Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockton-on-Tees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 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 provider. It provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in November 2021.

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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: 2597736 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2022 Full Good 24/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/07/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress. Staff understand the children’s individual needs and how to meet those needs. Therefore, children receive a good quality of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home as part of a planned introduction. They have the opportunity to meet staff and the other children and see where they will live. This supports children to start to develop relationships and become familiar with their new home before they move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming and homely environment for children. It is well furnished and decorated, with photos of children throughout the property. Children have well- maintained and personalised bedrooms, a pamper room and access to a lovely garden. Children benefit from living in this nurturing home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement with education, skills and training has improved since they moved into the home. This is because staff work with children to help them understand the importance of education and encourage them to attend school regularly. One child, who was not attending school, has been supported back into full-time education within a short time of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with children’s families and support children to maintain their relationships with those who are important to them. A family member said staff are helpful in arranging family time. Staff communicate with the children’s families to keep them up to date. This helps children to develop their relationships with their parents and families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to pursue their hobbies and interests. Children enjoy time with staff, discovering new activities and widening their experiences, such as going on holidays together. They each have a memory book that is filled with photos of activities and outings with staff and each other. This helps the children develop their social skills and enhances their experiences while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to move out of the home in a planned way. They contribute to children’s moving on plans and help and support children through this change. This helps children experience a positive end to their time living in the home and prepares them for their next steps.

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

The manager completes an assessment when considering a new child moving into the home. This allows managers to explore how this may impact on each child and considers the ability of staff to meet children’s competing needs. This means that all children are thoughtfully considered when welcoming new children to the home. As a result, the staff can manage the children’s risks and keep them safer. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 4 Children’s individual risks are known to staff. Risk assessments and safety plans are regularly reviewed and updated when any changes occur. Staff work well with other professionals to better support children. Staff also work directly with children to help them understand their own risks and make safer choices.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When they do, they receive well-planned responses from staff. Staff work together to ensure that children are helped to return home safely. Children are given an opportunity to meet with an independent person to discuss what has happened. This means children know staff are concerned for their safety and welfare.

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

Children are engaged in conversations about important issues that are relevant to them. Staff help children identify their feelings and discuss the impact their behaviour can have on themselves and others. Consequences are used to help children to learn from and make amends for their behaviour.

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

Effective multi-agency working ensures that the children receive consistent care and support. The staff ensure that they share any issues of concern with the relevant agencies and professionals to agree on safer care strategies for children. This increases children’s safety and welfare and provides them with consistent care and support.

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

Staff do not always record information about children in a helpful way. In children’s daily logs and recordings of conversations with children, staff use blaming language. When children access their information, they will read records that have not been carefully and thoughtfully prepared for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has an experienced registered manager who was on leave at the time of the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers focus on what matters most for children. Children’s views and wishes are sought and considered in relation to developing the home. This includes decisions about their care and improvements made to the home. The manager’s responses to children help them to feel valued and included.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality training, and the manager prioritises their learning and development. The manager ensures that staff have access to training that helps them learn about subjects that are relevant to the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and attend team meetings to support their ongoing professional development. This allows time for learning and discussion to develop a greater insight into meeting the needs of the children. Staff have said that supervision is supportive and an opportunity to reflect on their practice and the progress of children. As a result, children receive care from skilled workers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 5 Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment practices to ensure that adults who care for children are safe to do so. New staff are supported through a comprehensive induction programme. Staff then enrol on courses to gain the necessary qualifications for their role. This provides staff with the opportunity to learn the right skills to meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place to track the progress of children and review the quality of the children’s records. However, this has not been effective in ensuring that all the essential documents are in the children’s files. Leaders and managers have not followed this up with the placing local authority. This means the home does not have all the up-to-date records for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 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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Recommendations

 The registered person should challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to care for a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5).  The registered person should ensure staff are recording 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)

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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: 2597736 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

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2597736 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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