Children's Home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 1 SC051739 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions II Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 September 2017

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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: 20 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress in their education, health and confidence. This is underpinned by good relationships with extremely caring and nurturing staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 2  The improved safety of young people is recognised by others. One professional commented, ‘I am impressed with how [the young person] has settled. Staff have worked really hard to help her feel safe. She has made so much progress and is developing positive relationships with staff.’  Staff use a range of methods to ensure that young people are consulted on all aspects of their care and the running of the home.  Staff use very creative ways to tackle issues such as racist and abusive language.  Young people make very good progress in reducing their risk-taking behaviour. This includes fewer incidents of going missing from the home and associated risks of sexual exploitation, and the significant reduction in self-harming

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Key findings from this inspection

behaviour.  The manager exudes passion and commitment to the progress of young people. She inspires and motivates a strong staff team.

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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 registered manager must ensure that she notifies HMCI of all significant incidents.  When face-to-face training courses are difficult to obtain, the manager should utilise other resources to provide information for staff.  Recording in care plans and risk assessments needs to be kept up to date and should accurately reflect the needs and progress of the individual young person.  Staff should provide consistent support for young people with their independence programmes.  The manager should review and evaluate all sanctions to ensure their effectiveness.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Good 26/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; and there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4) (b) and (e)) 30/10/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support, and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) In particular, to use additional resources on topics such as drugs and alcohol

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Recommendations

misuse while awaiting formal training courses.  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) In particular, the registered manager is to review all consequences. Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 4  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) This relates to the recording in care plans, recording complaints appropriately and the recording of progress in risk assessments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people thrive in an environment where staff exude warmth, nurture and love. This provides a solid foundation for strong relationships. Good progress is made in a number of areas, especially in health, developing confidence and education. One young person summed up their experience of living in the home, stating, ‘I have settled a lot. They took me in and never judged me for anything. They have helped me overcome many things.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress in their physical and emotional health and well-being. Staff work hard to ensure that young people’s varied dietary needs are met. This includes helping some young people to lose weight and others to increase their weight to a healthy level. Staff encourage exercise and healthy activities such as football and walking. Staff work in partnership with mental health professionals, helping young people to understand their emotional well-being and finding alternatives to self-harm, thus reducing incidents of this nature.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of community-based activities such as football training, dog walking, youth club and games club. Young people are involved in the creation of a company website, connecting all young people in the organisation’s homes. These activities provide opportunities for social interaction and improve young people’s confidence and self-esteem. The garden provides numerous opportunities for play, including making dens and playing on the swings. Young people have recently enjoyed a holiday. One young person also had an exciting time on an adventure-based camping activity with his sibling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two young people have recently transitioned to a new school, settling well into the new routine and making friends. Good communication between staff and education providers ensured that this move was as smooth as possible. Friends are welcomed to the home, providing further opportunities for socialising. One young person is currently seeking suitable college opportunities, having identified that she wishes to complete her GCSEs. Learning in the home environment is encouraged. One young person is learning Spanish at school. In order to help her, a number of resources have been purchased. These include flash cards that are displayed through the home. This will not only help her to learn but also encourages all staff and young people to take part.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with placing authorities and families to ensure that contact is as safe Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 5 as possible and an enjoyable experience. This has resulted in increased contact for some young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people undertake a range of chores within the home such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. One young person is embarking on an independence programme to further promote their skills and prepare them for moving on. This includes learning to drive. Staff support in this programme is inconsistent. The young person’s record of independence is not always completed. Therefore, it is difficult to see how much progress is made and the level of support given.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Support for young people who have already moved on is clear to see. Staff continue to maintain contact, assisting young people with practical tasks, and helping them to form a social network. This helps young people to cope with the social isolation that can come with independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans generally provide a good level of detail about young people, including their history, aims of placement and targets. This helps staff to understand how best to care for young people and helps them to achieve. Key-work sessions focus on subjects that need to be addressed so that young people can achieve their full potential. Some shortfalls were identified during the inspection in the quality and consistency in recording. A recommendation is made to ensure that all information is accurate and updated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are consulted on all aspects of their care and the running of the home. They use a variety of means to convey their views, including house meetings, texting and key work. Young people engage enthusiastically in monitoring processes, contributing regularly to the manager’s review of the home. They know how to complain and benefit from an advocate, giving them access to an adult outside of the home if they need to raise a concern. Staff recently recorded a young person’s concern as a grumble rather than a complaint. Although the manager responded to the young person, not recording it as a complaint may give the impression that the matter is not taken seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home presents as a family environment, with ample space for young people to be together or to be on their own. Recent refurbishments enhance the home.

