Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stockport

Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 1 SC025417 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

This privately owned children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 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: 21 February 2017

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good progress in all areas of their lives. This is due to the good quality of care that they receive from the committed and supportive staff team. Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 2  Young people are supported well with their education. This contributes to their good attendance and the progress that they make in education.  The health needs of the young people are well understood by staff. Staff support young people to regularly attend routine health and development checks and other health appointments as necessary. Consequently, their health needs are met well. Furthermore, young people are encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  Young people are safeguarded effectively due to the robust safeguarding practice in the home. There are no issues relating to the young people using substances, being subject to child sexual exploitation or criminal behaviour or exploitation. Young people rarely go missing from the home. When they do, the

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Key findings from this inspection

home takes effective action in line with statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care.  The registered manager and staff engage well with professionals to ensure that young people‟s needs are fully met and that they get the best possible support. They are skilled at identifying areas of unmet need and actively identifying the right support for them.  Behaviour management is effective in the home. Consequently, the behaviour of young people has improved since they first moved into the home. Young people are rewarded on a daily basis for attending and engaging in education and for positive behaviour. Rewards for positive behaviour far outweigh consequences for negative behaviour.  The home has significantly improved its matching processes for young people moving into the home. They fully consider all referrals and will only accept young people whose needs they are confident that they can meet. Furthermore,

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Key findings from this inspection

young people are fully supported to move on from the home with clear transition plans to ensure a smooth transition.

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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

 A record relating to a physical intervention was completed sometime after the intervention took place, once it was highlighted by the independent external monitoring of the home. There was some uncertainty as to the company policy on what is deemed to be a physical intervention.  Although the manager and staff regularly consult with young people, their views, wishes and feelings are not always evident in the home‟s records. Young people do not always feel that they can talk to the manager and staff and be listened to.  The monitoring and review systems in the home could be strengthened to enable the manager to identify the home‟s strengths and weaknesses and take effective action to address shortfalls. Furthermore, this would support her to have a clear development plan for the home. Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 3  Some of the records in the home lack sufficient and accurate information.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home‟s location risk assessment does not include information from consulting with other relevant professionals. Consequently, the manager and staff cannot be confident that they are aware of all known risks in the community.  Young people report feeling bored at times, as they do not feel that they are provided with suitable recreational and social activities.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2017 Full Good 14/11/2016 Interim Not judged 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 4

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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 name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure („„the user‟‟) and any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result 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”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and 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)) 21/12/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 5 record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Under regulation 46 the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph

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Recommendations

15.1)  Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home‟s records as „living documents‟ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  Children‟s home staff should seek to identify and provide appropriate opportunities for children to develop themselves in accordance with their wishes and feelings and as part of the home‟s plan for their care. Each child‟s talents and interests should be understood and nurtured, with children selecting activities based on their personal preferences and abilities, so far as is reasonable. Staff should also support children to try activities that are „new‟ for them, where appropriate. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 31, paragraph 6.4)  Promote the development of safe, stable and secure relationships with staff that

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Recommendations

are central to the ethos of the home and support the development of secure attachments that, where appropriate, persist over time. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.11) In particular, take steps to strengthen staff skill in supporting and influencing children.  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. Those undertaking the role should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, if the

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Recommendations

information provided is inaccurate this will need to be challenged and amended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from personalised and individualised care from a committed staff Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 6 team. As a result, they make progress in all areas of their lives. The staff have a good understanding of young people‟s needs and meet these well. Consequently, outcomes for young people are improved. An independent reviewing officer said, „The staff know the young person well and are managing his behaviours much better than previous carers. This has helped him to become more settled and present with improved behaviour. He is happy living in the home despite him not wanting to move into residential care.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are making progress in education. Some young people have a history of disruption and non-attendance in education and, since moving into the home, this has improved. The home ensures that the young people have clear and structured routines that support them to attend and engage in education. Young people are also supported to complete homework and independent study when they are not in school. The home has strong links with education professionals to ensure that all information is shared and they can all appropriately support the young people. Furthermore, the young people receive an education incentive each day for attending and engaging in education. Consequently, young people have improved attendance and engagement in education. The staff team places education in high regard and ensures that the young people understand the importance of their education. An education professional said, „The

