Children's Home run by Cambian Autism Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 1 Registered provider: Cambian Autism Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in October 2022 and provides care for up to three children with a learning disability. This is the home’s first full inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager also registered with Ofsted in October 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company and provides education on site at a registered school. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home. The child’s move into the home was well planned and sensitive to their needs. The staff spent time with them at their previous home, which helped the child to feel relaxed when they moved in. However, one child who has recently moved out was not provided with the same level of support to ensure that their move from the home was as positive as it could have been.

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improvement to be good

Children attend the school on site. Staff encourage and support the children in their education. The manager has been a good advocate for children, ensuring that they receive education that meets their needs. As a result, children’s attendance and progress at school have improved.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy lots of activities in the community and in the home. The staff are creative so that children are able to access favoured activities in an environment that suits them. However, the manager was not aware of the local offer, which would provide children with access to more opportunities and experiences relating to their education, health and social well-being.

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improvement to be good

Time with family is supported by staff and families are welcomed to the home or to join in with activities in the community. This means that children have positive time with their families that they enjoy. The staff maintain good communication with families and have recently set up a digital platform where videos, photos and updates can be shared with families, so that they can see what their child is achieving and enjoying.

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improvement to be good

The staff ensure that children are involved in their care and that their views, wishes and feelings are taken into account, despite their communication difficulties. Children are provided with choices of how they would like to spend their time and staff continually encourage children to develop their communication. As a result, one child has significantly increased their vocabulary.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to take part in activities and have the opportunities that their peers have. However, one child is not being supported to help them understand socially acceptable behaviour in the community. This could impact activities that they are able to do safely in the future.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager did not act in line with safeguarding procedures when a child made an allegation against a staff member following an incident. There was a delay in reporting this to the local authority designated officer, due to staff not recognising Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 4 that the child was making an allegation. Additionally, there is no record of the initial disclosure and the child was not informed of the outcome.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not use negative consequences and positive behaviour is encouraged through the use of incentives which the children engage with and are involved in. For one child, this has helped them to manage their difficulties around communicating their needs and has reduced destructive behaviour.

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improvement to be good

There have been several incidents when staff have held children to keep them safe. However, some incident records refer to holds that are not then described in detail. Children are not always provided with the opportunity to have a debrief following restraints and the manager does not always have full oversight. Additionally, language in records is not always helpful in making clear to the reader what is happening for the child.

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improvement to be good

The manager follows safer recruitment processes, which means that only staff suitable to do so are working with the children.

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improvement to be good

The manager ensures that the home is a safe environment for children, through robust health and safety monitoring. However, the assessment of the location of the home does not include all potential risks in the wider environment or how the manager plans to reduce these.

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good

The manager is suitably experienced and is currently completing the relevant qualification. The manager is a good advocate for children and is confident in challenging the opinions and decisions of other professionals in the best interests of children.

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good

Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager. However, supervisions are not always taking place to ensure that staff have a formal opportunity to reflect on their practice and the progress of children.

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good

The staff are appropriately trained to help them to support children with their individual needs. However, the manager has not implemented a workforce development plan.

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good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. However, they are not child-centred and do not include discussions on research in practice to equip staff with knowledge of how best to meet the needs of the children.

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good

The manager does not use agency staff at the home and this ensures consistency for the children. However, the hours that the manager works at the home are not included on the rotas. Additionally, the admission record for children does not include the address from which the child moved to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 5

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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, The 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to staff understanding their roles and responsibilities with regard to managing allegations made by children. 6 July 2023

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to supporting children around behaviour that puts them at risk of exclusion in the community which could impact opportunities in the future. 6 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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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— 6 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 6 that arrangements are in place to—

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to children moving on from the home in a way that is supportive of their well-being and that they are appropriately prepared and supported.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 6 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 7 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to any physical intervention being recorded and followed up appropriately.

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(g)(i)) 6 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff receiving regular supervision. 6 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

A record in the form of a register showing in respect of each child—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s address immediately before being accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

A copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rosters worked. (Regulation 37 (Schedule 4) (1)(c) (3)) 6 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. The registered person should ensure that reports relating to significant events include all relevant 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’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the

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Recommendations

workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that the review of the home’s location includes the identification of any risks and opportunities presented and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2693741 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Autism Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Autism Services Limited, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Patrick Sullivan

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Inspectors

Kerri Lynch-Mahoney, Social Care Inspector Pam Nuckley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2693741 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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