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

The home is managed by a committed registered manager who is completing her level 5 qualification in leadership and management. The registered manager currently manages two one-bedded homes for the company. The organisation is in the final stages of appointing a deputy manager to support the registered manager. In the interim, the management structure within the home is strengthened by the clearer delegation of roles and on-call systems. A stable staff team supports the young person effectively. The young person’s views about the people caring for him are carefully considered. As a result, minor changes have been made to the staff team to help him to feel more comfortable in the home. The young person said, ‘It is OK here.’ However, ultimately he wants to be at home with his family. This is where he is currently spending the majority of the time.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The statement of purpose provides clear insight into the care and support offered to the young person. This is shared well with parents, placing authorities and social workers. As a result, they are aware of the support being offered to the young person. Record-keeping in the home has improved. Records are routinely signed and dated by the author, which provides a clearer audit trail of information. Incident records, healthcare plans and the missing from care risk assessment are more detailed. This ensures that all staff are working consistently to meet the young person’s needs on a day-to-day basis. Internal monitoring of the home’s records is improving; for example, his care plan has been updated five times in the short time that he has been living here. Consequently, his plans reflect his current needs and how these are to be met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Monitoring by the independent person for the home is poor and continues to be a significant issue. An analysis of the last three reports identified that an extensive part of the report is identical in all three reports. This does not demonstrate the uniqueness of the home. There are numerous errors in the reports, which include the incorrect initials for the young person, referring to him as ‘she’ when he is male; stating that there is no medication in the home, when the former resident was receiving prescribed medication; and conflicting information. Ultimately, reports by the independent person fail to provide a critical analysis or constructive criticism of how well the home is doing, for example in reducing episodes of going 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 good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement, for example staff’s commitment to keeping the young person safe and the reduction of episodes of going missing. She is trialling a number of new initiatives, such as a revised care plan template. This is being undertaken across the company to improve the information recorded and gathered about young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person moved into the home shortly before Christmas. He is not in education and is refusing to engage in discussions about this. He has said he wants to be paid to do things. The registered manager is liaising effectively with the social worker, education providers and virtual head to resolve this issue. A meeting took place the day before the inspection, but nothing could be agreed as the young person failed to attend because he was missing. Incentives are offered to encourage him to engage with his education, but this has not been successful. The registered manager has proposed that he be educated with his elder brother; this is now being considered. His lack of engagement is hindered by his episodes of being missing.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person has a significant history of going missing. Since coming to live at the home this has reduced considerably, in that he is no longer missing for extended periods of time. This is partially due to the fact that he is now closer to home, but this presents other issues for him. He has extremely close family ties and is spending large amounts of time away from the home. On a number of occasions, he has left the home unbeknown to staff in the middle of the night. Staff members identified that he was climbing out of the bedroom window. They have taken some steps to prevent this, such as installing restrictors, but these have proved ineffective.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager recently instructed staff not to lock the front door at night. She has spoken at length to the young person, asking that he wakes staff and if he really needs to go out to use the front door. This has had some success, in that he said that he no longer climbs out of the window. However, he does not wake staff as he does not want to disturb them. Staff take action once they know he is missing, but this could be some time later. There is no risk assessment specifically around this behaviour. Similarly, there are no defined plans on how staff can be alerted that he has left the home. Consequently, the young person could be missing for some time before any action is taken. Staff actively search for him and records show that they visit his family home several times over the course of the day to search for him. Although the young person is not assessed as being at risk of child sexual exploitation or criminality when missing, and that he is open about

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

either being at the family home or with his girlfriend, the current planning is not sufficiently strong enough to minimise the risks that the young person may face through the choices he is making. The young person who formerly lived at the home made steady progress during her time here. She successfully gained employment in a hairdressing salon, which she enjoyed. She moved into semi-independent accommodation and was supported well by the registered manager to aid the transition. This young person was previously at a high risk from child sexual exploitation and going missing from care. However, during her time here she managed to reduce the number of incidents of going missing significantly to just once a month. This was a significant achievement, and was in part due to the support and guidance she received from staff and other professionals from alcohol and substance misuse staff and Catch 22. This collaborative working meant that she knew everyone was working

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and support for one young person with emotional and /or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 14/07/2016 Full Good 15/03/2016 Interim Not judged 05/01/2016 Full Good 20/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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 the independent person produces 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 effectively safeguarded and 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 may take in relation to the home and the timescales within which 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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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider 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

In particular, ensure that there are risk assessments and procedures in place should the young person leave the home undetected by staff and outline the action taken to minimise the risk of this reoccurring. 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:  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) In particular, ensure the reports provide a critical analysis of the home, identify the areas for improvement, what the home does well and any emerging patterns or trends.  Ensure staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, the placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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. 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 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

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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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