Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 1 Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (Residential Care) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children‟s home for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children‟s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people go missing from the home and put themselves at risk by trying illegal drugs and drinking alcohol.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not encourage young people to get involved in consultation about the development of the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not ensure that complaints are appropriately recorded.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Recordings of sanctions are not detailed.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager does not monitor physical restraint records within the expected timescale.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers have not ensured that the recruitment of staff includes checks on why a staff member might have left their previous jobs when working with vulnerable adults and children.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have not completed training around radicalisation and there are some gaps in training records.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are positive about their relationships with staff.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff promote education and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff make sure that the home is pleasant and homely.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff work with a range of professionals to try to keep young people safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are enthusiastic about their roles and show a good awareness of the needs of the young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 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 ensure that 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 made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. Within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure, has signed the record to confirm it is accurate and 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. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) Specifically, in relation to recording sanctions and restraints. 20/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)) Specifically, that young people‟s placement plans reflect their day-to-day needs. 20/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) Specifically, in relation to radicalisation. 20/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 31 (3)(d) schedule 2 (4)) Specifically, if a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, verification so far as reasonably practicable of the reason why the employment or position ended. 20/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any 20/10/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 4 complaint, the action taken in response and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3))

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home‟s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child‟s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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improvement to be good

Young people enjoy being at the home. One young person told the inspector that it was „better than others that I have been to‟. There are concerns over young people‟s behaviour outside the home. This includes young people going missing and putting themselves in risky situations. A youth offending team worker was able to talk about the positive development of a young person who they worked with, highlighting the increase in their education involvement and a decrease in criminality while being at the home. However, the same young person had been missing for a period of weeks, and there are concerns over his well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage a good range of activities. However, young people have rarely taken up on the activities on offer. One young person told the inspector that, „I don‟t really like going out with staff that much. I have been to the cinema. I would rather be going out with my mates.‟

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improvement to be good

Staff promote young people‟s contact with their families. Arrangements are made as part of the admission process and this is reviewed over time. Staff keep family members up to date with young people‟s lives at the home to support family relationships.

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improvement to be good

The staff team promotes a healthy lifestyle to young people. Staff encourage young people to access support services to respond to issues with drugs and alcohol. However, young people have refused to engage and concerns continue. Similarly, staff promote young people‟s awareness of sexual health, including taking young people to appointments. Despite this encouragement, young people refuse to accept help. As a result, young people continue to put themselves at risk.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to find the right educational placement to meet the needs of the young people. Despite all the attempts made by staff, the majority of young people find Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 5 education to be a challenge and overall, attendance is poor.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is pleasant and homely. A recent refurbishment has meant that corridors are more colourful. Staff have helped to ensure that the layout of the home promotes young people‟s independence.

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improvement to be good

Young people are aware of how to raise complaints and information is available in the home about different ways to highlight concerns. When young people raise complaints, staff respond swiftly. However, staff do not ensure that records hold all the details and the outcome of the complaint.

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improvement to be good

Young people‟s views are listened to in key-work sessions and young people‟s meetings. However, the manager does not provide feedback to the young people at the next meeting to show that their views have been considered.

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improvement to be good

Young people put themselves at risk due to their behaviour. This includes going missing from the home, and putting themselves at risk by drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs. Although staff attempt to support young people with decreasing this behaviour, they have been ineffective.

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improvement to be good

Effective monitoring systems are in place to support the health and safety of young people and staff, including regular fire safety checks.

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improvement to be good

The staff team has developed good links with the local safeguarding professionals and the police. Staff share information in an attempt to try to keep young people safe.

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improvement to be good

One young person has been missing for over three weeks. Although the staff have worked with the police, there has been a lack of progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people who can display self-harming behaviour through discussion and being offered additional counselling services. This additional measure means that staff are successful in managing this risk.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not understand that deducting pocket money is a sanction and needs to be recorded in line with regulations. Restraints records are mainly detailed, although the manager does not sign some of these off.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment procedures include a range of checks to make sure that staff are safe to work with young people. Sometimes, staff have previously worked with vulnerable children or adults. However, managers have failed to secure verification as to the reason why a member of staff left their previous job. This could affect young people‟s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 6 The registered manager has a good range of experience in residential care. He is qualified to the level 5 diploma in care management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager uses a development plan to improve the provision of care. However, he fails to consult young people in the plan. This creates a missed opportunity to influence the development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Monthly monitoring by an independent person includes discussions with the young people and professionals. However, some of the shortfalls identified during the inspection have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager challenges other services to make sure that young people get the best service possible. This has not always led to successful outcomes for young people due to other services‟ poor responses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff work well with other professionals. Information sharing takes a high priority. One professional said that, „Communication is excellent. They always share information.‟ This helps to give young people a consistent approach to their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All staff have a high awareness of the different needs of the young people and are enthusiastic in their outlook for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All admissions are well assessed. This is aimed at trying to make sure that young people are able to get on together and that staff are able to meet young people‟s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have a good range of experience and qualifications. Staff are positive about the home‟s leadership. One staff member told the inspector, „There is always someone who can give you guidance and advice.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff supervision and annual appraisals help staff to examine their practice and to have individualised training plans in place. Staff complete a good range of basic training courses. However, training records do not show all the training completed. Despite the good range of training offered to staff, there is a gap in staff receiving training around radicalisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are aware of the need to keep different agencies up to date about incidents that occur in the home. Staff make sure that notifications are detailed. The record shows that staff take action to try to decrease future incidents. Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 7

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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 differences 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 whom 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: 1222089 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (Residential Care) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Sheriffs Orchard, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 3PP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Andrew Hewston: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1222089 9 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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