Children's Home run by Progressive Care Limited in Sheffield

Unique reference number SC002930 Inspector Jamie Richardson Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Progressive Care Limited Registered person address Progressive Care Ltd 51 Attercliffe Common Sheffield South Yorkshire S9 2AE Responsible individual Mohammad Shabir Ali Registered manager Sheila Christine Johnson Date of last inspection 11/03/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 22/10/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness inadequate

Outcomes for children and young people inadequate Quality of care inadequate Keeping children and young people safe inadequate Leadership and management inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

This service is judged to be inadequate.

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Overall effectiveness

Care practices are poor care practices and do not promote the safety and welfare of young people. Staff are not able to identify an individual’s complex needs and meet them. As a result a young person has been living in an unhygienic bedroom. The lack of knowledge of individual needs has also led to shortfalls in risk assessments of individual young people around key issues such as sexual exploitation.

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Overall effectiveness

The quality of relationships between staff and young people is variable. Some young people reported not feeling comfortable with staff and not able to complain. Relationships are further restricted between young people and staff due to a lack of understanding of specific communication needs. This has a significant impact on young people’s overall wellbeing as they are not effectively able to communicate their needs, wishes and feelings. Some young people are isolated because of this.

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Overall effectiveness

Internal management monitoring and oversight of the home is ineffective. Poor planning, recording and evaluation has led to shortfalls in daily care practices. Some placements have quickly ended due to the manager accepting referral without having full knowledge of individuals. The lack of management oversight has meant that deficits in practice have not been identified. External monitoring systems 3 of 11 highlight minor shortfalls in the service. The reports however lack any real evaluation and there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate what actions the managers are taking to address shortfalls. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home is one of a number that is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to nine children and young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2014 Interim good progress 27/11/2013 Full adequate 29/01/2013 Interim good progress 07/08/2012 Full good

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

4 (2001) The registered shall ensure that the children’s home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. This is specifically in relation to adhering to night staffing ratios detailed in the statement of purpose. (Regulation 4) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

8 (2001) ensure a person shall not manage a children’s home unless he is fit to do so. (Regulation 8 (1)) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall ensure that the children’s home is conducted so as to promote and make proper provision for the safeguarding and welfare of the children accommodated there. 12/11/2014 5 of 11 (Regulation 11 (1)(a)) *

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall ensure that the children’s home is conducted so as to promote and make proper provision for the care, education, supervision, support and, where appropriate, treatment of children accommodated there. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

12A (2001) In the care of a child who is looked after by a local authority, the registered person must cooperate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the plan for the child’s placement prepared in accordance with the provisions in regulation 9 or, as the case may be regulation 47 c(2), of the Care Planning, placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.(Regulation 12A) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall ensure that children accommodated in a children’s home are provided with (a) food which-is served in adequate quantities and at appropriate intervals; is properly prepared, wholesome and nutritious; is suitable for their needs and meets their reasonable preferences; and is sufficiently varied; (Regulation 13(1)) 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall ensure that any disabled child accommodated in the home is provided with access to such aids and equipment which he may require as a result of his disability in order to facilitate communication with others (Regulation 15 (5)) 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall prepare and implement as required a missing child policy (Regulation 16 (4) (b)) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall promote the educational achievement of children accommodated in a children’s home, in particular by ensuring that the children make use of educational facilities appropriate to their age, aptitude, needs, interest and potential. (Regulation 18 (1) (a)) 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall ensure that children accommodated in the home are encouraged to develop and peruse appropriate leisure activities. (Regulation 18 (2)(a)) 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The registered person shall promote and protect the physical, emotional and mental health of the children accommodated in a children’s home (Regulation 20 (1)) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

31 The registered person shall not use premises for the 12/11/2014 6 of 11 (2001) purpose of a children’s home unless they are designed and layout, which are suitable for the purpose of achieving the aims and objectives set out in the home's statement of purpose. (Regulation 31 (1)) *

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) The person carrying out these interviews, with their consent and in private, children’s accommodated there, their parents and relatives (Regulation 33(4)(a)) * 12/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice 7 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Outcomes for young people at this home are inadequate. The young people arrive with a range of complex needs, including experiences of trauma, neglect and poor mental health. These are not being addressed and is affecting progress in all areas.

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Some young people are forming appropriate relationships with particular staff while others are not. This is leaving young people isolated and their emotional wellbeing not supported. This is particularly relevant for those placed away from their home. They have little connection to the area and do not have sound relationships with staff caring for them, resulting in feeling unsettled with no sense of belonging.

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Not all young people enjoy good health in this home. Although all are registered with doctors and dentists the majority do not attend appointments. This has left an individual with a swollen mouth and a young person suffering from a severe lice infestation. Young people’s full health needs remain unassessed. As a result they could be suffering with undiagnosed conditions which already affect their wider family. This is likely to have serious health implications for young people now and as they grow into adults.

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Of the three residents at the time of inspection two young people have good attendance at school. This will increase their knowledge and help prepare them for employment. One young person does not engage with any education. This will affect his functioning as an adult and limit job opportunities in later life.

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Two out of three young people enjoy positive contact with their families. Maintaining this family contact promotes a sense of identity. One young person does not follow contact arrangements. This unplanned access could potentially lead to harmful situations from which they were removed.

