Children's home run by PIC Children’s Services in St. Helens

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:

 The young person is safe and feels safe here. He enjoys positive relationships with staff and is confident to talk to them about any issues that are concerning him.  The young person is doing extremely well with his education. He has 100% attendance, is working hard, and is revising for his upcoming exams. Staff are supportive of his education and this is a key strength of the home.  The young person’s views are respected and are central to everything that the home does. As a result, he has invested strongly in the placement and is engaging well with a range of professionals.  The young person is being prepared well for the next stage in his life.  The registered manager and staff are confident to challenge other professionals when they feel that they may not be acting in the best interests of the young person. They work in partnership with others, such as teaching and safeguarding staff in school, to ensure that the young person

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The children's home provision is good because:

achieves his individual goals.  Staff have a secure understanding of the young person’s needs and the risks associated with him. They work consistently to minimise these risks and to help the young person to take responsibility for his actions.  There remain some issues regarding internal and external monitoring of the home. However, the registered manager and company have identified this and are taking steps to address this. Not all records are completed to the same high standard. This results in some records, such as the missing from care risk assessment, not reflecting the current care provided. Recording in the staff rotas, visitor’s book and health care plan is not yet sufficiently robust.

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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

Ensure that the registered person maintains records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; ensure that they are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific regard to the recording of missing from care risk assessments, health care plans concerning self-injurious behaviour and risk assessments regarding sexualised behaviour. 24/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person maintains in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)).

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working in the home that identifies when the registered manager is present, plus maintain a complete record of all visitors to the home. 24/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the home's staff recognise and celebrate the achievements of the young people in a meaningful way. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 31, paragraph 6.7)  Ensure that young people live in a homely environment; seek, as far as possible, to maintain a domestic rather than 'institutional' impression. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, consider changing the lock on the electrical cupboards in the lounge and the bathroom.  Ensure that the registered manager makes best use of the independent and internal monitoring of the home to ensure continuous improvement. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of several owned by a private company. The home is registered to care for one child who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 26/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/03/2016 Interim Not judged 04/11/2015 Full Good 30/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

The young person receives a personalised care package in which he is heavily invested. His views are central to how the home operates. The staff value his opinions highly and provide regular opportunities for him to share his views. He is included in making decisions about how the home could be improved, such as choosing the decor for his bedroom. This helps him to feel valued and respected. The social worker said that staff have a good understanding of the young person and that he is doing well at the home. She was particularly complimentary about the support provided which has enabled him to build positive relationships with the staff. She was also complimentary about the support that the young person receives concerning his education.

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Good

The young person is able to maintain relationships with those people who are important to him. This is because staff sensitively facilitate and support contact with family members where appropriate. Consequently, he is able to have a sense of belonging in his family.

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Good

Staff are excellent advocates for young people in terms of their education. The young person benefits greatly from living in a home in which the value of education is of paramount importance. He has 100% attendance, and staff said that if he could not go to school, he would see it as a punishment. Staff and the young person have devised an effective revision programme to enable him to do his best in his upcoming GCSEs. His revision plans are festooned around the home, as he is a visual learner. Staff often, at his request, create exam conditions for him. Consequently, he is building his confidence to complete his work within a specific period. The young person is highly committed to his education and has aspirations to become a physical training instructor in the air force. He has recently applied to college to continue with his education.

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Good

The young person particularly enjoys sensitive and well-thought-out support to address his educational needs. Staff have consistently high and reasonable aspirations for him. They meet regularly with school and know his teachers well. As a result, they were able to act swiftly and supportively when it was identified that he was struggling with maths and would benefit from a tutor. This was arranged using pupil premium and he is now making steady progress. He has experienced some difficulties at school, but said that staff have always been there to help him to resolve them.

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Good

The young person has a sound understanding of his own health needs. He attends all his appointments and engages well with health care professionals. Staff are aware of his health needs and are meeting these well in practice. However, his health care plan contains conflicting information concerning self-injurious behaviour and the potential risk of this occurring. This is a recording issue and does not affect the actual care provided at present. However, it has the potential to do so if not remedied.

