Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Halton

Inspection report children's home: SC456729 1 SC456729 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of a number of children’s homes run by a large private organisation. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since October 2023. A recently appointed acting manager is in the process of applying for registration.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 children's home: SC456729 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2023 Full Good 26/04/2022 Full Good 24/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: SC456729 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-tailored plans that staff use to promote their needs effectively. They enjoy good relationships with staff that provide them with stability and consistency in their lives. A social worker said, ‘Staff have provided [the child’s name] with much needed stability. They have lived at the home for 15 months and have good relationships with staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s education and support them to attend school regularly. Staff work with the providers of children’s education to promote their learning and educational progress. However, one of three children are not attending school currently. This is due to safety concerns in school and the school not feeling able to meet the child’s specific needs safely. As a result, alternative school provisions are being explored by staff and the social worker that would be better suited to meet this child’s specific needs. Staff provide the child with home tuition and online learning, but engagement in home learning can be sporadic. Other children continue to do well with attending education regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with the health services that they need to be healthy, and staff encourage them to attend their health appointments. However, one child is not receiving specialist help and support currently to promote their emotional and psychological well- being. Staff provide the child with effective help through one-to-one support and plan to review the child’s willingness to attend therapy. Currently, the child does not have therapy in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with positive activities to promote their interests and hobbies. Children enjoy go karting, theme parks, water boarding, meals out and pamper nights with staff. There are good opportunities provided to keep children occupied and active.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote family time to ensure that children sustain their familiar relationships with the people that matter most to them. A social worker said, ‘Staff are really helpful at facilitating and supervising contact and were very accommodating of life story work.’

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

Staff prioritise the safety of children effectively. They have a good understanding of their specific needs and emerging vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to keep children safe from harm.

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

Staff implement risk management plans effectively to reduce known risks to children. Children become increasingly safer because of the actions staff take to protect them. A child said, ‘Staff are all lovely and it’s a good place to be. I can talk to staff, and they help you with everything.’ Inspection report children's home: SC456729 4 Staff manage behaviours that challenge effectively. The use of restraint is a last resort that is only ever used to protect children from harm. Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques which enables them to help children regulate their emotions safely and prevent unsafe behaviours from escalating.

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

Staff provide children with a warm, homely and comfortable living environment. Health and safety matters are addressed effectively to promote a safe environment for children to live in safely.

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

Staff are trained in child protection and have a good knowledge and understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff know how to deal with allegations and follow procedures for reporting suspected abuse. Staff maintain strong partnerships with the police and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety of children.

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

When children have gone missing from the home, staff actively look for them, and follow the appropriate protocols by working closely with the police to secure their safe return. Strategy meetings are requested whenever there is an escalation in the frequency of missing-from- home episodes. This ensures that there is an effective response from professionals in working together to keep children safe from harm.

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

Significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities. This ensures that there is a well-coordinated response to support and protect children from harm. A social worker said, ‘Staff are understanding of the child’s experiences and keep me updated. They attend all meetings and communication is positive. They work really hard to keep children safe.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the home’s previous acting manager has left the home in April 2024. A team leader has recently been promoted to the acting manager’s post. However, the home has been without a registered manager since October 2023. The acting manager is in the process of applying for registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual is supporting the acting manager to ensure that the home is managed efficiently and effectively. The acting manager has worked at the home for five years and has well established relationships with both staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Child focused team meetings are held each month to review and monitor the progress, challenges, and experiences of children. Staff benefit from regular practice related supervision to review their practice and performance. In addition, the training needs of staff are identified and met effectively. Staff have access to good quality training to help them meet the specific needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff employed to care for children are recruited and vetted carefully to protect children from unsuitable people. Inspection report children's home: SC456729 5 The home is visited on a monthly basis by an independent person who reviews the quality of the children’s care and the effectiveness of the arrangements made by staff to keep children safe. The manager uses these visits to improve performance by addressing any identified weaknesses. The manager makes effective use of the home’s monitoring activities to secure continuing improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have addressed and met the requirement and recommendations from the last inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC456729 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should encourage home learning when children are not attending school. Additionally, full time educational provision should be pro-actively pursued. 22 July 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC456729 7 (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a) (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)) The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children's home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) and (2)(a)(b)) 22 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children have access to support to promote their emotional and psychological well-being when needed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)

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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: SC456729 8

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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

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Eve Ostridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC456729 9 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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