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Outcomes for children and young people inadequate

Some young people are not developing the skills they need to help their transition into adulthood. They are not following life skills programmes and engaging in activities such as cooking, washing and shopping. As a result they are not reaching their potential to function independently in adult life.

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Quality of care inadequate

The Quality of Care in the home is inadequate. Staff do not demonstrate they are able to identify individual young people’s complex needs. In some cases the care provision has failed to provide adequate living conditions. For example, a young person’s bedroom is in poor condition, with food stained walls, old food on the floor 8 of 11 and in cupboards, smeared faeces on the toilet wall, rubbish, mould and spillages in the fridge. These poor conditions present significant risks to a young person’s physical and emotional health. These effects are significant now and have the potential to impact in later life.

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Quality of care inadequate

Recording and monitoring of some young people’s food intake is insufficient. Staff make efforts to try to ensure young people’s dietary requirements are met, but they have no evidence of how much or what a young person is actually consuming. This leaves young people vulnerable to under eating resulting in a lack of nutrition. Young people are not provided with the equipment they need to eat. For example, one young person did not have a table and chair to eat at in his room. This is not encouraging positive eating habits and is contributing toward the poor hygiene found in the room due to old food being left on and around the bed.

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Quality of care inadequate

Young people are provided with a guide on arrival that contains information on their care, and how to raise a complaint. Complaint forms are not accessible around the home and not all young people feel comfortable to raise a complaint. This leaves young people feeling undervalued and unsettled.

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Quality of care inadequate

Staff are not able to communicate with young people effectively. This is due to a deficiency in staff knowledge of specific individual needs. There is a lack of equipment to support young people's preferred communication styles such as iPads. This impairs staff and young people’s relationships and does not allow young people’s wishes and feelings to be communicated effectively. This results in young people feeling undervalued and frustrated. The consequences of this are negative or challenging behaviours.

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Quality of care inadequate

Staff make attempts to engage young people in education and purposeful activities. Some young people enjoy activities of their choice and one commented on a trip to a butterfly house. The efforts of staff for other individuals are unsuccessful. This results in some young people isolating themselves in their bedroom. Others go missing from home and engage in substance misuse. This compromises their safety and enhances the chances of coming to harm.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

This service is inadequate at keeping young people safe.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

There are shortfalls in the homes risk assessments for each individual. It is not clear that staff can identify risks for specific young people. For example, some young people at risk of sexual exploitation have no risk assessments in place. Staff could verbally articulate their knowledge of the subject of sexual exploitation. They do not demonstrate their knowledge in practice through written recordings. This leaves young people vulnerable to risk of harm and key signs and themes are not identified. 9 of 11 The home has a missing from home policy and procedure which staff are familiar with. When young people go missing there are shortfalls in the recording of attempts to locate them. On occasion taxis have been sent to collect young people with no staff present. This is ineffective in safeguarding the young person. Young people have been missing three times during October 2014. This has increased from

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

previous months when they were subject to police curfew. Limited preventative work is undertaken with young people to minimise future risks of young people going missing.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Despite the shortfalls some young people comment they feel safe. Some young people identify there are members of staff who they feel they can and cannot talk to if they are worried. They say there are no issues of bullying. Staff report they promote respect between young people. Young people are provided with a copy of the home's expectation around bullying. The majority of young people placed at the home have difficult and risk taking behaviours. The staff attempt to implement boundaries and guidance. The attempts for some young people are unsuccessful. They continue to put themselves at risk engaging in behaviours such as going missing from home and committing crime. Restraint is used as a last resort in this home to prevent injury. There have been three instances of restraint from June to September. The restrains uses involve minimal guiding techniques to redirect young people. The recording of restraint is in line with regulations.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

The home has met the last requirement to ensure references are verified for the safe recruitment of staff. This helps to ensure young people are protected from inappropriate adults working in the home.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The Leadership and Management of the children’s home is inadequate.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The manager has been in post since 2009. She has a BA honours in Social Work Studies and a Diploma in Social Work. She also holds the Leadership and Management award for Care Services level 4. There is a shortfall in the records for young people. They are not clear, evaluative or up to date. This leaves no clear audit trail of attempts to engage young people in activities or education. This affects the manager’s ability to assess young people’s progress and the effectiveness of care young people receive.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Written records do not provide clear analysis of how situations have been risk assessed or monitored. For example, night staff ratios have been reduced to one waking member of staff. There is no risk assessment for this and it does not follow the statement of purpose. This could impact on the safety of young people should they require staff support in the night. This risk is further heightened as the home is split into two houses potentially leaving one area unstaffed. The layout of the home, with the office for the first home being in the garden, contributes to staffing issues 10 of 11 and supervision. This leaves young people on occasion separated from staff and vulnerable to harm.

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Leadership and management inadequate

A requirement was made at the last inspection regarding Regulation 33 visits ensuring young people and parents are consulted. This has not been met. This affects the manager's capacity to monitor developments and is not promoting children and young people’s welfare.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The assessment process for new admissions of young people to the home is ineffective. There are omissions to seek out key information which is essential to allow the manager to understand the risks a young person may present. This has resulted in young people being placed in the home whose risks have clashed with those already in placement. Consequently the placement was quickly terminated. This is not only detrimental to the young person placed, in terms of further rejection in their lives, it is also disruptive to those already in the home. It leaves young people potentially unsafe as staff cannot manage the risk they present. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management inadequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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