Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 1 SC359846 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 operated by a large private organisation. Staff provide care for up to five children between the ages of eight and 16. The children who live at the home may have experienced childhood adversity.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since May 2022. A new manager is now in post and intends to make an application to register.

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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: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/06/2023 Full Inadequate 08/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/06/2021 Full Good 09/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 3

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improvement to be good

One child has continued to live at the home since the last inspection. The managers have not taken sufficient action to chase the child’s social worker for statutory information and ensure that the child’s in-house plans are kept up to date. This means that staff do not have access to key information to help inform the child’s care, and it is unclear if the child’s plans take account of all of their needs.

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improvement to be good

The child has positive relationships with staff and enjoys spending time with them, including watching films, going out on activities, and sharing mealtimes. These bonds help the child to feel a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Support from staff helps the child to make progress with their education. Staff consult with other professionals regularly to ensure a collaborative approach to supporting the child’s learning. Effective challenge from the manager means that consideration is being given to extending the time that the child spends in school.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys good health and receives support to attend regular health appointments and health assessments.

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improvement to be good

Staff take the child’s views seriously and regularly consult with the child to gain their views and wishes. Staff share the child’s requests with the child’s social worker to ensure a shared approach to meeting the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents are not always well managed by staff. On two occasions, staff did not follow the child’s missing-from-care protocol, which requires that staff search for the child to ascertain their whereabouts. On one occasion, the child was missing for three days. Failure by staff to follow practice guidance means that opportunities to ensure the child returns home as quickly as possible may be missed.

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improvement to be good

Managers have undertaken an assessment of the suitability of the home’s location. However, this has not included consultation with local services, including the police. This reduces the manager’s understanding of any risks posed to children in the local community and reduces the manager’s ability to plan to reduce risk.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to understand how to raise concerns about their care. As a result, the child feels safe and able to speak to staff about any worries they may have. Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 4 When concerns have arisen concerning exploitation, the manager has liaised promptly with the child’s placing local authority. Staff’s direct work with the child has raised the child’s awareness about the risks of going missing from the home, healthy relationships and how to identify safe people.

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improvement to be good

When staff use consequences in response to unacceptable behaviour, the reasons are discussed with the child. This allows the child to reflect on what has happened and think about their behaviour. The manager reviews the consequences to ensure that they are fair and effective.

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good

The manager’s monitoring systems are not always effective. For example, the manager’s audits have missed shortfalls in the physical conditions of the home. A garden wall has gone unrepaired for over three months. Some actions from the health and safety risk assessment have not been completed within the required timescales. In addition, the manager’s monitoring systems have not picked up that the child’s risk assessments are not always updated by staff following bedroom searches.

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good

Managers have not ensured that the staffing schedules clearly set out which adults are working in the home. For example, the rotas do not include the full names of staff. For one staff member, a nickname is used. This lack of clarity means it could be difficult to identify who has worked at the home in the event of a future complaint or concern being raised.

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good

Some staff have not undertaken all of the mandatory training required. This includes training in the safe storage and administration of medication. However, more positively, the staff have been provided with bespoke training in relation to exploitation and online safety. Team meetings are used to develop staff knowledge and skills and have included discussions in areas such as missing from care. Experienced staff support new staff members in understanding the child’s needs.

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good

A new manager has recently come into the post. She is passionate about her role and has a clear vision for the development of the home. She is well supported by senior managers, and together they have put an action plan in place to develop the staff and home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take action as set out in children’s missing-from-care protocols. 18 October 2023

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that monitoring systems identify health and safety shortfalls

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that children’s plans are updated in a timely way. 18 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 6 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

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)) 18 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 18 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation 36) are kept up to date and stored securely while they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: SC359846 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

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC359846 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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