Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 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

This privately run home provides care for up to four children aged between 11 and 18 of single gender. The home specialises in care for children at risk of exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in August 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of inspection. The child was spoken with.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/05/2023 Full Good 26/05/2022 Full Good 04/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 3

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improvement to be good

One child has moved to the home since the last inspection, and has since moved out. Although children have made some progress, concerns about how well children are helped and protected and the leadership and management of the home have limited the overall judgement.

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improvement to be good

The home is a specialist home for children at risk of exploitation. The statement of purpose pledges that children will have a clinical assessment in the first 12 weeks. The child has not had an assessment within this time frame. There has been no therapeutic work about their risk of exploitation. Staff have not had training in exploitation to understand these risks. This means that the staff may not recognise signs of ongoing exploitation or be able to support the child proactively.

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improvement to be good

Door alarms are used to keep children safe. Children’s social workers are aware of alarms being in place. All children have a high level of staffing in place. Despite this, there are still door alarms active during the day, when staff should know the child’s location. The alarms make a noise that requires a manual reset by staff. This fails to provide a homely environment for children. Managers have since requested changes to the alarm system.

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improvement to be good

A group risk assessment was completed when a new child moved to the home. Known risks were considered against the risks pertinent to the child living at the home. This child moved out of the home in an unplanned way. The manager has completed a review of the placement to identify any lessons learned.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children’s interests. They understand what children enjoy and support them with these activities. Staff support engagement with the community. The child has enjoyed baking cakes for a local homeless shelter.

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improvement to be good

Children’s known risks are not always clear in risk assessments. The manager and staff are aware of the risks. Despite this, these are not clearly specified in the child’s risk assessment. This means that strategies for staff to follow are unclear. There is no clear protocol for allegations to be reported to the local authority designated officer (LADO). This means there may not be consistent procedures following allegations.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not regularly talk to children about their safety and risks. Key-work sessions are not held frequently. Despite an increase in incidents and risks, conversations with children are limited. This means that staff are not supporting children to develop better, Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 4 safer strategies. Staff have sourced some additional support from external agencies and the police and fire service have both visited to talk to one child.

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improvement to be good

Some incident and restraint records do not include enough detail. There are limited details about the de-escalation techniques used by staff during these incidents. The manager is aware of this. A recording and reporting workshop was attended by some staff and this has improved the standard of recording. However, some staff still need to attend this workshop.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the processes to follow when children go missing from the home. Staff search the local area to try to locate children and make attempts to contact them.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment is followed for new members of staff. There is an induction process for new staff, which helps them to learn their roles.

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

The manager is experienced and is currently in the process of submitting their application to register with Ofsted. The responsible individual was on annual leave and was not present during the inspection.

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

Management oversight is limited. The manager does not comment following incidents. When the manager makes comments, these do not always identify learning. This means that staff are unable to see what could be done differently to support their practice.

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

Supervision sessions do not take place in line with the company’s policy. New members of staff should have increased supervision to support their development, but they are not receiving regular supervision. The manager, who is in her probation period, has not received supervision sessions as frequently as she should. This means that both the staff and the manager are not receiving the support needed. This lack of support impacts on their confidence and skills. It also means that their managers may not be aware of their areas of development.

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

Recent recruitment has been successful and there is a more stable staff team. The manager spends a lot of time with the staff to support them to learn their roles. Staff say they feel supported by the manager. However, this time with staff reduces the manager’s time for management oversight and tasks.

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

The manager is aware of the areas that require development. She is dedicated and committed to improving the home. The manager has implemented additional team meetings to support staff development. She has booked training sessions with the mental health practitioner to upskill the staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 5

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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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(f)(h)) 27 June 2025

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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

that staff— 13 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 6 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)((v))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that allegations are reported to the LADO or ensure that the rationale for why this is not required is included;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children’s risk assessments are up to date and detail any known risks.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that clinical assessments are provided and that staff talk to children about their known risks to support them to develop strategies to reduce these. 27 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 13 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 7 This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any monitoring equipment is proportionate and used to support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working at the home in accordance with regulation 24. In particular, ensure that door alarms are only used when necessary and are turned off when not required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  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. This specifically relates to ensuring that staff provide clear detail about incidents and any de-escalation skills used during incidents. (‘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: 2534827 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: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dennise Springett

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Inspector

Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2534827 9 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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