Children's home run by Pine Forest Homes Limited in Cannock Chase

Requires improvement

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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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 There has been no registered manager in post since 5 December 2015.  Managers and staff do not consistently support and promote positive behaviour. Rewards and incentives that are agreed with young people are not fulfilled. Behavioural expectations are not reviewed. This does not encourage young people to improve their behaviour.  Risk assessments are not robust. Managers do not ensure that they are consistently reviewed following incidents. Assessments do not take into consideration wider implications of young people’s risk-taking behaviour. For example, risks from child sexual exploitation are not assessed.  Managers do not ensure that young people’s views and opinions regarding the quality of care they receive are acted upon. When they express views, the managers do not make sure they are informed of the outcome. This hinders young people’s engagement in their placement.  Young people’s independence skills are not consistently progressed and

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

evaluated.  Managers do not make sure that staff receive appropriate training to meet the individual needs of young people.  Safe recruitment practices are not consistently followed. Gaps in employment history are not robustly challenged by managers.  Managers do not ensure that annual staff appraisals are completed .

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Maintenance in the home is not promptly addressed and prioritised by managers.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff develop positive relationships with young people, who are able to talk to them about their concerns.  Young people are positive about their education and their hopes and ambitions for the future. Staff work constructively with education providers and actively support learning.  Staff establish positive relationships with young people’s families. They support young people to retain regular contact with their families and further develop these relationships.

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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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

2(b) (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. This is in particular reference to the timely completion of home maintenance.

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Requirement Due date

(vi) 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. 26 August

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Requirement Due date

7: The children's views, wishes and feelings standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children's views, wishes and feelings standard, the registered provider must ensure that staff —

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) (iii) help each child to understand how the child's views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for the decision in relation to the child. 26 August

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Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationships standard the registered person must ensure that staff — 2(a) (ii) help each child develop socially acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

This is in specific reference to ensuring behavioural targets are regularly reviewed and positive behaviour is recognised and promoted . 26 August 12: The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must ensure that staff —

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) (i) 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 particularly following incidents. 26 August

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person is required to — 2(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. 26 August

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of — (a) the name of the person appointed; and (b) the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (2(a)(b)) 26 August

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. They must ensure full and satisfactory information available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matter in Schedule 2. This is with specific reference to gaps in employment history. (Regulation 32 (3(b)) 26 August

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees — (c) have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4(c)) 26 August

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Information about this children's home

This children’s home is privately owned. Care is provided for up to three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

8 March 2016 Interim Declined effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26 February 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Young people’s experiences and progress are variable. Young people say that they have positive relationships with staff and that they are happy in the home. They are positive about staff’s engagement with them. As one young person observed, ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a boring day here. Staff are great at spending time with you.’ Young people are supported to participate in a range of activities that reflect their interests. Staff appear to enjoy young people’s company and enjoy participating in activities with them. The voices of young people are not effectively heard and do not influence the quality of care that they receive. Managers have acknowledged that at times young people have not wanted to participate in meetings and staff have failed to identify alternative methods of consultation. Although this has recently improved, where young people participate in meetings with staff, for example to decide upon meal

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Requires improvement

choices, activities or comment on their care arrangements, the outcomes of these discussions are not actively addressed by managers and young people are not informed of any action taken to address their comments. Young people’s views, wishes and opinions are not sufficiently taken into account in shaping internal care plans, risk assessments or independence plans. This means that young people cannot see how they are directly influencing decisions about their care or plans for their future. Staff work in partnership with education providers and alternative learning provisions. They seek suitable placements for young people that reflect their learning needs, styles, and personal ambitions. For some young people this has meant that they are able to mix academic study with vocational courses. This enables them to participate in a range of experiences before deciding on their career options. As one education provider observed, ’staff are always very

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Requires improvement

supportive. They are interested in his progress and want him to succeed’. As a result, young people make sustainable and positive progress in education, taking account of their starting points. Staff ensure that young people’s individual health needs are met, as they have access to a range of routine and specialist services to support their health needs, including emotional and physical health. Some young people have been very reluctant to engage with specialist services, and staff have been persistent in their encouragement. Some individual key-work sessions have been used to address health-related concerns effectively. Young people’s preparation for independent living is not consistently progressed and evaluated. Staff do not consistently progress agreed plans to help young people develop their life skills or grow their independence. Although some young people have gained some practical independence skills, there is no assessment or

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Requires improvement

evaluation of these. This makes it difficult to assess their readiness to move on, or to evaluate their progress. Staff help young people to maintain contact with their family and friends. Staff facilitate contact, for example, by providing transport so that these important connections are maintained. These measures mean that young people receive every encouragement to keep in contact with their families. The home is appropriately furnished and young people are able to personalise their bedrooms. This homeliness, however, is compromised by inconsistency in maintenance arrangements. Maintenance tasks are not consistently prioritised by managers. There are longstanding issues with the staff shower, which mean that staff continue to use the young people’s bathroom. This is inappropriate both for young people and staff. The rear garden is overgrown and neglected and the ongoing refurbishment of the kitchen is incomplete. This has a detrimental impact

