Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Salford

Inspection report children's home: 2594007 1 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 is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and support for two children who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2020

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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 children's home: 2594007 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/07/2022 Full Good 28/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 2594007 3

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improvement to be good

There are currently two children living at the home. At the time of the inspection, one of the children was celebrating there one year anniversary of living at the home. This is something that the child and staff are proud of. One child living at the home shared with the inspector, ‘This is the longest time I have been somewhere; staff listen to me, and I feel close to everyone.’

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to promote children's educational needs. As a result, one child attends school and has good attendance. Staff have supported the other child to overcome barriers to their learning, and by working with education professionals have supported that child to be able to sit two GCSE exams.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not taken effective steps to support one child to make healthy food and lifestyle choices. Although some efforts are made by staff to encourage exercise and healthy eating, this is inconsistent, and staff are not always proactive or creative in their approach. Furthermore, the child’s health plan does not identify what actions the child and staff need to take. This lack of clear guidance has contributed to the poor progress in meeting the child's health needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff have limited success in supporting children to access activities and hobbies. Staff are accepting of children’s lack of motivation to leave the home. As a result, outside of school hours, it is rare for children to leave the home unless they are being driven to the shops or to go to a coffee shop. Children spend a considerable amount of their time in their bedrooms. Staff appear to have run out of ideas or lack the inclination to help children progress with this. Despite this, one child attends a dance class each week and on the first day of the inspection both children were supported to go out of the home.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is generally maintained to a satisfactory standard, although some areas of the home, including the lounge, lack soft furnishings to make it feel homely. Children’s bedrooms are dirty, and their carpets are stained. Rubbish, an unwashed bowl, mould in a glass and a pile of unwashed clothes in one of the children’s bedrooms was observed by the inspector. Staff have been unrealistic in their expectation that children will take responsibility for the cleanliness and maintenance of their bedrooms. Furthermore, staff’s scheduled checks of children’s bedroom’s do not take place or do not result in any action. The manager’s oversight of this aspect of children’s care has been poor.

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improvement to be good

The staff smoke in the garden and leave their cigarette butts on display for children to see. As such they are not acting as good role models for children. Similarly, although children are not permitted to have vapes or use them in the home, children are routinely able to gain access to vapes. There are no clear plans to address this behaviour or dissuade the use of vapes. The registered manager has not considered Inspection report children's home: 2594007 4 it necessary to be discreet about her own possession of a vape, and as such this normalises this behaviour for the children and undermines any efforts she makes to the challenge the children.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to see friends and family that are important to them. Staff collaborate with professionals to ensure that this is safe for children. Time with family and friends is reviewed with children, professionals and family and is increased in line with children’s needs. For one child, she is now able to have overnight stays with her Aunty.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff are following local authority protocols and procedures. Staff actively search and try to contact children when they are missing. Children are offered missing from home interviews when they return. These interviews when completed are reviewed by the manger. This provides the registered manager with a better understanding around the push and pull factors for missing episodes. Strategies are then reviewed and updated to support children. This has reduced the frequency of children going missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans are reviewed monthly and are informed by discussion with children and any professionals involved. The strategies in place to safeguard children have contributed to children’s risks reducing.

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improvement to be good

Children are selective in which rules and boundaries they follow, and they are given a great level of freedom by staff in what they do. Some staff are more successful in imposing agreed rules, while others are reluctant to challenge behaviours. Existing rewards systems lack imagination and are not aspiring. Furthermore, the use of rewards and praise is not well documented and as such it is unclear how well this approach is embedded into staff's practice.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, fire doors were being propped open as the automatic door closures had run out of battery. It was unclear how long this had been an issue. The use of door stops has previously been identified as a shortfall in the homes fire risk assessment. Action was taken during the inspection to remove the door stops and replace the batteries that were needed.

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improvement to be good

Medication for children is safely secured and administered to children. Staff have all received training in first aid.

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good

The registered manager's oversight of the home has not enabled her to understand what improvements are needed, or to take timely action to address these. When the Inspection report children's home: 2594007 5 registered manager identifies shortfalls in the care being provided to children, she is not diligent in ensuring that staff take the steps required to remedy this.

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good

The independent person does not routinely gather feedback from professional or children's parents to inform their understanding of the quality of care provided to children. In addition, the visitor has not identified that children's bedrooms are not being well maintained, despite this being a concern raised by one child's social worker. The registered manager has not challenged the quality of the independent person's reports.

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good

The registered manager has completed a quality-of-care review. Due to a technical error this was submitted late to Ofsted. The registered manager is due to complete a new quality-of-care review.

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good

The registered manager demonstrates insight into the children needs and the areas in which they require support. The registered manager has recently sought support from the inhouse therapy team for advice around transition plans and supporting the children through the summer holidays. The registered manager has built good relationships with partner agencies. The CAMHS therapist shared no concerns and reported that she had good communication with staff at the home.

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good

Staff are positive about the support offered to them by the manager. However, supervision is not consistently taking place and in other instances consists of informal conversations that take place during the day. This means that staff do not get an opportunity to reflect on their development and the registered manager is not taking proactive steps to improve staff practice. Furthermore, recorded supervision documents are not available for staff to review.

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good

Team meetings are taking place monthly with staff. The registered manager has introduced ‘hot topics’ to these meetings, this has included research on children in care at Christmas, and drink spiking. This provides time for reflection for the staff team. Children are also invited to share their views at the end of the meeting with the staff team . While staff have completed all required training, the registered manager has identified that some staff lack the confidence and ability to implement agreed plans or follow her instructions. The registered manager has not yet taken action to address this.

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good

Children do not often make complaints, but when they do the registered manager responds to these in a timely way. However, while children have lots of opportunities to informal speak to staff, they often choose not to engage in planned meetings and discussions about their views and wishes. When children's view are gathered these are not always documented in children's records. Staff also don’t document what efforts, however unsuccessful, they have made to speak to children and gain their views. The registered manager had not identified this as an area for improvement. Most staff hold a suitable recognised childcare qualification. New staff to the home are enrolled onto NVQ level 4 child care qualification once probation period has been successfully completed. Inspection report children's home: 2594007 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 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

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

This specifically relates to children’s bedrooms are to be kept clean and free from rubbish.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 staff help each child to— 24 August 2023 Inspection report children's home: 2594007 7 achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's well- being.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children health plans. Health plan’s outlines what actions take place, and how staff support children health needs to be met.

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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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager completing Regulation 45 reports and this is sent to Ofsted within 28 days of the report being completed

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Requirement Due date

That the registered manager reviews monitoring systems in the home and ensures that staff consistently meet the needs of the children. 24 August 2023 Inspection report children's home: 2594007 8 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

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Requirement Due date

That staff receive supervision and that this is recorded on file. 24 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. Staff should support children to take part in school trips, out of school and other clubs, volunteering and leisure activities. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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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 children's home: 2594007 9

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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

Tracey Sykes, Social Care Inspector Paul Robinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2594007 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 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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