Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

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 enjoy being at the home, feel cared for and have developed in many areas of their lives. Staff have a good awareness of the young people’s histories and care plans, ensuring a consistency of care.  Young people attend school regularly and improvement in their academic ability. Every achievement is recognised by staff and celebrated.  Differing forums are in place to ensure that young people are listened to and their views responded to.  Arrangements for leaving the home are strong, allowing young people to move into independence with a high degree of support from professionals and their peers.  Procedures that safeguard young people are well known by staff, and the management responds swiftly when concerns are raised. Records of events are clear and show that links with professionals involved with the young people are effective.  Staff are well supported by management and receive good training.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Some monitoring of records are not completed thoroughly enough. While this has been responded to with regard to medication records, the behaviour management and supervision records lack some information. This does not directly affect the well-being of young people.

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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

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(vii)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35(3)(b)(ii)) 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36(a) (Schedule 3(20))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this includes the date and result of any review of the placing authority’s plan for the care of the child, or of the child’s placement plan. 30/12/2016

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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 that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate up to two young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or those with moderate learning difficulties. It is operated by a private organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/12/2015 Full Good 31/12/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/08/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people develop well at the home and enjoy being with the staff, highlighting that they ‘wouldn’t change anything about living here’. Interactions observed are good, showing that staff have a strong awareness of the differing needs of the young people.

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Good

Staff promote activities well, encouraging young people to be involved in new experiences. Some young people fully engage with these, while others prefer spending time at the home. Staff ensure that the level of engagement is appropriate to young people’s age and needs.

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Good

Young people are involved with contact from the point of their admission. Staff encourage them to develop appropriate links with family and friends, supporting travel arrangements and promoting young people’s requests at reviews regarding contact. This supports their interactions with those outside the home.

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Good

Young people’s health is supported through a healthy diet, the promotion of activities and regular checks with differing health professionals. Good links are in place to support young people’s mental health, including regular counselling sessions. A recent error in medication administration highlighted insufficient monitoring systems. This has been rectified, with improvements in checking of medication and training staff in recording to support young people’s safety.

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Good

Good arrangements are in place to educate the young people. All attend schools on a full-time basis and have improved in their academic ability over the period when they have been at the home. Records show that communication between the school and home’s staff is good, and young people are supported well.

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Good

The home provides a pleasant and comfortable environment for the young people. Decoration is now complete, following discussions within young people’s meetings, and young people are encouraged to personalise their rooms. This helps young people to feel a level of ownership of the home.

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Good

Differing forums are in place that allow young people to raise their views and talk about their care. Records of regular young people’s meetings and key-work sessions show that young people are listened to and their requests considered. A good template is used to gain young people’s views prior to reviews, based on the English football team. Young people are aware of how to raise complaints, although none have been made since the last inspection. Arrangements for admission and leaving the home are strong. Two previous residents were able to move out of the home to the same accommodation at the same time, increasing mutual support. This shows a well thought through arrangement with good consultation with the placing authority. Admission procedures show good consideration of others in the home, with risk assessments ensuring that young people are well matched.

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Good

Good systems are in place that support the safety and well-being of young people. Staff are well trained in identifying and reporting safeguarding concerns, leading to any issue being responded to swiftly. Records relating to child protection incidents are clear and show a good chronology of events, highlighting the manager’s good awareness of the need to keep in contact with a range of professionals. Young people state that they feel safe at the home.

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Good

Young people rarely go missing from the home. Good risk assessments and procedures are in place, should such an event occur, including specific responses according to from whence they have gone missing. This is good practice and ensures a consistent approach, supporting both staff and young people.

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Good

Staff consistently promote positive behaviours with encouragement and differing behaviour management tools. Young people are able to talk about reward charts, their targets and how they get on with others at the home. Levels of restraint and consequences for poor behaviour are low, highlighting the skill of the staff team to work with young people effectively. When sanctions are used, they do not examine the effectiveness of the measure, and neither does the manager consistently date when he signs off the measure. This could result in staff using sanctions inappropriately. Young people state that they get on with each other most of the time and are able to spend time away from each other if they feel that they need to.

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Good

Good recruitment systems are used at the home, with all checks being completed, supporting the safety of the young people. Young people are involved in the assessment of applicants, increasing their level of responsibility and allowing them to be involved in the running of the home.

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Good

The registered manager has managed this home for two years. He has extensive experience and is suitably qualified to carry out his role, with a national vocational qualification at level 5 in management. He is currently working towards a diploma in leadership for health and social care in children and young people’s services. He works with a new yet experienced and qualified deputy, who has been able to bring new and innovative practice into the staff team.

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Good

The management team has a high awareness of the differing needs and histories of the young people, despite the short period that they have been in placement. This has developed due to effective communication with the placing social workers and staff working well with young people to learn about their backgrounds. Good use is made of the monthly monitoring of the home, which includes discussions with young people and professionals involved with the home. Staff respond swiftly to areas raised as needing development. This helps to improve the care provision. One requirement made at the last inspection, relating to young people having an input into the monitoring process, has been completed.

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Good

Feedback from stakeholders involved with the home is positive, with one social worker highlighting ‘effective communication’ and stating that the young person has ‘settled really quickly into the home and staff work well to settle any anxieties that they may have’. Local police visit the home regularly to chat to the young people, and records show good levels of communication with education and health services.

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Good

Care provided is in line with the expectations of both the statement of purpose and the placing social workers. Care planning gives staff a good awareness of the differing ways that they could work with young people. Recent information relating to a review is not on file, although known by the management team. Clear sharing of this information could improve the level of care provided by the staff team.

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Good

The majority of staff are qualified to work with children in a residential setting, while others are completing their qualification. Regular team meetings and supervision are essential to embed consistent practice across an evolving staff team. A change in the needs of the young people has increased some anxieties within the staff team. This is being responded to through increased training and developing strategies to work effectively with the young people. Staff training is strong, with regular updates of mandatory courses.

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Good

Some supervision records are not available, and monitoring suggests that a staff member has not been met with for almost four months. Despite this, staff state that they are well supported and that managers are available at all times to talk about concerns that staff may have. Appraisals are completed annually to examine staff’s competence to work with young people.

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Good

Managers have a good awareness of the need to inform professionals, including Ofsted, of significant events within the home. Notifications are rare, but include all the necessary information about the situation regarding the event and the steps taken to resolve the issue.

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 0300 123 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 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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