Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today

Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 1 SC008268 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It provides medium- to long-term residential care and is owned by a private company.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Good

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2017

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers ensure that care planning is individualised and enables staff to focus on each young person’s areas of need.  Young people are positive about the care and support that they receive and feel safe and comfortable in the home.  Managers ensure that young people are encouraged to have their say in the running of the home, through participation in house meetings and key-work sessions.  Young people learn independence skills, taking into account their age and understanding.  The manager ensures that staff members work collaboratively with other professionals to safeguard young people.  Staff work closely with education professionals to support young people’s attendance and participation.  Staff promote family contact so that young people stay in touch with people important to them.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager has not ensured that the home’s statement of purpose contains all relevant information.  The manager has not ensured that staff supervision and team meetings are practice- based and help to development the team.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/07/2016 Full Good 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16 (2)(b)) 15/07/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, particularly during team meetings. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people continue to receive a good quality of care. The manager and staff remain committed to improving the quality of life for the young people in their care. Young people speak highly about their relationships with staff and the care they receive. One young person said, ‘The carers are brilliant here and you get well looked after. You could not ask for much more from them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that care planning identifies individual needs, areas of risk and strategies. This includes staff making sure that care plans are reviewed and updated in response to young people’s changing needs. Care plans link into young people’s key- work sessions. This allows young people to be at the centre of their own plans. This means that young people understand their plans and strategies that help to keep them healthy and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are registered with a range of health care practitioners, and personalised healthcare plans are in place. Specialist support is readily available to meet the Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 4 emotional and psychological needs of young people through individual therapeutic sessions. There is an effective system in place for the safe handling, administration, storage, disposal and recording of medication. This helps to ensure that young people receive their prescribed medication in line with their doctor’s instructions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Suitable education arrangements are now in place for all young people. These arrangements are tailored to young people’s needs and take into account their previous educational circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help young people to maintain family contact. The staff assist with transport and, when required, the supervision of contact. This is working well, with some of the young people being able to make significant improvements in the quality and quantity of this contact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from making a positive contribution to their home through regular key-work sessions and regular consultation. Young people join local clubs and take part in activities in the wider community. This enables young people to socialise with others of a similar age. This enables them to have new experiences and develop hobbies, skills and interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to develop independence and life skills, relevant to their age and understanding. Those young people who are eligible have pathway plans in place, and they receive support in working towards their individual goals. Young people confirm that they receive good support in this area and feel adequately equipped for the transition to adulthood.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

A young person told the inspector, ‘I am very safe living here, it feels good to live here and be safe.’ Safeguarding training is in place and regularly refreshed, therefore staff have a good understanding of their duties in keeping young people safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The manager has ensured that there are risk assessments in place for each young person. Staff safeguard young people by identifying risks and recognising young people’s vulnerabilities and then putting in place strategies to minimise these risks.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff implement behaviour management strategies using their safeguarding training and understanding of the young people to manage behaviour effectively. Because of this, there have been no episodes of physical intervention since the last inspection.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The manager ensures that staff know how to implement and follow the local authority’s joint protocol and procedures for reporting young people missing from care. Staff take appropriate action to locate young people quickly and promote their safe return by means of keeping in touch with the young person and liaising closely with the police and other agencies. There is a process in place for young people to be seen by an independent person on their return so that all information is captured to help reduce further episodes. Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 5 The manager ensures that there are regular health and safety checks and routine servicing of equipment to ensure that the home is safe for young people, staff and visitors. Staff are trained in fire safety procedures and they ensure that young people take part in fire evacuation drills so that they understand how to leave the home safely

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The manager ensures that young people are protected by the organisation's effective recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of the young people by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has an appropriately qualified registered manager in place. The manager has been in post since June 2013 and holds a diploma in leadership, health and social care at level 5.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained and competent. They have good access to training opportunities to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills they need for their work with young people. All staff are qualified or working within regulatory timescales to gain a relevant qualification for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses staff meetings and supervision to ensure that consistent messages are conveyed to the team. However, all meetings focus on the young people and there is no reflection or practice development discussed. This means that any learning is not being captured from significant incidents and learning opportunities are being missed. This limits staff from being able to develop their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not ensured that the statement of purpose is an accurate record of the service. For example, the document does not highlight that the home does not have internet access for young people. This means that parents and placing authorities are not being provided with an accurate overview of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home is undertaken every month. An external person visits the home to monitor and report on the quality of care provided. The visitor seeks the views of young people and their parents or carers. They make recommendations where necessary, and this contributes to the development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established good working relationships with external professionals, including the police, youth offending service and placing authorities. This partnership approach means that young people and staff are benefiting from the full range of support and guidance provided by other professionals within the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

No requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC008268 8 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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