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

young person is making progress in education. I have daily contact with the home, which is positive and supports the young person to make progress in education. The home‟s education incentive scheme appears to have a positive influence and supports the young person to attend and engage well.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Healthcare plans clearly outline the young people‟s health needs and how they are being met. Young people regularly attend routine health and development checks, for example the dentist, optician and statutory health assessments. They receive appropriate medical advice and health checks, when necessary, to ensure that their health needs are being met. Furthermore, the young people are provided with a varied, balanced diet and are encouraged to engage in physical activity to further promote a healthy lifestyle. Health and well-being of young people is regularly addressed with them during key-work sessions. Consequently, their health and development needs are met well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team members have a good understanding of the young people and their individual needs. They follow young people‟s placement plans and ensure that they receive good, individualised support and guidance. They work well with a range of professionals, including social workers, police, education and health professionals, to ensure that the young people get the right support from the right services at the right time. Professionals spoken with as part of the inspection talked positively about the support that the young people receive. The level of communication and information sharing from the home is seen to be a key strength. This supports the young people to make progress and have improved outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has improved its admission procedures so that it is able to make an informed decision as to whether it will be able to meet the young person‟s needs effectively. It will now only admit young people to the home whose needs it is confident that it can meet. Furthermore, it has an agreement in place with the local police that it will not Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 7 admityoung people into the home who have a history of anti-social behaviour or who have been involved in criminal behaviour. This is to ensure that the young people do not pose a risk or have a negative impact in the community. Consequently, the young people are safeguarded and do not present any difficulties in the community. The police community support officer said, „We do not have any problems with the current young people living in the home. The staff are brilliant and very proactive to prevent situations escalating.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person has moved out of the home into foster care. This was a planned move and was only achieved due to the hard work and commitment of the staff team. They worked extremely well with the young person to improve his behaviour to enable him to move out of residential care. The transition was very well planned and extremely supportive to the young person and the foster carer. The staff team members said that they view this transition as a „real success story‟. They reported the young person to be like a different person when he moved out of the home, as compared to the one who had moved into the home. He made significant progress in all areas of his life, in particular in relation to his behaviour and attachment. The staff continue to support the young person and foster carer following the transition. This demonstrates the good quality of care, support and intervention that the home provides to young people to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of young people developing and maintaining relationships with people who are important to them. They liaise with professionals and family members to ensure that suitable contact arrangements are in place for young people and their family. Contact is safe and provides young people with the opportunity to spend quality time with their family. When staff have felt that the contact arrangements have not been suitable or in the young person‟s best interests, they have addressed this appropriately with the young person‟s placing local authority. Young people are encouraged and supported to spend time with their friends and peers. Consequently, this supports young people to develop and maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them. Furthermore, it helps the young people to develop their emotional needs and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported and encouraged to engage in social and recreational activities. These include being a member of a local football team, attending Cubs, visiting the cinema, go-karting and laser quest. However, the young people are not fully satisfied with the number of activities that they do. One young person said, „I get bored just sitting in the house and this is what leads to me messing around and getting into trouble.‟ This does not demonstrate that the young people are provided with appropriate opportunities during their free time to keep them occupied and build their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Observations during the inspection demonstrated that the staff and young people have good relationships. One young person spent time with a member of staff, completing education work, and he appeared to engage well in this. He laughed and joked with staff throughout the inspection. Staff spent time with him and they made a cheesecake together, which he was very proud of. The staff interacted with all of the young people Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 8 and were overheard to be offering them support, advice and guidance. There was no evidence of any strained relationships between them. However, the young people stated that they do not always feel that the registered manager and staff listen to them. One young person could only identify one member of staff who he felt he could talk to if he had a problem. The young people stated that they had little confidence in the home‟s manager. On discussing these issues further with the young people, it may be that they

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are feeling this way due to the consistent rules and boundaries in place that they are unable to push. However, it still demonstrates that the home‟s manager and staff need to get the right balance between managing behaviour and building positive relationships with the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment of the home provides young people with a safe and nurturing home. There have been some recent home improvements. The main lounge area has been decorated and new furniture is in place. Some of the flooring in the young people‟s bedrooms has also been replaced. Young people‟s bedrooms are personalised, clean and tidy and have suitable furniture in place. Young people are supported and encouraged to keep their bedrooms tidy, and they take pride in doing this.

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

Safeguarding practice in the home is good. Robust safeguarding measures are in place that promote the young people‟s safety and well-being. Staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding and have a clear understanding of how to keep young people safe from harm. The young people know that the staff team members will do all that they can to safeguard them.

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

There are no issues relating to the young people in relation to child sexual exploitation, substance misuse, anti-social behaviour or criminal behaviour or exploitation. This is due to the robust assessment process in place prior to young people moving into the home and the safeguarding practice in the home. The staff spend time with the young people discussing the risks that they may be faced with and offer them advice and guidance in how to keep themselves safe from harm. Consequently, the current levels of risk to all of the young people living in the home are not high and are managed effectively.

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

The number of times when young people go missing from the home has significantly reduced. One young person has been missing on a couple of occasions, and the home has taken appropriate action in response to this. Staff have tried to locate the young person when he has been missing, and they have informed relevant professionals and family members when he has been missing. When the young person has returned, they have welcomed him home and given him some food and drink. They have also spent time talking to him about the risks that he faces when he is missing from home. The home has ensured that an independent return home interview has taken place with the young person, so that he is given the opportunity to share information that may help to protect him from the risk of going missing again, the risks he may have been exposed to while missing, or any factors in their home that led to him going missing. This

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

demonstrates that the home is working in line with „statutory guidance on children who Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 9 run away or go missing from home or care 2014‟. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the home has effective systems in place to safeguard young people who go missing.