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

Staff support young people to understand how to reduce risks, helping them to keep themselves safe. For some young people, the risk of sexual exploitation has previously been high. Good relationships with staff, the sharing of information in professional forums and good, focused key work on the subject has helped to reduce the risk, resulting in one young person being deemed no longer at risk.

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

Incidents of young people going missing from the home have decreased, as young people increasingly tell staff where they are going and remain in contact with the home. Any incidents are thoroughly analysed and staff are debriefed, ensuring that they Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 6 continue to learn and improve practice.

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

Detailed assessments identify a range of risks, potential triggers and the most appropriate strategies for staff to use to reduce risk. Ongoing monitoring of risk ensures that alternative strategies are implemented if required. However, progress in reducing risk, particularly around self-harm, is not always recorded. This gives a false impression of the risks posed by young people and does not celebrate success.

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

Staff work closely with the therapy team and mental health teams, helping young people to understand their emotions and the effect that these may have on their behaviour. Mentors and befrienders are identified to work alongside young people, enhancing this work. The registered manager is currently developing a toolkit for use with young people focusing on repairing relationships and improving behaviour, reducing the need for sanctions. Some use of sanctions remains while this toolkit is being developed, and not all of these are reviewed by the manager. Therefore, their effectiveness is not evaluated.

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

Staff use creative strategies to tackle issues such as racism and abusive language. This includes visits to the holocaust centre, where historic atrocities are linked to modern day hate crimes and abuse. Positive role models, such as football coaches, identified by the manager, also help young people with a proclivity to racial abuse to reduce this behaviour.

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

The use of physical intervention is rare and, when it is used, it is appropriate and recorded in good detail. Staff and young people discuss the intervention ensuring that learning for all is gained from the incident. All incidents, whether or not physical intervention is required, are reviewed by the manager to enable learning.

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

Staff understand what to do if they are worried that a young person is being abused or has been abused. Relationships with the relevant safeguarding agencies are well established and referrals are made to these agencies when required. Young people are protected by a range of safeguarding policies and procedures. Staff are trained in safeguarding, managing allegations, understanding radicalisation, medication practice and first aid. This keeps young people safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is qualified, very experienced and extremely passionate about the young people who she and her team care for. This passion is replicated by the assistant manager and staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff bring a range of skills and experience to the team. They are either qualified to the appropriate level, are on the relevant course or are probationary staff who will be referred once they have completed their probationary period. This will ensure that all staff are appropriately qualified within required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by effective and regular supervision. Senior staff are trained in this area, undertaking several supervisions of staff. Staff meetings are utilised effectively: Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 7 sharing information, communicating any updates to plans and providing a learning forum for staff. The use of various media in these meetings enhances staff learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The strengths and areas for development of the home are understood by the registered manager and the staff team. A very good improvement plan highlights key areas for improvement and plans to address these. Regular review identifies progress towards targets throughout the year and any barriers to progress that need to be addressed. All staff and young people play an active role in contributing to this plan, helping them to feel part of the changes and improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff act as advocates for young people, ensuring the best and most appropriate support is provided. When services from other professionals do not match the high standards set by the manager and staff they effectively challenge, ensuring that young people receive the best all-round support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose and young person’s guide provides information for stakeholders, parents and young people. It informs them about the home and what to expect from the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring is good. An independent visitor monitors the progress, care and safety of young people each month. Staff discuss the findings in team meetings and all engage in addressing any concerns or recommendations for improvement. The manager’s regular review of the home involves young people, ensuring that their views are heard. Feedback from other agencies and placing authorities is also sought during this review, and any concerns addressed. This ensures continued improvement in the care, safety and outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two shortfalls in leadership and management were identified during the inspection. Following a significant event, the registered manager notified all appropriate authorities apart from HMCI. She took necessary action following the incident, including conducting appropriate disciplinary processes. The failure to notify HMCI meant that the regulator was unable to assess the incident. A requirement is made to ensure that all significant incidents are notified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a range of training in numerous topics. When training courses are difficult to obtain, the manager often finds alternative ways to provide learning. For example, using a young person’s interest in football to link to the Football Association anti-racism campaign. This creativity does not extend to other courses, such as understanding the drug and alcohol related needs of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

These shortfalls do not detract from the very good progress that young people make while living in the home, or the care provided by the staff. Others recognise the quality of this work. One neighbour told the staff, ‘You do amazing work. There should be more people like you.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 8

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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: SC051739 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ii Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Merchants Place, River Street, Bolton BL2 1BX

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Inspector(s)

Judith Longden: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC051739 10 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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