Children's Home run by Platform Childcare Ltd in Staffordshire

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:

 This children‟s home is not yet good, because the registered person has not been able to sustain the improvements made at the interim inspection. There have been plans for improvement, for example in defining a new model of care, but this has not yet been delivered to children.  Too many children‟s placements have ended early, before improvements or progress could be seen or achieved.  There are currently not enough staff in the team to deliver the new model of care, or sometimes even to staff the home safely. Recent staff shortages have impacted on staff‟s ability to work safely and to have sufficient rest between shifts.  Staff, although trained, do not always implement their skills. This relates to their knowledge of children‟s backgrounds, adherence to safeguarding responsibilities, management of risk and quality of recording.  Safeguarding practice is not consistent. Staff have, on a few occasions,

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The children’s home provision requires improvement:

failed to communicate safeguarding issues to the manager and also to a placing authority.  Children‟s health is not well promoted, because medication is not managed in line with safe procedures. Staff do not seek medical advice when children refuse to take medication. Children do not see a doctor as quickly as they should or have their smoking cessation reinforced. Staff cannot persuade children to keep medical appointments.  Building improvements are underway. However, during this building work there has been reduced and unsatisfactory living and sleeping space available to children and staff. Children have been admitted despite this disruptive building work. The environment has not been safe during renovations and children have obtained dangerous implements. Fire door precaution arrangements are not assuredly safe.

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The children’s home strengths

 The service worked well to return one young person to his family after a settled lone placement, with particularly positive educational outcomes. The placing authority and family were extremely pleased with his progress.  The registered person supports children‟s learning creatively when they are not in full-time education. Staff and the registered person „go the extra mile‟ to fill gaps between educational placements.  Staff feel very well trained and supported. They have confidence in the manager and are committed to the developing ethos of the home.

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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

In order to meet the health and wellbeing standard, with particular reference to making and keeping health appointments seeking medical advice, and smoking cessation, the registered person must ensure that: (1)(a) the health and well-being needs of children are met; (b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (c) children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure: (c) that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. 31/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff: (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; (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; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare; and (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‟s child protection policies; (b) that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; 31/03/2017 (d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child

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Requirement Due date

from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. 13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to staffing sufficiency, effectiveness of staff training and delivery of the offer within the statement of purpose, so that children make progress, the registered person must: (2)(a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. 31/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23(1)) 31/03/2017

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Information about this children’s home

This children‟s home provides care for two young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is one of two private children‟s homes operated by the provider.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/06/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/12/2015 Full Requires improvement 15/09/2015 Full Inadequate

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people living in the home are

Progress has not been consistent for all children living at the home. Of six children placed at the home, the registered person has ended the placements of three when it became clear that their needs could not be met. The placement of another child ended when parents took the child home. One child stayed successfully for seven months.

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people living in the home are

The majority of the five children admitted since the last inspection in June have not been in placement long enough to see results from the new model of care, or have had needs that the staff could not help. The new in-house quarterly assessment tools and care plans have not been fully implemented, because no child has stayed longer than three months. Staff are not fully knowledgeable about children‟s histories and their journey in care. Staff do not always carefully tailor documents, and mistakes and omissions detract from a truly individualised approach.

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people living in the home are

Children do not have good healthcare, because staff do not make early appointments for health checks with the GP or do enough to make sure that children attend. Staff have given children money, knowing that they wanted to buy cigarettes, in contradiction to the agreed plan to reduce smoking. Controlled medication systems are not well managed. Medication is not stored in line with the organisation‟s policy, but in a cash tin in a locked filing cabinet drawer. Controlled medication records do not tally. When children refuse prescribed medication, staff do not seek qualified medical advice. There is delay in follow-up about children‟s behaviour-controlling medication and anxiety-related health concerns.

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people living in the home are

Only one of the six children who have stayed at the home since the last inspection, has engaged in 25 hours of good-quality registered educational provision. The majority of children have not stayed long enough for permanent educational placements to happen. Despite this, support for children‟s learning is creative. Formal vocational programmes, such as in-house ASDAN, have been effective when children cooperate. The registered person has invested in educational assessments and pays for private tuition when local authorities have not planned proper school placements.