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

All young people have risk assessments in place that clearly outline the risks posed to them and the strategies in place to manage the risks. They are regularly reviewed and show the young person‟s progress and the reduction in risk since they moved into the home. Consequently, this supports the home to safeguard young people.

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

Staff are alert to the potential risks of the internet and try to help the young people to recognise dangers while online. Appropriate security measures are in place so that the young people cannot access inappropriate websites. The young people are aware of the restrictions in place and the reason for this. This allows the home to safeguard the young people from the risks associated with internet use. Furthermore, it ensures that the young people can safely use the internet without opposition or conflict, even though they would like to have more control over their internet use. This, in turn, enhances everybody‟s safety.

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

Behaviour management in the home is effective and contributes to the settled home environment. The staff and young people have a clear understanding of the strategies in place to manage behaviour. Any incidents are dealt with appropriately, and the home uses restorative practice to drive forward improvements in behaviour. However, some of the records relating to rewards and sanctions do not demonstrate this. The young people regularly receive rewards and incentives to promote positive behaviour. Sanctions are used effectively in a restorative rather than punitive manner. Consequently, the behaviour of the young people is generally good. A member of staff said, „A young person who initially presented with extremely challenging behaviour was like a different child when he recently left the home to move to foster care. His behaviour was so much improved.‟ This demonstrates the positive impact that the behaviour management in the

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

Staff at the home use physical intervention as a last resort to manage behaviour that places the young people or others at risk of harm. All physical interventions which have occurred have been appropriate in order to safeguard young peopleor others. However, the registered manager and staff are unclear as to what constitutes physical intervention. This resulted in a physical intervention not being recorded within 24 hours of it taking place. Therefore, the home failed to record the intervention in line with regulation. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the registered manager and staff are not clear on the home‟s own policy and procedures in relation to physical intervention.

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

There is a review of the home‟s location in place. However, this does not demonstrate that the manager has consulted with other safeguarding professionals in the area. Therefore, the home cannot be confident that the location review identifies all known risks in the community. Furthermore, a young person disclosed information during the inspection in relation to a safeguarding incident that he had previously been faced with in the community. However, this information does not appear to have been shared with the staff in the home and is not included in the location review. Consequently, young people are not fully safeguarded in the community. Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 10

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is lead and managed by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. She ensures that the home runs effectively and consistently in the best interests of the young people. The home meets the aims and objectives of its statement of purpose: „The aim is to provide a warm, friendly, safe and supportive environment based on nurturing principles.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff work collaboratively with young people‟s families, social workers, independent reviewing officers, the police, health and education professionals and other relevant persons. Together they ensure that the young people receive the best possible support to meet their needs. The home ensures that all relevant persons are kept fully up to date with the young people‟s circumstances and progress. Consequently, all professionals work well together to ensure that the young people receive a consistent level of care and intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a sufficient number of experienced and qualified staff to promote the young people‟s safety and well-being and ensure that their individual needs are met. The newer, less qualified and less experienced staff are supported to provide a good quality of care to the young people. The staff team members have their individual strengths, and the team is mixed in gender. Rotas are planned in advance to ensure that staff teams consist of suitably experienced and less experienced staff, are of mixed gender and individual strengths. Staff morale is good, and team members work well together. They are motivated and enthusiastic and clearly want what is best for the young people A member of staff said, „We complement each other and work together as a team. Consequently, the young people receive a good quality of care.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring and review systems in the home could be strengthened to enable the registered manager to clearly identify the home‟s strengths and weaknesses. This, in turn, would enable her to take appropriate action in a timely manner to address any shortfalls and drive forward the development of the home. The registered manager does not respond to the external independent monitoring recommended actions in a timely manner. Furthermore, in her quality of care review she does not identify the actions that she considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided to the young people. Consequently, neither she, the placing local authorities, parents of the young people living in the home nor Ofsted, the regulator, are clear on what actions the home is taking in relation to the quality of care provided to the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recording systems in the home are not robust. Some inaccuracies are evident in records. Not all records and plans demonstrate that the staff and young people have read and understood them. Furthermore, they do not include the young person‟s views, wishes and feelings and do not demonstrate that they have contributed to them. This potentially could lead to relevant information being missing and the quality of care being Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 11 compromised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from working in an environment where reflective practice and ongoing learning is valued. A wide range of training, including specific training in response to young people‟s changing needs, ensures that staff are knowledgeable and capable to fulfil their role. Staff reported that they benefit from regular professional supervision in which the young people are at the centre of discussions. Furthermore, weekly team meetings take place, again with the young people being the main focus of the team discussions. Consequently, the staff team members feel supported and work consistently in the best interests of the young people.

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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: SC025417 12

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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

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC025417 13 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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