Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 1 SC456330 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 privately run home offers care for up to four children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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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 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: SC456330 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/08/2022 Full Good 10/11/2021 Full Good 30/10/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 23/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Six children have lived at this home since the last inspection. One child had a planned move to another placement, and another child returned to live with their family. The manager gave notice to two children as the team recognised that staff were not able to meet their changing needs. Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff use a therapeutic approach that helps children to build positive relationships. A mental health practitioner works alongside the staff to help them think about children’s experiences and what they are expressing through their behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good-quality plans help the staff know the children well. Children’s plans include strategies that support staff to understand their individual differences and communicate with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff consider children’s futures. They enact plans that help each child build skills for adulthood. One child who recently moved into the home had a lot of restrictions in their last placement. The staff have worked with the child’s social worker to help the child start to build up independent time in the community. The child has been shopping with staff, cooked meals and is generally helpful around the home. This shows how quickly they have been able to settle in and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health, and this is monitored in their plans. The staff broach sensitive topics with children and have supported them to manage their sexual health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of family relationships, and they enable family visits. They build good relationships with families and are flexible in arranging time for children to see them. This helps children to see the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home uses a variety of methods to help record children’s journeys. One of these methods is the letters that staff write to children every day. This helps the children to build memories and have an understanding of their experiences.

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

The staff proactively try to understand children’s behaviour. Leaders and managers arrange bespoke training when needed, and this helps staff to support children.

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

One child suffered a significant loss just days after moving into the home. The manager immediately arranged bereavement training for the team. They carefully considered how best to support this child. They took the child away on holiday to Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 4 give them some time and space. They also supported them to attend the funeral. This has helped the child to settle, and they are now making progress at the home. The child’s grandmother gave very positive feedback, saying, ‘The home has been amazing.’ The child also said they liked the home and the staff.

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

Another child moved to the home with significant concerns around exploitation. The manager and the team have a very good understanding of child exploitation and the signs they would need to look for. They are also able to think about managed risk for this child and helping them build independence for the future.

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

The home has had a high number of missing-from-home episodes. The majority of these episodes were for two children, who wanted to remain in the care of their families and would not return from family visits. The staff managed these incidents well, and each child’s plans included regular checks to make sure they were ok. Both children have subsequently moved. There have not been any other missing-from- care episodes since that time.

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

There has been a number of physical interventions used for children. These were necessary and proportionate. Reflective conversations with staff are completed, and children always have key-work sessions afterwards. However, there are some recording errors in the incident reports; they are not always legible, and staff do not always sign and date them. This makes it difficult to monitor and review.

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

On one occasion, the registered manager did not show enough curiosity in responding to a discrepancy in safeguarding records. This has resulted in a delay in the necessary actions being taken.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She is dedicated to helping children achieve their best outcomes, which comes through in her passion for the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes a therapeutic parenting model within the home, which helps staff understand the therapeutic approach. Staff have said the manager is ‘supportive, a good role model and sets clear expectations’ for them. This helps staff to provide good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is reflective and open to challenge. She wants to find areas of development and seeks to improve practice. After incidents at the home, she has taken part in critical reflection and made changes as a result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager can make difficult decisions when needed. She can assess whether children are settling into the home. She works alongside the social work team to consider what the best option might be if children are not settling. One child was supported to move on to a specialist placement as the manager and staff recognised that they could no longer meet their needs. The social worker said the team went Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 5 above and beyond to help this child and supported them to have a successful transition.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses supervisions and team meetings well to upskill her team and to make sure that staff have the right support available to understand and help the children at the home. This helps the team to provide consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for children and the staff team. She has plans to continue to further develop her team and to further embed the model of practice. This has the potential to help staff continue to achieve positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment files are not well ordered. They are inconsistent and have a lot of information in them. This has made them difficult for the manager to monitor and has contributed to there being some missing information relating to start dates Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 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, 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

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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must show effective scrutiny and appropriate curiosity in respect of safeguarding records. 25 September

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Recommendations

 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 when recording physical interventions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks. In particular, records should be easy to monitor and review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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 are 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: SC456330 7

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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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Inspector

Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456330 8 regulates and inspects 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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