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people living in the home are

The environment has been affected by building improvement work while an extension is added. This will provide a second staff sleeping-in room, office and separate staff bathing facilities. However, the work has reduced the natural light to the lounge and made that room very cold, with gaps around the extension doorway. Staff sleep in this living room and use it during the day to catch up on any missed sleep. The house has only a walk-through lounge dining room and a small kitchen. Despite the reduction in space since autumn 2016, new children were admitted. There is also a problem with children overhearing confidential discussions in the current staff office, due to its thin walls. The location of the new staff office should rectify this.

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people living in the home are

Children know they will receive a considered, fair response when they raise issues with staff. Staff consult and listen to children at individual key-working sessions and regular house meetings. The manager responds constructively to children‟s complaints. One child spoke positively of his experience of staff: „I will remember all the help and advice that all staff gave me.‟ Children‟s views about food and activities are taken on board. Daily care is child focused and negotiated with them. Staff encourage children to eat healthily, try new foods and get enough sleep.

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people living in the home are

Routines for getting up, studying and going to bed are planned, but staff sometimes struggle to get some children to stick to agreed routines or plans. Despite this, a social worker made positive comments overall: „There are clear boundaries set for the young person as part of their placement plan to ensure that they are aware of the care routine structure, acceptable behaviour and manners. Health and safety within the home is also promoted.‟

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people living in the home are

Some children have not agreed with their placement and consequently have not committed to staying put. Staff support family contact for those far from home, and also host their families at the house. This is very positive for children and helps them to „put down roots‟ in residential care. One placing social worker wrote: „The staff are very supportive in facilitating and supervising the contact when and as required. Our young person‟s contact is quite complex and is subject to review, and there is good communication in respect of this.‟

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people living in the home are

Children receive consistency from the basic, small staff team and, during their short stays, they have had positive adult attention, offers of leisure and opportunities to build up trust. Children have been able to develop their artistic skills through plenty of opportunities for craft and art. One child had a very successful seven-month lone placement at the home and happily moved back home in a planned transition. Outcomes for this child were good. Staff helped to engage him in full-time education when he had been out of school for some time, to reduce his „missing‟ behaviour and reconnect in constructive family relationships. He showed considerably improved maturity and was able to feel that he had made progress and a positive contribution. His parent said of the staff: „You came into our lives at the very lowest time and helped us all to get through it.‟ Another parent recognised her daughter‟s well-being at the home during her short stay: „Seeing my daughter

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people living in the home are

smile reassured me.‟ These positives have not been the experience of all children. Judgement grade

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people are helped and protected

The service has faced some significant safeguarding challenges. Not all have been managed well. Not all staff are aware of the safeguarding referrals processes or responsibilities, despite training. Some staff have failed to share safeguarding information with the manager and have made independent referrals to the local area designated officer. Staff have put children‟s safety at risk, because they did not communicate effectively with placing authorities about risk from ad hoc changed arrangements to manage safe access to the internet. This failure to communicate about children‟s possession of smartphones compromised the agreed protective strategies for children at risk from sexual exploitation. They have also enabled children to buy cigarettes and exacerbated the risks from smoking. Staff effectively changed the boundaries for children without regard for consistency or authority.

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people are helped and protected

Children‟s in-house plans do not cover all known risks. Plans omit information about historical risks or current arrangements for smoking cessation and management of smartphones and internet access. This has compromised children‟s safety and welfare.

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people are helped and protected

During recent building work the home environment has been unsafe, and children have put themselves and staff at risk of serious harm, despite systems for risk assessment and reduction. Children have been able to able to access tools and bricks to use as weapons. Some fire doors in the home are not evidentially safe, with wide gaps between door and frame. Action to rectify this was underway during the inspection.

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people are helped and protected

Staff have cared for some extremely challenging, disengaged children, and have had training to help them do this. They are trained to use restraint, but this is rare and staff use cooperation and negotiation when possible. They talk to young people and try to use creative techniques to defuse challenges.

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people are helped and protected

Staff have not always been successful in halting some children‟s angry, dangerous behaviour or entrenched patterns of going missing. For most children whose placements have ended, the challenges were so extreme that staff have been overwhelmed and had to call on police for assistance, unable to manage children‟s extremely dangerous behaviour. On a recent occasion, staff lost control of the home and left the building for their own safety. The police have complained to the safeguarding authority about this loss of control during this very recent incident.

