Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd 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:

 Young people like living here. They feel settled and cared for by the dedicated and child-focused staff.  Young people benefit from a comfortable and welcoming home where they have personalised their rooms and can relax.  The highly trained and skilled staff work hard to engage young people who struggle to form trusting relationships, providing them with warmth and support.  Young people enjoy spending time with staff, talking and going to football and boxing matches and to the cinema.  Staff proactively support young people to take part in a range of sports activities that support their physical, social and emotional development.  Enthusiastic staff listen to young people and take their views, wishes and feelings seriously.  Young people make sustained progress in education, independence and family relationships.  Staff work closely with a range of agencies to help keep young people safe. Childcare professionals consider that they keep the young people as safe as

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The children's home provision is good because:

they can.  The registered manager provides staff supervision that is both supportive and challenging, and which encourages them to reflect on practice.  Areas requiring improvement include the need for the registered manager to more effectively challenge services that fail to meet the needs of young people in placement. While staff have undertaken child sexual exploitation training, they lack in-depth understanding of child sexual exploitation, internet safety and the relevant policies. To ensure that staff are able to keep young people safe, the home needs sufficiently skilled and experienced staff on duty at all times. The registered manager should only provide placements for young people based on robust impact assessments and in keeping with the services described in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— (a) seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans; (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child's needs; and (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. 18/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure (a) that staff— (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; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and 18/11/2016 (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard in order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. 18/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard (1) The care planning standard is that children (a) receive effectively planned care in or though the children’s home; and (b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) 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. 18/11/2016

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 The registered person must challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority that asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan, as the expectation that a placement of a child without the necessary information will go ahead (in circumstances other than an emergency) is inadequate in relation to their role. It is essential that homes understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child's placement, to avoid disruption and instability for the child in future and for other children in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)

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Information about this children's home

This children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for two young people, irrespective of gender, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned and is adjacent to the organisation's other home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

25/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people like living here and feel cared for by staff who help them and look after them well. One young person has expressed a wish to remain here until he moves to independence. They have personalised their rooms, and the recently refurbished garden and home are comfortable, well maintained and welcoming. Young people have warm relationships with the child-focused staff who are highly skilled at engaging young people who struggle to form positive relationships. One young person has benefited from the sensitive and perceptive staff working hard to help him to improve his family relationships and increase contact. Staff give high priority to young people’s hopes for the future, and one young person is about to start having driving lessons to increase his independence and chances of securing the employment he wants. Young people enjoy a range of activities with enthusiastic staff, including going to a

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Good

local gym and boxing club. Staff also take them to football, boxing matches and to the cinema. These activities support their physical health, emotional well-being and social development. One young person says that he has fun with staff. There are several photographs in the living room of staff and young people enjoying days out together. Staff engage young people in weekly house meetings and regular key-work sessions and listen carefully to them. When young people make requests or express concerns, staff clearly explain the reasons for the decisions that they make in response. Young people talk with staff about how their week has been, their food choices, pocket money, views, wishes, feelings and activities. Young people make progress in education, family contact and independence skills. One young person’s care plan is for him to become independent in the near future, and staff work with him to encourage and support him to gain the skills he needs.

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Good

He is now able to budget effectively. He engages with education and hopes to gain a car mechanics apprenticeship. Another young person continues to engage positively with education and make progress, despite his often challenging behaviour. Staff have proactively supported him to improve his relationship with his family, thereby increasing the possibility that he can return home. The social worker for one young person said, ‘Staff support and encourage him. They will help him with any interest he has. They work with him to make better choices. Staff are strongly supportive of his education. He said he would not sit his GCSE in maths, but then he did with support from staff. This was real progress for him.’ Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

Staff work closely with the police, local authorities, the youth offending service and education to keep young people safe. When young people are away from the home, staff keep in touch with them by mobile phone, making regular welfare calls. When young people are missing, staff actively look for them and follow their missing policy and procedures. Staff keep the police, local authority and family members informed of progress in locating the young people. When young people return to the home, staff ensure that, in most cases, they receive a return-home interview from their placing authority. One young person, who frequently spends time away from the home, has been engaging in offending behaviour. His activities have left him at risk from individuals in the community if he goes to a particular town, and staff have worked with the police and local authority to ensure his safety. Staff undertake, review and update effective risk assessments and

