Children's home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Leeds

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 . The care that young people receive from staff continues to support progress across all areas of their lives. This progress is individual to young people‟s starting points and includes increased social confidence, leading to part-time employment, the learning of new independence skills and continued attendance at weekly group activities. When progress falters, staff are persistent in the care and support that they offer. One social worker wrote: „X requires regular reassurance and support to continue developing her independence and life skills. Her key workers and staff at the home continue to support this in an exemplary manner.‟ Another social worker wrote: „I have observed a remarkable improvement in self-esteem and confidence. The home have continued to be creative regardless of the difficulties in motivating and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

engaging “Y”.‟ Staff work extremely hard to keep young people safe. When young people go missing, staff and managers have gone to extraordinary lengths to locate and return young people back to the safety of the home. In some cases this has included travelling hundreds of miles. A team manager commented: „Staff drove over six hours to go looking for him; no one has ever run after him before. No one has ever taken that care.‟ Physical intervention is rarely used and only implemented when other techniques of de-escalation have not been successful. Young people‟s behaviours are seen in the context of the difficulties that they face in their lives, and as a result they are not unnecessarily criminalised. Young people who have left the home have done so in consultation with the placing authorities. Despite the recognised need for young people to move from the home, the local authority considers that young people benefited from their time

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

living at the home. The manager has recently undertaken extensive consultation with professionals and young people with regard to the quality of care offered by staff. As a result, a requirement made at the last inspection to address this is met. A requirement to fully consider the impact of young people joining the home on those already living there is also met. A recommendation that was made in relation to the maintenance of the fabric of the home is not met. Although specific areas have been addressed, ongoing damage to the home has not been repaired in a timely manner. Following damage to the door handle of the young people‟s bathroom, this room was out of use for over a week. As an alternative, young people had to use shower facilities in the staff sleep-in room, walking through the main office to access this. In addition, damage to the inner framework of the bathroom door has been repaired with screws rather than being replaced and so remains splintered and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

broken. Some young people have waited over three months to have their bedroom decorated according to their choice. In some rooms, plasterwork needs repairing and repainting and, in others, some young people do not have sufficient storage for their belongings. Doors that have been damaged are yet to be repaired. A recommendation that staff receive supervision within company timescales and that the supervision notes are produced in a legible format is not met. Although supervision has taken place, this has not been offered within stipulated timescales and some notes are illegible due to being handwritten. A requirement to ensure that staff receive ongoing professional development specific to meeting young people‟s needs is not met. An audit of staff training needs has been completed by the manager. However, staff, to date, have not received additional training in areas such as the impact of domestic violence on

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

young people, or gang culture. A provider for this training has not been identified and no timescales have been set for completion.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

25/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

18/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)(c) 31/05/2017

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Requirement Due date

6. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to the timely repair of damage to the home and the personalisation of young people‟s rooms, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to – (b) ensure that staff (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and (c) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to (i) meet the needs of each child. 30/04/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:

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Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and the staff member have a copy of the record. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.4) In particular, supervision notes should be typed.

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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 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 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. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the

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Information about this inspection

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 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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