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people are helped and protected

The registered person has ended three placements because of children‟s lack of engagement and has challenged the placing authority when it has not done enough to respond to find out why children have been missing. The manager worked proactively with placing authorities to manage endings when it was clear that they not making progress.

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people are helped and protected

Risks for some children are reduced. Children at risk of child sexual exploitation have not gone missing since moving to the home. Staff have worked extremely hard, in partnership with the police, to protect children at risk of involvement in theft and knife crime. The local specialist police have commented positively on previous efforts with one particular child: „I can only stress again how impressed I have been with (the home); everything has been tried to get young (man) back onto the “straight and narrow”.‟ A placing authority with experience of two placements commented positively on the home‟s experience of behaviour management for their child: „Appropriate sanctions and measures are used to reinforce positive behaviours, self-protection and safety.‟ Another, at the end of a successful placement, said of their child: „he manages his anger better, there is little evidence of his using drugs, he has developed new interests and the diversity

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people are helped and protected

of his knowledge has improved greatly with good educational engagement.‟

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leaders and managers

The registered manager has been in post since May 2016 and is a qualified and experienced manager.

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leaders and managers

The service has taken action to meet both the requirements made at the last inspection. Systems for managerial monitoring have improved. External monthly reporting does now allow a better focus on safety and well-being. The registered person‟s six-monthly review of the quality of care is now a reasonable audit of events to the end of September. Further improvement is needed in how the registered person evaluates the impact of the residential provision on the progress and experiences of each child. There is no managerial review of placement success that can inform improvement.

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leaders and managers

The rational for an improved model of care, based on strengthening children‟s resilience and attachments, is now clear in documentation. Staff like the model. The system of assessment and care planning tools and behaviour monitoring systems provide a solid framework for this model of care. However, the service has not yet delivered the offer within the statement of purpose, because children‟s placements have broken down or ended early.

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leaders and managers

Systems for admission decisions show that children‟s needs are within a broadly manageable range, and children‟s compatibility with each other has been considered. Despite this, placements have simply not worked out. Placements have continued, regardless of the uncomfortable environment during the building improvement work or the fact that the permanent staff team was depleted. Children have not achieved a statutory education. The building has not had enough space for them to play and relax, or for staff to get a proper night‟s sleep. The team has not matched the resilience model on offer, because staff resignations and sickness have compromised its ability to work safely.

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leaders and managers

There are currently insufficient staff to allow staff time to rest and sleep. The usual permanent staff team of eight is temporarily down to four through resignation and sickness. New staff have been recruited, but checks are not yet complete. On occasion, staff have worked 72 hours without a break. On the eve of the inspection, staff worked 48 hours with less than two hours‟ sleep. Their exhaustion may impact on sound decision making and the quality of care.

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leaders and managers

Staff have had a range of training suitable to the needs of the children, but their skill on shift does not always demonstrate their competence. Some staff are not fully aware of children‟s family or care histories or their educational abilities. Some are not familiar with the key responsibilities for investigating child protection or referral routes. Other staff are careless when writing documents about children, and describe boys as girls: this suggests a „cut and paste‟ attitude to individual records. Not enough staff have achieved the level 3 qualification, though all who should be are enrolled and working towards this.

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leaders and managers

Staff do work very hard. They do care and they have the basic skills to work with children. They have worked overtime so that agency staff are not needed. They speak with commitment about their passion to provide good childcare. They have regular supervision, and good induction and training opportunities in face-to-face, online and external training. They have had training in the issues of self-harm, life- story work, sexual exploitation and radicalisation, helping children who go missing from care, attachment and ASDAN. This training matches the range of needs described in the statement of purpose.

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leaders and managers

Placing authorities comment positively about their experience of the manager and when staff have helped children to make progress. Police have had a mixed view of their relationship with the registered provider based on recent events. Generally, relationships with professionals have been constructive and the manager has ensured that placing authorities meet their obligations to young people, for example when placement plans are not progressing, when educational placements have not materialised, mental health referrals are required or when children‟s „missing‟ behaviour requires local authority input. Similarly, she is responsive when placing authorities have concerns about changes to agreed plans. Even when placements have ended, placing authorities are constructive in their view of the home and staff, citing „positive planning for the YP‟ and „Support is excellent and consistent.‟

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leaders and managers

It remains for the service to apply its new model of care successfully, so that both the staff and children placed are able to share a positive residential experience.

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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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