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

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A competent registered manager manages this home. She currently manages two homes within close proximity of one another for the organisation. The registered manager is in the process of completing her level 5 qualification in leadership and management. A confident, stable staff team means that the young person feels safe and secure here. He has built strong, meaningful relationships with staff. As a result, he is much more able to talk to them about how he is feeling and to express his emotions. This is a massive achievement for him, which has resulted in a decrease in the number of episodes of being missing. The young person said he feels happy here.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person is not yet in formal education. He was excluded from school in November 2016. He has been offered a twilight session from 15.15 to 16.00, but, given the distance from home, he is refusing to attend. He is currently in receipt of two hours of home tuition a week and one day of work experience at a dog- grooming centre, which he enjoys. The registered manager and staff all acknowledge that this is not good enough for him. They have raised their concerns with the virtual head, the school and the social worker at various meetings regarding his education, but to date no progress has been made. The registered manager is concerned that he will see the twilight sessions as a further punishment. She is advocating strongly for him to return to school or to secure an alternative provision better suited to his needs, such as a construction course. The staff are striving to engage him in practical educational activities during the day

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

such as budgeting and shopping for items for the home and himself.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person is more able to make positive decisions concerning his safety. He has chosen no longer to go into the Wigan area. This has resulted in a decrease in episodes of going missing from home and involvement with criminality. This is a huge achievement for him. He said, ‘That was the old me. This is the new me! I don’t need to do that now.’ A significant contributory factor to this is that he now has a group of friends within the local community that he enjoys spending time with. Staff know who they are and have met their carers. This provides reassurance for the young person when he is out because, if staff cannot contact him, they can contact one of his friends. However, staff have not updated his missing-from-care risk assessment to include the new information about his friends and it lacks specific information about his medical needs and the possible impact of him not taking his medication. Staff know this information and they are able to

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

contact his friends’ carers and search for him in the local area.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person is increasingly building his self-esteem and confidence. As a result, he is more able to manage his behaviour, which has seen a reduction in the number of sanctions and an increase in positive rewards. Staff understand him and help him to modify his behaviour through effective incentive plans that are meaningful to him. He is also more confident to challenge other young people’s poor behaviour. Staff said that he has recently spoken to another young person about how he was talking to his carers and asked him not to be disrespectful. This young person listened to him and apologised.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home provides a warm, welcoming, homely environment. They young person has been instrumental in the design and layout of the ground floor. This has been integral to him being able to feel comfortable in the home. As a result, there has been a dramatic decrease is destructive behaviour. The lock on the electrical cupboard is not in keeping with a family home and detracts from the homely environment. The young person likes his bedroom to be minimalistic. He does not have any window coverings on his bedroom window. The registered manager has said that the young person removes any blinds or curtains that are put up, preferring to hang a sheet up at night. However, this does not maintain his privacy or dignity, as his bedroom is overlooked, and people walking past can see into the bedroom. The registered manager is currently looking into purchasing a frosted window, but the young person has said that he does not want this. Several items

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

of furniture in his room had been damaged in the previous week and need to be made safe, removed or replaced.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Monitoring of the home by the independent person is poor and continues to be a significant issue. An analysis of their last three reports identified large portions of the reports as being identical. The reports contain inaccurate information, for example saying that the home follows the pan-Cheshire protocols should a young person be missing. This should refer to the Merseyside protocols. Consequently, they fail to provide a critical analysis or constructive criticism of what the home is doing well, such as reducing the episodes of the young person being missing from care. This makes it problematic for the registered manager to drive forward improvements.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

In contrast, the registered manager has a secure understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of weakness. She said that staff have worked hard to resolve the recording issues and are much better at cross-referencing information, which is in turn reducing the amount of recording. However, this could be better and is regularly discussed individually with staff and at team meetings. Staff are currently trialling a new care-planning template which they hope will help to streamline their documentation and reduce repetition. A key area of development is to secure a suitable educational placement for the young person. This is a priority for the registered manager and staff.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several owned and manged by a limited company. The home provides care and support for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 14/12/2016 Full Good 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/12/2015 Full Requires improvement 06/01/2015 Full Good

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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 protection of children standard the registered person must ensure–

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Requirement Due date

(2)(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.

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that risk assessments are up to date to address any increase in risk presented to the young person when they are out in the community. 28/04/2017

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether children are safeguarded effectively, and whether the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)(5)) 28/04/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  When children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 5.5, page 28)

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Recommendations

 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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Recommendations

In particular, the reports should provide a critical analysis of the home and identify the areas for improvement and what the home does well. They should be signed and dated by staff using their full name.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that young people live in a homely environment and 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)

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Recommendations

In particular, the lock on the electrical cupboards in the lounge, the window dressings in the young person’s bedroom and their bedroom furniture.

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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. Whenever 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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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 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

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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