Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stockport

Unique reference number SC008487 Inspector Stella Lovie Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Care Today (Children's Services) Ltd Registered person address Lansdowne House 85 Buxton Road STOCKPORT Cheshire SK2 6LR Responsible individual Vivien Anne Snape Registered manager Tony Liddle Date of last inspection 20/11/2014 2 of 7 Inspection date 24/03/2015

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Previous inspection good Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has declined in effectiveness .

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This inspection

The home was last inspected in November 2014. It achieved an overall effectiveness judgement of good but outcomes were assessed as adequate. One breach of regulation was found in relation to notification of significant events. A requirement was accordingly made. The home has failed to be compliant with this requirement. Five recommendations were also made to further improve practice. Only one of these has been met at the point of this interim inspection.

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This inspection

There continue to be a number of short term placements of young people, some lasting from just one day to up to a week. The home has little or no positive impact on the outcomes for these young people as they have no investment in the home. The frequency of such emergency placements has potential to have a de-stabilising effect on young people living in the home on a longer term basis. That said, staff have successfully supported some young people to make planned transitions into new placements. All the young people currently in the home are now engaged in some form of education. This represents positive progress as previously some older young people were in neither education nor employment. However, consistent improvement in this area is still limited as some young people show erratic commitment to their education.

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This inspection

Good behaviour is promoted through support, praise and a token economy. As a result, there are no restraints and only minimum use of sanctions. Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour but not all provide their fullest cooperation. Despite this, the service is responding to individual changing needs and has had some success with some of the strategies used to support behaviour changes. As one social worker confirmed: ‘I think staff are very positive and up- beat. They have helped my young person to learn to use public transport which is not the norm in the rural area he comes from. I am pleased that staff don’t see him as a problem. He does go missing sometimes but he keeps in contact. I think he’s 3 of 7 matured since he’s been there. He’s given a lot more independence there.’ However, some young people continue to display anti-social behaviour such as smoking in their rooms, refusing to clean their rooms to at least a minimum

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This inspection

standard and damaging property in the home. This has potential to impact adversely on their future economic and life chances.

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This inspection

The last inspection identified a number of areas in the home that needed decoration and maintenance. Although some re-decoration has taken place, and there are new carpets about to be installed, specific areas identified previously have yet to be tackled. Some young people’s bedrooms are also unacceptably dirty and show clear indication that young people have been smoking in the home. This does not promote young people’s sense of well-being and poses a fire hazard.

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This inspection

Young people come to the home with high levels of risk-taking behaviour. Some continue to place themselves in danger by going missing from the home. The home responds appropriately to such incidents and can demonstrate adequate working together with relevant agencies to try to manage the associated risks.

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This inspection

Although the Registered Manager had planned to arrange for staff to receive training in the management of sexually harmful behaviour, this has not yet happened and does not appear to be booked in the near future. Given that the home continues to offer placements to young people with this type of behaviour, staff are not therefore fully equipped to undertake their role. This does not promote effective safeguarding. In addition, risk assessments in relation to sexually harmful behaviour are not always followed or up-dated. They are also insufficiently detailed about how known risks are to be specifically managed. This has potential to place young people at risk of harm.

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This inspection

The home continues to have a Registered Manager who is suitably qualified and experienced. He ensures that staff have regular supervision and has formally appraised their performance at least annually. However, this process still does not take young people’s views into account. This means that an important source of information about staff performance continues to be disregarded. The current Statement of Purpose is not fully compliant with regulation as it does not contain details of all staff working in the home. This means that placing authorities do not have a complete picture about the service provided.

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This inspection

The manager continues to fail to notify Ofsted of significant events in line with regulation, despite specific advice to do so. Consequently the regulator’s scrutiny role is compromised. Monitoring of the home is robust but areas of concern noted by the independent visitor are not always acted upon. This undermines the efficacy of that external oversight. It is further echoed in the failure of the manager to learn from previous inspection activity and to implement the improvement plan. Taken together, these shortfalls represent a lack of managerial grip in respect of the conduct of the home. 4 of 7 To conclude, five breaches of regulation are identified along with two failures to meet minimum standards. Overall this indicates that the home has declined in effectiveness since the last inspection. 5 of 7

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of a number of children's homes owned by a private company. The home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people, who may be experiencing emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, and learning difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/11/2014 Full good 13/02/2014 Interim satisfactory progress 21/06/2013 Full good 04/03/2013 Interim good progress

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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) ensure that the registered person compiles in relation to the children's home a written statement in line with matters listed in Schedule 1, with specific regard to details of the experience and qualifications of staff working at the children's home (Regulation 4 (1)) 24/04/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the children's home is conducted so as to promote and make proper provision for the safeguarding of children accommodated there, with specific regard to compilation of appropriately detailed and regularly up-dated risk assessments which are adhered to; and effective management of fire risks associated with children's behaviour (Regulation 11 (1) (a)) 24/04/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

27 ensure that all persons employed in the children's 22/05/2015 6 of 7 (2001) home receive appropriate training, with specific regard to the management of sexually harmful behaviour (Regulation 27 (4) (a))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place the registered person notifies without delay the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 30 (1)) 24/04/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all parts of the children's home used by children are kept clean and reasonably decorated and maintained. (Regulation 31 (2) (e)) 22/05/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure that staff appraisals take into account any views of children the service is providing for (NMS 19.6)  ensure the registered person takes action to address any issues of concern that are raised with them by the Regulation 33 visitor.(NMS 21.9) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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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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