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

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 A manager is now in day-to-day control of the service and is driving standards upwards.  The management and monitoring of the service now take into account its distinctive features, which are being used to improve outcomes for children.  Children make good progress in all areas. Their levels of safety increase substantially as do their levels of engagement. Patterns of negative behaviour improve.  A holistic approach is taken to education, which expands children’s horizons and gives them new skills.  There is a high level of continuity and consistency in the staff team.  Communication between senior personnel and staff is strong and there are particularly high levels of consultation with children. This helps to keep children safe and identify any failings.  There are a few shortfalls in practice. These include monitoring health and safety, challenging other professionals, ensuring information for children

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The children's home provision is good because:

matches their needs and enhancing learning opportunities.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality standards with particular reference to the protection of children who have been missing but have not had a return home interview, the registered person must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c) 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. 14/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard to ensure that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe, the registered provider must ensure-

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Requirement Due date

(vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. This is with regard to the prompt referral of historical allegations. 14/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure the home provides a homely, domestic environment. This is with regard to improving the outdoor areas and resolving the damp in one bedroom. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the home complies with relevant health and safety legislations. This is with regard to ensuring that the servicing and maintenance of the campervan follows manufacturer's guidelines. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Review and update the children's guide as necessary. This is with regard to making it child-friendly and clear about the timescales involved for children (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 24, paragraph 4.23)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when commissioning a placement in a children's home the placing authorities establish how the home will support the child's educational needs. This is with regard to implementing these steps promptly. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 27, paragraph 5.7)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 Review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks presented by the home's location and strategies for managing these. This is with regard to nearby children's homes. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the review under Regulation 45 enables the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home's care, which will be captured in the written report. This is with regard to such reports sufficiently considering the off-site features of the service. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Information about this children's home

The service provides care and accommodation for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is part of a large, private company. Children are primarily cared for in settings away from the main site.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23/03/2015 CH - Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19/03/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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Good

The outcomes for children are strong. They benefit from an assessment model of care based on rural locations, individual support and outdoor experiences. As a result, children reflect on and make sense of their histories in a secure way. The high staffing ratio means that children feel safe and they learn to accept the firm boundaries based on their trust of staff. One social worker said, ‘He’s enjoying it; it’s the happiest and calmest he’s ever been although he won't say it!’

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Good

Children usually arrive in an emergency and go straight onto a programme of trips based on a campervan. This removes the usual negative stimuli and provides continuous opportunities for discussion and reflection. Even children who find it almost impossible to speak to adults improve their communication skills noticeably.

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Good

There are particularly high levels of consultation with children. Children regularly contribute their views about the service and about individual members of staff. This is particularly important in a service that mostly operates away from the home itself. The good progress made by children in this area is vital to their future welfare.

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Good

Staff have access to expert educational advice and resources. Children immediately start to informally learn new skills based on their relationships with staff and their new experiences. This is a valuable part of their education but is not always part of a promptly implemented education plan. Consequently, children do not regain their confidence in education as soon as feasible. The need for rapid progress is particularly relevant because many children only remain for a short time.

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Good

A key feature of the service is the excellent range of healthy activities on offer. Each programme is adapted to meet children’s individual needs and usually includes camping and hill-walking. There are extensive opportunities for children to learn new skills. Some venues do not have a mobile phone signal and this is particularly useful for short periods. A range of types of accommodation is used, including those with minimal amenities. This creates unusual and challenging opportunities for children during which they have to work with staff as a team. This leads them to acknowledge their emotions and express them in constructive ways. Often they are able to acknowledge their mistakes, which is important progress. One social worker commented that staff show ‘good awareness and management of children’s anxieties.’ Staff also implement this awareness well when children move to new placements. There is good transfer of information to the new carers

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Good

and as careful integration of the child as possible. Despite the urgent nature of their admissions, most children are relatively pleased with the process. New children receive relevant information about the complaint procedure and how to obtain advocates. The children’s guide reflects the home’s statement of purpose but is not easy to understand. It is more than thirty pages long yet remains unclear about essential issues such as the short-term assessment function of the service.

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Requires improvement

In every case children’s safety improves substantially after admission. Many children are confrontational at first. Staff address these challenges in skilled ways, which involve minimal physical intervention and strategies adapted to each child. High levels of respect are shown to children and staff have an excellent understanding of the causes of their undesirable behaviours. The frequency with which they use negative sanctions or consequences is heavily outweighed by their use of praise and rewards. As a result, children are kept safe and feel safe. There are very few instances of children going missing or putting themselves in harm’s way. This serves to break cycles of habitual behaviours and give children alternative strategies. One child wrote recently, ‘Staff have helped me to turn round my behaviour. I’ve become a mature young man and I’m thankful to staff.’ A family member confirmed that ‘they’ve changed his attitudes.’ On the small number

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Requires improvement

of occasions that children have been missing, their placing authorities have not arranged the required follow-up interviews. This means that children’s concerns are not being reviewed as well as possible.

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Requires improvement

Careful assessments are made of the risks posed by individual children and of the locations they visit. Changes in children’s levels of risk are monitored, which provides important information about their progress. A written review is also completed of the home itself to assess any relevant risks and opportunities. However, it does not take into account other children’s homes located nearby.

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Requires improvement

Staff have received a very small number of allegations of historical harm but have not always handled them as well as necessary. Although all staff understand the importance of alerting the relevant officials promptly, this does not always happen. Such delays weaken safeguarding practices.

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Requires improvement

Health and safety checks in the home ensure that high standards are sustained. However, health and safety checks of children on trips are not as robust. For example, a campervan is used for transport and also for overnight stays. There is insufficient evidence to confirm that the specialist features of the vehicle, such as its gas and water supplies, have been serviced or that damaged items have been repaired.

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Good

The manager started in April 2015 and is completing his level 5 Diploma in Leadership and management for Residential Childcare. The manager and his team have made a substantial improvement to the Positive Steps Intervention Programme in only a few months. The service now reflects its statement of purpose well and is led effectively. This makes the team feel confident and produces better outcomes for children. The manager is ambitious to maintain the high rate of improvement currently underway. The use of other settings, such as campsites, is a distinctive feature of this service. Senior managers are aware that children must not use other settings excessively as they would be considered to be using unregistered children’s homes.

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Good

The team have addressed previous shortfalls and refinements are underway in several other areas, such as office management. Monitoring by the manager has improved significantly and now takes into account the fact that almost all childcare occurs away from the home. However, some minor refinements are required so that reports of monitoring exercises clearly address relevant off-site issues, such as health and safety.

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Good

Work on the inside of the property has been completed but not externally. Improvements are required at the front of the house and vegetation front and back is overgrown. This is cosmetic but detracts from the homeliness of the property and gives a contradictory impression of the nurture provided to children. Internally, the home is now attractive and comfortable although there is a damp patch in one child’s bedroom.

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Good

The staffing arrangements are good. There is a high level of continuity of competent adults involved in children’s lives. Staff members demonstrate a principled and professional approach that is critical to their high level of independence. Their training is up-to-date in most regards and the manager is addressing minor shortfalls. The senior team ensures that support is provided regularly by adjusting the time and location of meetings to fit-in with the unusual nature of the service. Staff are pleased with the improvements to their overall supervision and now feel well supported.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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