Children's home run by Pathway Care Solutions Group Limited

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that the home has declined in effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home has experienced some difficulties over the last six months. The departure of both the registered manager and deputy manager has left a significant gap in terms of experienced and skilled leadership in the home. Although the organisation has employed a manager, they have yet to take up their post. This has led to a significant gap in management oversight of the home, leaving some staff feeling unsupported.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff working in the home have not been provided with the training that they require to enable them to care for young people who are at risk of abuse and exploitation. As a result, staff failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that an arrangement made by one vulnerable young person was safe and appropriate.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff failed to demonstrate sufficient concern when one young person, at high risk of being abused and exploited, went missing. The police were not contacted, and no request was made for a return home interview to be completed with the young person. This meant that the young person was not afforded an independent person to talk to about any worries or concerns that may have that prompted them to go missing.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There are no effective arrangements in place for keeping young people safe online. Young people have unlimited access to the internet, and this is not monitored by staff. During the night, one young person who is considered to be at high risk of child sexual exploitation is allowed on social media and to go live online without any challenge from the staff on duty. These arrangements place young people at significant risk of harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are failing to ensure that there are appropriate boundaries in place to keep the young people safe. Not all staff are provided with the training required to make sure that they can prevent or reduce challenging situations or manage risky behaviour.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One member of staff was injured during an incident when physical intervention was used. The two members of staff on duty during this incident had not been provided with adequate training regarding the use of physical interventions to safeguard young people. This resulted in the staff member using an inappropriate hold and, as a result, they received an injury.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some staff are not motivated to support young people or provide appropriate challenge in order to help young people understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. As a result, the young people currently hold the balance of power in the home, and therefore they do not receive the right level of care or have the appropriate boundaries in place that they require to make good progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

An organisational decision means that staff are not allowed to enter young people‘s bedrooms. Young people, have health or an emotional need that requires some level of management and oversight to ensure that children are safe and well. The current rule that prevents staff from entering a young person‘s bedroom means that staff are unable to monitor the young people‘s well-being or to assess potential risk to ensure that the young people are safeguarded. This practice has also allowed bedrooms to become unacceptably untidy.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff offer little challenge to the young people who stay in bed during the day when they should be engaged in more purposeful activities, such as education. It is not uncommon for this to stretch well into the late afternoon. During this inspection, one young person was in bed until after 2.30pm. Staff informed the inspector that they were not allowed to enter the young person‘s bedroom to support and help them achieve better routines.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Not all staff are able to identify and respond to safeguarding concerns. The acting manager has failed to identify and act upon two separate concerning statements made by one young person about members of staff. No referral has been made to the local authority designated officer on either occasion, and no form of investigation has taken place. Nor has anyone spoken to the young person about her concerns.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The lack of an experienced and effective manager in the home has resulted in an inconsistent, chaotic approach to care. Staff lack clear and effective guidance, and some significant shortfalls in their practice go unchallenged. Care planning documents have not been updated in line with the young people‘s needs and do not address all known risks. The documents fail to provide clear direction for staff in terms of behaviour management, and not all staff have been provided with the training required to practice safely. As a result, young people are not being protected from the risk of harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

It is evident that the staff require clear leadership and clarity about expectations. Some of the staff who were spoken to during the inspection really do care for the young people who live in this home. They want what is best for them, and they want them to be safe and to make good progress. However, they do not always know what to do to support young people better or agree with what is being asked of them, for example not going into the young people‘s bedrooms.

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Information about this children's home

This children‘s home is part of a large organisation. However, it is the only one of the services to be situated in the south west of England. The home is registered to care for up to four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural issues.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/11/2016 Full Good 08/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/07/2015 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— (a) understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; (b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (a) understand and apply the home's statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff— (i) understand and apply the home's statement of purpose; (ii) protect and promote each child's welfare; (iii) treat each child with dignity and respect; (iv) provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background; (v) help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; (vi) help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; (viii) provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

(ix) make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child's relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice; (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; and (ii) enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home; and 24/04/2017 (d) ensure that any care that is arranged or provided for a child that— (i) relates to the child's development (within the meaning of section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989) or health; and (ii) is not arranged or provided as part of the health service continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006(a), satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

(3) The conditions are— (a) that the care is approved, and kept under review throughout its duration, by the placing authority; (b) that the care meets the child's needs; (c) that the care is delivered by a person who— (i) has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care; and (ii) is under the supervision of a person who is appropriately skilled and qualified to supervise that care; and (d) that the registered person keeps the child's general medical practitioner informed, as necessary, about the progress of the care throughout its duration.

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Requirement Due date

(1) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans; (ii) support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; (iii) understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; (iv) help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; (v) promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; (vi) maintain regular contact with each child's education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child's education and training and

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Requirement Due date

24/04/2017 to maximise the child's achievement; (vii) raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child's education or training provider and the child's placing authority; (viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; (ix) help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; (x) help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child's relevant plans; and (b) that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child's learning.

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Requirement Due date

(1) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) meet each child's behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child's relevant plans; (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iii) encourage each child to take responsibility for the child's behaviour, in accordance with the child's age and understanding; (iv) help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; (v) communicate to each child expectations about the child's behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child's age and understanding; (vi) help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child's age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to

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Requirement Due date

recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful 24/04/2017 relationship; (viii) strive to gain each child's respect and trust; (ix) understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; (x) are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; (xii) understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and (xiii) have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and (b) that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others.

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Requirement Due date

(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (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; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (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

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Requirement Due date

from harm; 17/04/2017 * (c) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; (d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health; and (e) that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. 13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (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; (e) ensure that the home‘s workforce provides continuity of care to 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; (g) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— (i) research and developments in relation to the ways in which

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Requirement Due date

the needs of children are best met; and (ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 17/04/2017 *

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet this requirement, the registered person must – (1)(a) ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction; 24/04/2017 (b) ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation; and (c) provide each employee with a job description outlining the employee‘s responsibilities.

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Requirement Due date

(2) The registered person must operate a disciplinary procedure which, in particular— (a) provides for the suspension from work of an employee if necessary in the interests of the safety or welfare of children; and (b) provides that the failure on the part of an employee to report an incident of abuse, or suspected abuse, whether past or present, in relation to a child to the appropriate person is a ground on which disciplinary proceedings may be instituted.

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Requirement Due date

(3) For the purposes of this regulation, ―the appropriate person‖ is the registered person, an officer of HMCI, an officer of the local authority in whose area the home is located or a police officer.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet this requirement, the registered person must prepare and implement a policy (―the behaviour management policy‖) which sets out— (1)(a) how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‘s home; and (b) the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(2) The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

(3) The registered person must ensure that— (a) within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is 24/04/3017 made which includes— (i) the name of the child; (ii) details of the child‘s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; (iii) the date, time and location of the use of the measure; (iv) a description of the measure and its duration; (v) details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; (vi) the name of the person who used the measure (―the user‖), and of any other person present when the measure was used; (vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and (viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (b) within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to

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Requirement Due date

do so (―the authorised person‖)— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

(ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and (c) within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(4) Paragraph (3) does not apply in relation to restraint that is planned or provided for as a matter of routine in the child‘s EHC plan or statement of special educational needs.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to statutory requirement notice.

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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 who 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 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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