Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 1 SC434806 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 home is owned and operated by a large national provider. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. There was one child living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is registered with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/05/2022 Full Good 21/09/2021 Full Good 30/07/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 3

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inadequate

Children’s care experiences and progress have been impacted by a significant safeguarding incident and poor safeguarding practices. Senior managers have not provided sufficient support, oversight and scrutiny to ensure that action is taken following serious incidents and to tackle risks to children. Managers and staff have failed to understand children’s vulnerabilities and to act when children have been at risk.

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inadequate

When children have not engaged in education, the manager and staff have not identified meaningful alternative educational activities on a consistent basis. At times, children have developed poor daily routines that have been largely unstructured. They have gone on to develop inconsistent sleep patterns which impair their ability to participate in education. Children have been left to spend time in their rooms, often playing on games consoles and devices. This does not provide children with suitable education and limits their opportunities to progress and develop. More positively, one child has recently completed some exams and has secured a college placement. The manager and staff understand the importance of helping him to engage with this opportunity.

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inadequate

Two children have not had positive endings to their time at the home. Staff were unable to safely manage the behaviour that led to them moving out. At times, police assistance was required to support staff with incidents. This has led to criminal charges in response to some behaviours and incidents have also taken place in the community. One child has made some progress and has developed positive relationships with staff. This child’s views of the home and the care they receive are positive. However, this does not align with some of their experiences.

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inadequate

Children’s moves into and out of the home are not entirely positive or planned. Memory books of children’s time at the home had not been completed or given to children. This means children will have gaps in their histories and the time they have spent at the home.

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inadequate

Children’s care planning is good. Their plans contain guidance for staff on how best to support the child. Children do not regularly engage in activities in the community, and this limits their opportunities to develop social skills and friendship groups. This increases the risk of children becoming socially isolated.

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inadequate

Individual key-work sessions carried out by staff with children are not consistently of a good quality. The documents relating to key-work sessions are confused and are made up of records of incidents and various events rather than meaningful work which would support children to make progress. Management oversight has not been sufficient in identifying concerns children have raised and action has not been taken in response. This has the potential to place children at risk of harm. Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 4 Children’s health needs are largely being met, although there are concerns with a child using vapes. The manager and staff are unclear about how children obtain these items. The staff have not yet carried out work with children to highlight the risks of vaping and support them to cut down or stop using vapes.

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

A serious safeguarding incident took place in the home which led to an investigation by external agencies, including the police. This has now been concluded and the concerns raised have been substantiated. The responsible individual for the home failed to carry out a lessons learned review of safeguarding practice as requested by the local authority designated officer. This does not provide Ofsted or external safeguarding agencies with the reassurance that care and safeguarding practice has improved and that there will be no reoccurrence. The failure to act on this crucial recommendation means that children remain vulnerable.

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

Children’s concerns have not always been recognised and responded to in a timely way, including a complaint a child made about a staff member’s conduct. This does not provide children with a safe environment or confidence that their voice is heard when raising concerns. Following further concerns about a staff member’s practice, an internal investigation was agreed and is currently being completed.

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

Allegations against staff have not always been managed in a consistent manner. For example, one allegation involved the manager and another staff member. This was recorded and reported by the manager rather than someone independent of the incident. This fails to provide transparent and independent oversight of how the incident was managed.

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

When children have gone missing from care, there has not been sufficient management oversight or professional curiosity around the circumstances of the incident. Risk factors associated with going missing from care, including possible exploitation, have not been considered. Incidents of children going missing are not consistently recorded. This prevents meaningful evaluation or appropriate action being taken. This means children could be at risk of harm when missing from care.

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

Documenting of incidents is poor and does not provide the required transparency, clarity and evaluation. The manager does not consistently record significant information. This means that children’s plans do not always contain or reflect known information. This prevents information from being shared with the wider staff team and other relevant professionals.

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

Staff regularly work with children alone, including overnight. The manager has not completed a risk assessment or consulted with children to gain their views. The manager has not consulted with social workers or sought their agreement for these arrangements. There has been no consideration as to what staff or the child should do in the event of an accident, sudden illness or emergency. This means children could be at risk of harm due to a lack of risk management and strategies. Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 5 Children use the internet and social media regularly. There are no systems in place for monitoring and checking that their use is appropriate. Children have not received information about internet safety and how to keep themselves safe online. This has the potential to place children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home have been affected by the unexpected absence of the manager. Arrangements for the oversight and management of the home during his absence have not been effective. Senior managers have not provided sufficient support and guidance to ensure management tasks and the role were effectively covered. As a result, children’s concerns have not been responded to, which has left them at risk. Leadership and management of the home have been poor at times and a lack of professional curiosity has placed children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have good oversight of the home and does not have robust quality assurance systems. This means the management of incidents and some aspects of children’s care, such as education, is weak. Not all factors are considered or the potential impact on children’s lives, which means not all relevant action is taken in response. There has been a lack of aspiration for children or an understanding of their needs to ensure relevant support is in place to help them to achieve and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staffing is at a critically low level and recruitment has been challenging. There has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection. The staff work well together and enjoy positive relationships with children. The manager is not considering moving any new children into the home until staffing levels improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have completed mandatory training, although additional training would improve staff knowledge and skills in working with and meeting children’s needs. Despite a serious safeguarding event in the home, staff have not received additional training or guidance in child protection and child exploitation, including how children can be groomed and coerced. Not all staff knew about the whistle-blowing policy, which means they may not know how to report or respond to concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have regular supervision, although sessions are not always completed in line with company policy. For example, new staff are meant to have fortnightly supervision but one member of staff did not have supervision until two months into their employment. Staff have annual appraisals, which give opportunities for them to reflect on practice and set development goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The development plan and review of the home does not contain all relevant information, such as a significant safeguarding incident that was investigated by external agencies. This document does not provide a true and reflective evaluation of the home, and therefore will not support with development and improvements to the home’s practices. Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 6 Following a case review after this inspection, Ofsted has issued a restriction notice to ensure no further children are admitted to the home. Additionally, Ofsted has issued compliance notices, under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 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, 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to leaders and managers reflecting on a serious safeguarding concern and identifying any lessons learned to prevent further occurrences. It also relates to staff and managers responding to children’s concerns and 12 September Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 8 complaints and having the training to enable them to understand their role in protecting children from exploitation.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to improving management oversight of all areas of the home but particularly safeguarding and learning from incidents. 12 September

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 9

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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: SC434806 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Kay Challand, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC434806 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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