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Good

The young person has few friends in the community and, when not at basketball, football or the gym, he prefers to spend time at home. He is confident to challenge staff on games consoles or to indoor basketball matches with hilarious results. He remains in contact with some friends from school via ‘live games’ on the games consoles. The young person enjoys playing basketball and is able to do this with the appropriate safeguards in place. He said that he is looking forward to going to see the Manchester Giants play again and would like to join the team where he trains.

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Good

The young person is being prepared well for the next stage in his life. He enjoys food shopping and preparing the weekly menus and carries out a range of tasks in the home. He is starting to prepare and cook meals with staff. As result, he is increasing in confidence in his own abilities.

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Good

The young person does not go missing from home and does not engage in risk- taking behaviours, such as smoking, using recreational drugs or drinking alcohol. Risk assessments are in place should he go missing. However, they have not been updated since he moved into the home. This means that information regarding his hobbies or where he may go is not included in the assessment. There are shortfalls within the detail of what is recorded in other relevant risk assessments, such as the assessment about sexualised behaviour. These are primarily recording issues, and the staff team has a secure understanding of the potential risks to the young person and what they are doing to minimise these. For example, this includes only male members of staff taking him swimming.

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Good

Effective links with police and safeguarding teams help the staff to keep him safe. The young person was extremely pleased to receive a Christmas present from the police. This was part of an initiative to help young people see the police in a positive light. He wrote to them thanking them for his gifts, and staff said that he would now be confident to talk to them if he were experiencing difficulties in the community.

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Good

There is minimal use of sanctions as the staff have a consistent approach to managing any negative behaviour. They stress that the young person is very compliant and that he willingly talks to staff about what is happening around them. Staff do not consistently record his achievements, such as taking part in his reviews. However, staff members said that he does participate in his reviews. This is something to be encouraged so that when he wishes to reflect upon his time at the home in years to come he can see what he did well and when.

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Good

Staff are aware of the dangers that young people may face when using the internet. They are aware that radicalisation can take many forms and are talking to the young person about how to keep himself safe. Following a recent incident involving comments made on a social media site, the young person has been able to reflect on his actions. This is a big step for the young person as he was able to empathise with the other person’s feelings, something he has previously not been able to do. In addition, he is actively engaging with the NSPCC to develop his awareness of others’ feelings, keeping safe on the internet and social interactions.

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Good

Young people live in a safe, homely environment. However, the use of padlocks on the electrical cupboards in the lounge detracts from the homely feel. The bathroom is also in need of some attention. The spaces between tiling in some areas is black, and the sealant is lifting. The room has been painted but has not been finished off properly. Young people are safe because the organisation ensures that any staff or visitors to the home are suitably vetted. Visitors are encouraged to sign in. However, there are gaps in the visitor’s book as to when they left.

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Good

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager. She also has management responsibilities for another one-bedded children’s home for the company. She is very aware of the home’s strengths, such as the dedicated, stable staff team, as well as the weaknesses concerning recording. The manager is taking action to address these. To this end the home is trialling a number of new documents to help streamline the recording, minimise repetition and clearly evidence what they hope to achieve for the young person.

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Good

The organisation is currently interviewing staff for a deputy manager position, something that has not previously been in place. This will help to strengthen the management oversight of the home and help to drive forward improvement. Staff rotas show staff working a 24-hour shift pattern. If a member of staff’s shift was to change, this would be recorded. The rota states that the manager is available, but does not record the actual hours that she is working, or where. This information is vital given that she has managerial oversight for two homes. The staff say that they are well supported and feel confident to talk to the manager or senior managers. They have regular supervision and team meetings, which provide opportunities to consider their current practice and any changes that they can make to further improve the outcomes for the young person. They have regular training opportunities about missing from care, safeguarding, mental health

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Good

and radicalisation, all of which have enhanced their knowledge on these subjects.

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Good

The statement of purpose and young person’s guide provide clear insight into the care and support that young people can expect to receive on a daily basis. This is shared effectively with parents, carers and professionals.

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Good

Monitoring of the home is not yet robust. This is because reports by the independent person and the manager are not yet evaluative and do not identify emerging patterns or trends. This impacts upon the home’s ability to make continuous improvements. Hence the number of issues with the records at 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 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 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

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

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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