Children's Home run by Progressive Care Limited in Sheffield

home are

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:

 As a result of high numbers of staff leaving and new staff starting, young people find it hard to build relationships with staff. Consequently, staff are rarely successful in engaging young people in structured activities.  Young people do not benefit from consistent routines. They regularly sleep all day and are up all night. This reduces their ability to join in positive activities in the day and to attend education.  A lack of appropriate boundaries results in young people engaging in negative behaviour, which adversely affects other children’s experiences.  Ofsted is not always informed of serious safeguarding notifications. This hinders the regulator’s oversight.  Previous poor admissions resulted in young people being poorly matched. This ended in placement breakdowns. No new young people have moved into the home since the previous inspection. New admissions to the home and future matching will be assessed at subsequent inspection visits.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Positive changes to the decor of the home provide young people with well- furnished communal areas. Other areas require repair or updating to maintain a good standard across the whole home.  Missing from home practice now meets with local protocols. Practice has improved and staff are actively looking for missing young people and following updated risk assessments.  All compliance notices and previous requirements have been met.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard In order to meet the children’s views, wishes and feelings standard, the registered person must ensure that staff: develop positive relationships with them and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (a)(c)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 11: The positive relationship standard In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must: ensure that staff de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (2)(xi)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must: ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to ensuring that there are safe levels of staffing left when other staff leave the building to look for missing children, the registered person must: ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(d)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 14: The care planning standard In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children’s needs match with others in the home, the registered person must: 1/11/16 ensure that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 6: In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to maintaining the home, the registered person must: ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (2)(c)(i)) 1/11/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry), or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considered to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 1/11/16

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides short-, medium- and long-term placements for children aged 12 to 17 years old. It can accommodate up to eight young people. It aims to support young people towards independence within a safe and managed environment offering skills to prepare them for independent living.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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people living in the home are

Due to high numbers of staff leaving and new staff starting, young people find it hard to build and maintain relationships. Consequently, some young people do not always engage positively with staff and are reluctant to spend quality time with them undertaking activities. This does not promote positive aspirations or provide varied opportunities to expand their life experiences.

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people living in the home are

There has been a recent decline in outbursts of challenging behaviour. However, on occasions some young people’s behaviour continues to have a significant impact upon others. This makes some individuals feel angry and upset when their home is damaged and food or paint is thrown at their bedroom windows and around their home.

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people living in the home are

Young people continue to have poor routines. New reward systems are unsuccessful in guiding young people to sleep at night and get up in the day. Consequently, the majority of young people are asleep most of the day and find it hard to get motivated to engage in positive activities or education. Three out of four young people’s attendance in education is poor. One young person continues to excel with their educational progress, achieving distinctions.

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people living in the home are

Young people benefit from attending routine health appointments, such as doctors and the dentist. Despite staff efforts to discourage young people from smoking, three out of four young people continue. This has negative effects on their health, now and in the future.

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people living in the home are

Communal areas of the home, such as the living rooms, have significantly improved. This provides a comfortable and pleasant environment for young people to relax in. Other areas of the home require updating, such as the bathroom. Repairs are outstanding, including a broken front door, walls splattered with food and insecure television aerials. Current maintenance routines do not ensure that young people have a safe and homely environment throughout all areas of their home.

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people living in the home are

A compliance notice set at the last inspection to address shortfalls in medication recording has been met. Staff have undertaken additional training, which has increased staff knowledge and confidence in administering medication. Medication systems in place are now safer. Judgement grade

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people are helped and protected

Some young people regularly go missing from the home. Actions taken by staff to find missing young people have improved. Staff now have the use of a company car in the evening, which enables them to go looking for missing young people. Updated risk assessments now provide staff with crucial information that they need to locate young people and help to keep them safe.

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people are helped and protected

Staffing levels have increased in the evening. This enables two staff to try to locate those young people who are missing. This leaves lone working staff in the building with the remaining young people. No risk assessments have been completed to demonstrate if this is safe practice.

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people are helped and protected

The fire book, which provides essential information about who is in the building in case of emergency, is not consistently filled in. This risks inaccurate information being passed to external rescue services.

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people are helped and protected

Children and young people all know how to complain. A new open-door session provides an opportunity for young people to give their views to the senior managers. The impact and effectiveness of this cannot be assessed until it becomes fully operational.

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people are helped and protected

A lack of appropriate boundaries results in young people engaging in negative behaviour and poor daily routines. Consequently, some individuals do not come home on time, have friends visiting in the early hours of the morning and damage to property occurs. This does not adequately prepare young people for later life. Young people fail to learn about the importance of adhering to rules and achieving a positive and healthy day-to-day routine. There has been no use of restraint since the last inspection. Sanctions are recorded appropriately and are used as a last resort.

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people are helped and protected

Staff benefit from regular safeguarding training. They all feel confident to follow safeguarding procedures and report issues. Staff can identify risks to young people. They demonstrate that they know the signs of other dangers that young people may face, such as child sexual exploitation. Judgement grade

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leaders and managers

The registered manager has been in post since August 2015. She is appropriately qualified and experienced to undertake this role. The manager has ensured that the requirements and compliance notices set at the last inspection have been met. She is aware of the strengths and further areas for development in this service.

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leaders and managers

The high turnover of staff has resulted in many staff being new to childcare and lacking experience. Management is focusing on new ways to recruit and retain staff to promote stability in the home. The majority of staff do not hold the required care qualification. Plans are in place to ensure that staff complete their qualifications in the required timescales. This will increase staff knowledge and experience.

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leaders and managers

Staff now receive supervision monthly, in line with organisational policy. Plans are in place to sustain this. This helps staff to feel confident about their job roles and to understand what is expected of them. Supervision recording does not demonstrate reflection and analysis of decisions. This restricts the manager’s ability to analyse the professional care practice or to focus on areas of strength and development for individual staff members.

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leaders and managers

The manager and responsible individual have expanded links with the local authority senior managers. They maintain good relationships with social workers and specialist services. Management is committed to attending multi-agency meetings to ensure that information is shared effectively.

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leaders and managers

Ofsted is not always notified of significant safeguarding events. This does not allow the regulator to gain a sufficient account of child protection incidents and hinders external monitoring.

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leaders and managers

The home’s statement of purpose is not up to date. It does not detail all staff members. The new door alarm systems are not recorded in this document. This does not provide placing authorities with up-to-date information about the service.

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leaders and managers

Previous poor decisions around new young people being admitted to the home resulted in young people being inappropriately matched and to placements ending abruptly. Since the previous inspection, no new admissions have been made. The referral and matching process has been reviewed. Relationships with external commissioners have been strengthened. A further requirement is set to evaluate admission practice fully at the next 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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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