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Requires improvement

upon young people’s experience living here.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not keep young people safe. They do not identify or understand the risks that young people present with. There is a lack of analysis of young people’s complex behaviour, such as missing episodes, sexually harmful behaviour and the potential risk of child sexual exploitation. As a result, staff work reactively and young people do not always receive intervention aimed at preventing future incidents. Staff do not consistently provide them with the care and support that they need to be safe within their placement. Key work does not consistently allow young people to develop insight into their risk-taking behaviour. Young people are not supported to understand issues of sexual exploitation. They are not provided with the support to increase their safety and understanding skills to engage in safer behaviours and make safer choices. Actions identified in key work to reduce risk are not consistently progressed. Risk

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Requires improvement

assessments are not reviewed or evaluated following incidents. This has led to a lack of robust risk management and young people are not effectively safeguarded. Some young people continue to go missing from the home. They have personalised ‘missing from home’ risk assessments. These detail actions to be taken in these circumstances, including contact with local police, searching the vicinity, and visiting known addresses. Independent return interviews are routinely offered to young people. Staff are familiar with these protocols and appropriately liaise with key agencies and family members and endeavour to maintain contact with young people during missing episodes. Physical interventions are rarely used in this home. There have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection because staff focus on verbal de- escalation and distraction techniques to manage challenging behaviour. However,

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Requires improvement

not all staff are appropriately trained to use physical intervention. This means that there are occasions when no staff working are trained to undertake a physical intervention. Young people have personalised reward and incentive programmes to promote positive and socially acceptable behaviours. These are ineffective as they are not consistently reviewed or evaluated by managers. As a result, young people’s behaviour targets have not been revised for over five months and any progress achieved is not recognised. Moreover, when young people have met their targets they have not received their agreed rewards. None of the young people have received their financial incentives for positive behaviour since October 2015. This failure significantly compromises the effectiveness of the behaviour strategy and has a detrimental impact upon young people’s motivation. Managers fail to ensure that young people are effectively protected by safe

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Requires improvement

recruitment practices. Staff are not consistently appropriately vetted and assessed before an appointment is made. Gaps in employment histories are not challenged by managers. This practice does not promote the safety of the young people by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them. Young people know how to make a complaint, including the use of external professionals and advocacy services. They are confident that these will be addressed and resolved. One young person said: ‘I have made a complaint recently and it was sorted out. I felt I was being listened to.’ This supports young people’s sense of safety and security. This requirement made at the last inspection has now been met. Staff complete regular health and safety checks and follow a range of safety procedures to protect young people from potential hazards. These include fire drills to ensure that young people know what to do in the case of an emergency.

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Inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since December 2015. However, effectively there has been no one in post since October, due to the health absence of the previous post holder. Since late January 2016, oversight of the home has been undertaken by a registered manager from the provider’s other home, supported by an assistant manager. It was originally proposed that the manager would apply for dual registration of both homes. However, she has recently decided not to pursue this application and the assistant manager has submitted a registration application. These changes have not been notified to Ofsted as required. This absence has had a detrimental impact upon the effectiveness of the leadership and management of the home. At the last interim inspection in March, the home was judged as declined in effectiveness. Although the managers have begun to address some of the shortfalls from the inspection, the impact has not yet begun to take full effect.

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Inadequate

The internal and external monitoring of the home is completed regularly and the reports are forwarded to Ofsted. Internal monitoring systems are weak because they do not routinely include formal feedback from professionals, staff or young people. The managers have recognised this shortfall and have begun to address it, collating information from key stakeholders for the quality assurance report to shape and inform the home’s development. Staff recruitment continues to be a challenge at this home. Managers rely on agency staff familiar with the young people to consistently cover staff vacancies. Managers ensure that all staff are supported to develop their practice through team meetings and regular supervision. These provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice, discuss how young people are progressing, and provide challenge. Some staff members have not had an appraisal for over a year. This

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Inadequate

means that any development needs are not identified at an early stage and addressed prior to them becoming potential practice issues. Following the last inspection, the managers developed a workforce plan. Staff have access to online training to complete their mandatory training requirements. All staff have now completed their first aid training, which was a requirement at the last inspection. Managers, however, have not ensured that staff are able to access training to address the presenting needs of some young people. For example, to raise awareness of the issues around sexually harmful behaviour or the challenges of adolescent mental health. This compromises staff’s effectiveness to support young people. All permanent staff have either achieved or will be starting a level 3 diploma in working with children and young people, ensuring that staff have the right skills and knowledge to work effectively with young people and meet their needs within

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Inadequate

the regulatory timescales. The manager has updated the statement of purpose to reflect staffing changes. This sets out the vision, values and aims of the service. In turn, this helps placing authorities, parents and other interested parties to have a clear understanding of what they can expect from the service. The manager and staff work proactively with other agencies and families to promote young people’s welfare. They have developed positive relationships, which ensure that information is shared effectively with education providers, police and social workers. During this review period, concerns have been raised by social workers about communication from staff. This has been addressed by the responsible individual and social workers report a significant improvement. Managers advocate on behalf of young people when this is necessary to implement young people’s care plans. Managers have failed to address all previous requirements made at the interim

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Inadequate

inspection of the home in March. The quality and purpose of care standard was met with improvements to the home environment, but further enhancements to the home are necessary to ensure that young people continue to live in a comfortable home commensurate with their needs. The children’s wishes and views standard and protection of children standard both continue to be regulatory shortfalls and will remain requirements from this inspection.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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