Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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 owned by a large national provider. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is registered with Ofsted. They were present throughout the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children currently live at the home. Their views about the home were sought and considered as part of the inspection process.

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home and one child has moved out. This was a planned move out of the home and was positive for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The overall experiences of children are good, and they are provided with a safe and nurturing environment. Staff talk about the children with care and affection and children have positive and trusting relationships with the team. Staff know and understand the children well and are supporting them to make some progress. Children who have recently moved into the home have started to settle and had a positive transition. The manager completed detailed risk assessments and considered the impact on children already living at the home to ensure that children’s needs could be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have education in place. Although attendance is variable for one child, the education is available and on offer. Staff are supporting the child to try and get them to re-engage. One child has maintained connections with their previous education provider and attends this weekly in addition to the education provided at the home. This has provided the child with consistency in their education and helped them to stay in touch with people who are important to them. One child is making good progress with their education and regularly attends. This has helped them with developing their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to stay in touch with their friends and family and, as a result, some relationships have improved and developed. One child has regular time away from the home at weekends to spend with friends. This is positive for them and helps maintain these friendships. Children have opportunities to engage in the activities in the home and those within the community and are encouraged to develop hobbies and interests. Some of the children have pets of their own and enjoy caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have healthy lifestyles and are registered with local health services such as doctors and dentists. Children’s plans are not consistently kept updated regarding health appointments they may have had. It is not clear whether children have had their health needs assessed by services such as dentists and opticians since they moved into the home, and this could prevent monitoring of any health needs they may have. Not all known health needs are reflected in children’s plans, and this prevents oversight as to how children are being supported with these needs and in making healthy life choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning for the children is good and the staff at the home work closely with external professionals in developing and implementing plans. Children are regularly consulted with, and they have regular opportunities to express their views, wishes and feelings. Children are being helped to develop their independence skills as part of their ongoing plans and potential moves into less-structured care provisions. Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 4

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

There have been several missing from care episodes recently and one child is at high risk of child exploitation. These episodes have been well managed, and staff have been proactive in trying to locate the child and in preventing the child from going missing. The manager has worked well with a multi-agency team and has contributed to safety plans and risk assessments.

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

Although missing from care risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated, other plans do not contain all relevant and current information. This is confusing and could lead to inconsistency in the management of risk and children’s care.

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

Allegations against staff have been well managed and have been reported to external safeguarding professionals. Staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in reporting safeguarding concerns and allegations.

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

Incidents in the home are rare and there have been no incidents requiring the use of physical intervention or restraint. Staff use de-escalation techniques and their positive relationships with the children to good effect in managing incidents and supporting the children.

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

Children have positive relationships with each other and there have been no incidents of bullying. Children have trusting relationships with the adults in the home, and this means they could speak to the team if they had any worries or concerns. Children are provided with consistent rules and boundaries and this has helped them feel safe and cared for and, as a result, they are settled in the home.

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

The home is well maintained and decorated and provides children with a safe and homely environment. Regular health and safety checks are completed and the home is maintained to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and knowledgeable in her role and dedicated to the home, the staff and the children. They provide a strong and positive role model for the team, where children’s well-being is at the centre of practice. As a result, the standards of care have improved. The manager has focused on the development and upskilling of the team. This means that staff have a clear understanding of their roles and working practices have significantly improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for staff and children and a clear plan for the further development of the home. They are providing stable and effective leadership and management to the home and are well supported by senior leaders and managers. Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 5 The manager has implemented systems to support her to have a good oversight of the home. Regular quality assurance and reflection are helping to improve standards and drive improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with external agencies and professionals, and they are universally positive about the improvements that the manager has made since they returned to this role. Professionals spoken to highlighted that the manager was a strong advocate and worked with the best interests of children at the centre of their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported and positive about their roles and responsibilities and staff morale is high. Staff are provided with regular, reflective supervision and appraisal to help them to reflect on and develop their practice. Further opportunities for discussion and reflection are provided with regular team meetings and additional mentoring for new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All the staff have completed mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding and health and safety. Staff are further developing their knowledge and skills through additional training and workshops. This has supported them to have a good understanding of the children’s needs and how best to support them. Staff are either qualified or undertaking a relevant qualification in childcare. Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 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 ensure that each child’s day-to-day health and well- being needs are met. This includes ensuring that children are made appointments with primary health services to have their health needs assessed and that health needs are identified in the health plan in line with the statement of purpose for the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards 2015’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records, including risk assessments and support plans, are kept up to date and that information within is not conflicting. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards 2015’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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 for children's home: 2683445 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2683445 8 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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