to care for up to five children with complex needs. It is owned by a large organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was registered in August 2022. She has the required qualifications for the role.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/06/2021 Full Good 09/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/05/2019 Full Inadequate 07/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 3

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improvement to be good

Four children live in the home. They have moved in to the home since the last inspection. Four children have moved out. Three of the children moved prior to the current manager’s employment.

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improvement to be good

The home is not a homely environment for children. Furniture has been broken and the sofas have been drawn on. Additionally, children have caused damage to wardrobes, walls and the garden fence, which require repairs. The paint work needs a refresh, some of the kitchen cupboards are ill fitting, and the downstairs toilet does not always flush well.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual preferences. Children have door alarms on their bedroom doors. However, managers have not completed a rigorous assessment of children’s needs to support the requirement for this measure. The alarms cannot be isolated to singular bedrooms. As a result, the alarms have been used unnecessarily for some children, which further impacts on a homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Children in the home do not always get on well. Children told the inspector that some children will ‘kick off’ and this impacts negatively on the homely feel. As a result of children not getting along, sometimes they hurt each other. While staff do implement boundaries and structure to try and avoid this, there are frequent challenging behaviours that impact negatively on all children and the environment. Bullying is addressed in children’s discussions as an ongoing topic to help children to understand acceptable behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Children recognise the progress that they have made since living in the home. They said that they have ‘matured’ because of staff helping them to manage their emotions, and their independence has increased. One child put forward a suggestion to staff that they are responsible enough to care for a pet. As a result, they have a pet hamster that they are taking good care of.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children’s physical and mental health needs. Children attend relevant health appointments; staff understand children’s medications and the impact that they have on them. Children are referred to specialist health teams to meet their individual needs.

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improvement to be good

All children attend school. Staff have successfully advocated for one child to move to a school that is closer to the home in line with the child’s wishes. Other children have continued to attend schools that they were enrolled in before moving to the home. Consequently, this has provided children with stability. Children are making good progress from their starting points, and their attendance has increased. Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 4 Educational professionals have said that children are making good progress since moving to the home and they are well presented for school.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend activities. These include fun days out, swimming lessons, youth clubs, going to the local park, and having time on their scooters. Staff capture these memories in photographs to help to support children to understand their journey and recall memories.

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improvement to be good

Children see people who are important to them. Staff help children to remain in contact with family members despite the significant distance for some children. Children’s identity is supported through returning to their hometowns. This has also meant that family time has been easier for parents to attend. Consequently, family links are maintained.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing. When they do, staff respond appropriately. They follow guidance and protocols, look for children and inform relevant people. Children return home after a short time and are welcomed back. Children have independent return- home interviews to further understand their needs.

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improvement to be good

There has been a serious incident regarding an allegation of harm between two children. The manager took appropriate steps to work with the relevant professionals and staff to implement safeguarding measures. However, a lack of staff supervision was a contributory factor to the incident and staff did not immediately inform managers that an incident had occurred. As a result, there was a delay in informing the relevant professionals in a speedy manner. The manager has since worked with staff to ensure that they understand procedures to follow when safeguarding concerns arise.

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improvement to be good

When staff practice has fallen short of expected standards, the manager has been quick to address this and share information with the relevant professionals. Investigations are completed and staff and children are safeguarded throughout the process. When staff have been absent due to investigations, on their return they are supported to talk with children to help to repair their relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children with educational work to help to keep them safe. However, due to the varying staff experience and skill set, these differ in quality. For example, work with one child regarding internet safety was in-depth and of good quality. However, work regarding a child experimenting with alcohol offered no educational value to help to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always ensure that children are safe from avoidable hazards. During the inspection, a light switch was broken and wires were exposed. This had the potential to cause harm to children and staff. The manager ensured that the light switch was replaced during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 5 Restraint is only used as a last resort to safeguard children. Children are spoken with after and helped to consider alternative techniques to avoid behaviours escalating. Staff debriefs take place to review the measure and learning. However, there has been one instance where a staff debrief was not recorded in line with required record-keeping. As the registered manager was involved in the restraint, a senior manager was due to complete the debrief. The debrief produced for this restraint had been recorded on the day of the inspection, despite the restraint happening several months ago.

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good

The manager is ambitious for the home and children. She knows children well and recognises their starting points and the progress that they have made. She understands how their experiences have impacted them. She has strong relationships with children and, when they return from school, they are keen to greet her and tell her about their day.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She is open about the journey that the home has been on since she became the manager. A new staff team has been employed, and she is working on embedding practices and the ethos of the home. She recognises the impact of this on the functioning of the home and the quality of care that children receive, and has reflected this in her biannual review of the home.

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good

Due to the limited experience and skills of the staff, they are unable to deliver specific support programmes as detailed in the statement of purpose. Consequently, this is not a true reflection of the care that children currently receive. The manager plans to implement this within the next 12 months.

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good

Staff and children told the inspector that the ‘matching of children in the home is not good’. They feel that the behaviours of some children are influenced by each other and this has a negative impact on the home. Two of the four children living in the home moved in to the home within a very short space of time. Consequently, children and staff have not had ample time to adjust to new children before another has moved in. The manager and the responsible individual are reflective of the relationship dynamics of children. They do not plan to move another child in to the home for some time, while they work on improving the relationships of children already living in the home.

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good

Staff have not received training to support one child’s specific needs. The manager is in the process of organising this. However, this is a significant delay as the child has lived in the home for more than one year.

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good

When appointing new staff, the registered manager has not consistently followed safe recruitment practice. For example, no overseas checks or verifications have been undertaken for one staff member who worked with children overseas. This has the potential to compromise safeguarding measures when recruiting new staff. The Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 6 manager was quick to respond and start the process of addressing this shortfall during the inspection.

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good

The manager has not had sufficient oversight of records to ensure that they are always accurate. For example, children’s records do not always state their ethnicity correctly, and there are discrepancies in children’s plans that have the potential to impact on the time frame in which staff respond to children’s needs.

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good

Professionals spoke positively of the care that children receive from staff. They said that staff are ‘child centred’, ‘supportive’, ‘committed to making sure that [children] are safe’, they ‘advocate’ for children, and provide them with ‘stability’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 7

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring a homey environment for all children, including good-quality repairs and maintenance. 23 March 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

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults. 23 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(iv)(xi))

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)(v)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the serious incident between two children. Staff should ensure that there is appropriate supervision of children and follow internal policies when safeguarding concerns arise. 23 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 promotes their welfare. 23 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 9 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

This specifically relates to staff receiving training to help them to care for children and understand their specific and individual needs.

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that managers take into consideration the impact that moving children in to the home quickly may have on children already living in the home. Ensure that the staffing experience and skills are also considered when increasing the number of children that they will need to care for and meeting their individual needs. 23 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that information regarding specific models of working with children are revised when the staff are not trained/experienced, to ensure that this is being practised and the practice is embedded. 23 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 10 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that overseas checks are completed where appropriate. 23 March 2023

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff debriefs are recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 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: SC359846 12

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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

Jodie Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 13 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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