Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 1 SC457435 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 experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2021.

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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2023 Full Good 17/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 3

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home, together with staff’s poor safeguarding practice, have had an impact on children’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children have good relationships with staff, particularly the registered manager. They are encouraged to spend time with their families, and parents can visit them at the home. One parent spoke positively about the progress their child makes but said that they are worried about staffing changes in the home. The parent said that the child forms attachments to staff and is disappointed when they leave after a short time. The lack of consistency in staffing does not help children to enjoy a stable home environment.

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improvement to be good

Children attend school, and staff work well with their teachers. Staff provide the school with a chronology which outlines the progress children are making in the home. This also informs them of any issues that might affect how children are feeling when they attend school. This means that the child receives responses that are empathetic and sensitive to their needs.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to raise complaints. Complaints and allegations are taken seriously and investigated. Children receive feedback, and staff carry out debriefs to allow them to talk about their feelings and help them to move forward positively. This helps children to know that the manager and staff value them and listen to them.

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improvement to be good

One child is encouraged to take positive, age-appropriate risks by going out alone in the community. This is teaching the child to be responsible for returning home on time. Additionally, staff help children to take part in a range of positive activities in the community. This helps children to create positive memories and improve their physical and mental well-being.

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improvement to be good

When a child is due to move into the home, the manager does not carry out a robust assessment of the child’s compatibility with children already living in the home. Furthermore, shortfalls in how children are supervised means that one child has had to move out of the home in an unplanned way, as it was not deemed safe for the children to live together. This impacts on children’s safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not ensured that all documents relating to children are up to date and obtained from relevant professionals. For example, one child’s record is not clear about the child’s additional needs. This impacts on staff’s understanding of the child’s needs and associated behaviours. Another child has been targeted in the community and there is no clear guidance in risk assessments about how staff should best mitigate this risk. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 4 The lack of clear plans for children impacts on staff’s ability to respond appropriately and safeguard children effectively. The manager has not escalated this effectively to ensure that they have all the relevant information.

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improvement to be good

There has been a reduction in incidents of children going missing from the home. When children go missing, staff are proactive in searching for the child and following the home’s missing-from-care protocols. However, not all staff can drive, which impacts on the effectiveness of searches. Furthermore, staff are not able to keep in contact with one child as they do not have a mobile phone. This limits how effectively staff can safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Some records of key-work sessions with the child lack meaningful detail about issues being discussed. Staff do not demonstrate professional curiosity in exploring incidents or concerns, and children are not supported to learn lessons to help them stay safer.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques so that they can support children who are experiencing intense emotions. For example, one child will go out for a short walk to help them to calm down, with staff following at a safe distance. This works well and has resulted in a reduction in physical interventions for the child. Children are helped to learn how to manage conflict and difficult emotions in a better way.

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

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager.

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

The manager has not been able to resolve some vacancies and issues with the current staffing. The home relies on support provided by staff from another of the provider’s homes. This has had an impact on staff’s capacity to meet children’s needs. For example, one child could not go out for his bike ride because a member of staff did not turn up to work. The child has also expressed confusion about staff members as they could not remember their names. This affects the child’s ability to enjoy planned activities, and the continuous changes of staff create an unpredictable environment.

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

Information about children is not always recorded using appropriate language. For example, records describe a child in distress as exhibiting ‘attention-seeking behaviour’. This language is blaming of the child and does not show that staff understand their responsibility in safeguarding children. These records are also not helpful in supporting the child to understand what is written about them and why.

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

The manager does not always adhere to safer recruitment procedures. Leaders and managers have an ambitious vision for the quality of staff. This includes employing staff who have the necessary skills and experiences to manage the needs of the children. However, the manager has not had full oversight of all recruitment checks. This does not assure the manager that all staff are suitable to work with children.

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

The registered manager has built positive relationships with other professionals and Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 5 parents. The home has good local connections. For example, the local police officer provides valuable input and helps to the bridge the gap if neighbourhood issues arise. These relationships ensure a shared responsibility for safeguarding children who live in the home.

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

Leaders and managers use monitoring and review systems, including feedback from the independent visitor, to understand the home’s strengths and areas for development. They use this understanding to inform practice and find new and better ways to support children. The manager uses the views of the children and the people in their lives to help her understand what is working well and what needs to improve.

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

Staff speak positively about the manager and are happy with the support that they receive. All staff are supervised monthly. Supervision sessions are reflective and focus on the progress children are making. This helps the manager to identify staff’s learning needs and review their performance. The manager allows staff to lead the conversations, which helps staff to reflect on their own practice and well-being. The staff and the manager agree actions to help them to develop their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(b)) 30 October 2024

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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— 30 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 7 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)) 30 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 30 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirement in paragraph (3)

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 30 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 8 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Recommendation

 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. Staff should record information about 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: SC457435 9

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC457435 10 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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