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Requires improvement

behaviour management plans. A young person who repeatedly left the home during the night has settled and now goes out less often, thereby reducing his risk of harm. Staff always try and follow young people when they are away from the home without permission, in order to keep them safer. Highly committed and skilled staff have responded appropriately to challenges from young people who have become verbally and physically violent. They successfully de-escalate many situations and only use physical intervention as a last resort. Staff understand the emotional reasons for the behaviour. They have negotiated with the placing authority to increase staffing ratios for one young person who struggles to manage his anger. Staff are highly vigilant with regard to self-harm and they have prevented young people from buying paracetamol and alcohol in local shops, by following them and intervening. One young person who self-harms likes to have an evening snack in

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Requires improvement

his room, and staff creatively risk assessed this and provided him with paper plates to ensure his safety, while allowing him an important choice. Staff engage young people in key work to help them to understand the links between their behaviour and the consequences. This work covers a broad range of issues, including boundaries, missing, drugs, internet safety, moving placements, feelings, alcohol, incidents and restorative justice. Child sexual exploitation and internet safety are areas about which staff need to become more knowledgeable and effective. When staff became aware that one young person was talking to unknown people on his iPad at night, they switched the internet off and informed his social worker. However, while the home has blocks on social media sites, he was able to override these and continue his conversations. The young person also went out late at night to sit outside a local public house, and staff struggled to follow him safely, due to there being

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Requires improvement

insufficient staff on duty overnight. They found that he had access to cannabis, but did not make links between these late-night conversations, going out at night and the risk of child sexual exploitation. Staff have undertaken online child sexual exploitation training but have not effectively applied this learning to their practice. Staff lack the in-depth understanding of the signs of potential child sexual exploitation necessary to ensure his safety. This is an area for improvement.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager holds a level 5 diploma in management. She has had many years’ experience of working with children and young people, and has been in this post since 2008. She also manages the sister home next door, which is judged as good. All staff either hold a level 3 qualification or are currently undertaking the diploma. All staff hold first aid qualifications. The registered manager has recently managed a period of change in the home. This has entailed additional demands on her time, the loss of her deputy manager to another home within the company and a reduction in the frequency of staff supervision. Staff supervision is now up to date, provides staff with effective support and demands that they reflect on their practice. The registered manager puts practice scenarios to staff members to challenge their knowledge of policy and practice and to support their learning. The staff are enthusiastic and keen to learn.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager regularly reviews the quality of the service in order to drive up standards, listening to feedback from staff, parents, young people and childcare professionals. She has acted on suggestions to improve the home by, for example, increased use of electronic recording, decorating the home, introducing some new items of furniture and supporting staff to include young people from both of the homes in joint activities. Since the last inspection, the registered manager has admitted a young person who has posed a significant threat to staff. Staff have sustained a number of injuries and experienced threats of extreme violence. The information provided by the placing authority at the time of the referral did not sufficiently highlight the potential risks posed by this young person. However, it did raise issues of internet safety and contact with inappropriate people on social media. The registered

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Requires improvement

manager, thus, accepted the placement without a sufficiently robust impact assessment and, consequently, staff have struggled to meet the needs of the young person and safely manage the placement. In response, the registered manager has met with the placing authority on a number of occasions to state that the placement was inappropriate for him. She has insisted on a higher ratio of staffing to ensure his safety and that of staff, and has requested that the local authority identify a suitable placement for him in order to meet his needs. Delays in the local authority seeking a therapeutic placement for the young person have resulted in his becoming increasingly challenging to staff. While the home has provided consistent staffing, staff lack the level of skill, training and experience required to meet his highly complex emotional and behavioural needs. The registered manager has not effectively escalated her concerns with the local

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Requires improvement

authority or with therapeutic services, regarding the inappropriateness of the placement. She has not ensured that the team has focused on the young person’s vulnerability to child sexual exploitation and has not always ensured that there is at least one male staff member on duty at night. This has increased the risks for the young people in the home and for female staff. The registered manager needs to scrutinise referrals more closely so that the home only accepts placements that are in keeping with the service provision set out in the statement of purpose.

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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 that 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 whom 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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