Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 1 SC005040 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 four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is part of a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff support young people who are new to the home to settle quickly. This helps young people make progress in respect of their emotional and/or behavioural development. Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 2  Proactive staff ensure that all young people attend school daily.  Thoughtful and caring staff address young people’s health needs.  Young people are looked after by nurturing and intuitive staff.  Staff successfully use the input of partner agencies to help young people learn how to keep themselves safe.  Young people benefit from consistent rules and boundaries.  An experienced manager leads a stable, child-focused 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

 In some instances, placement plans do not provide clear guidance to staff on how to meet young people’s needs.  On one occasion, the registered manager has not ensured that a statutory review has taken place in a timely manner following the emergency admission of a young person.  The local fire and rescue service has identified that fire safety in the home is not good enough.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/09/2016 Full Good 10/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 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 the requirements of Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2)(b)) Specifically, the register provider should undertake all the action identified within the Fire and Rescue Services report dated 19 October 2017. 19/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) Specifically, the register provider should ensure that young people’s placement plans consistently reflect the current needs of young people and what actions are being taken to meet these needs. 19/01/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a young person is placed in an emergency situation, a statutory review should be convened as soon as possible after the emergency move has taken place. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who are new to the home settle quickly. This is because staff are welcoming, friendly and reassuring. As a result, young people learn to trust staff and feel safe. This sense of security helps young people to make progress from the very beginning of their placements. In particular, young people’s behaviour improves and they present as less anxious. An independent reviewing officer told the inspector, ‘It just seems like an amazing turnaround for him.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 4 Staff recognise that education is the foundation for success for young people. Staff are successful at working in partnership with schools to ensure that the right support is in place at home and in school. Positively, all young people are attending school and making steady progress. A headteacher told the inspector that one young person is thriving. ‘He is now a smiley happy young person. [Staff’s] impact has been huge.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are thoughtful and caring in addressing young people’s health needs. For example, two young people have been given electric toothbrushes. The novelty of this is helping to improve their dental hygiene and establish good routines for the future. Similarly, bubblegum-scented shower gel and foam handwashes are helping to encourage young people to learn important self-care skills. Staff are in tune with young people’s emotional health needs as they know the young people well. As a result, staff recognise subtle changes in young people’s behaviours and respond quickly. An offer of a cup of tea or a game on the computer helps show young people that staff care and that they are there for them. These opportunities are used to reassure young people and find out what is worrying them. Young people are looked after by caring and intuitive staff. Staff are consistent in their approach and work as a team. Staff provide young people

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with personalised care to meet their needs. Despite this, in some instances placement plans do not fully reflect the care being provided to young people. The impact of this is low, as staff have a shared knowledge of how to look after young people and keep them safe.

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

Young people say that they feel safe and their behaviours reflect this also. For example, one young person used to repeatedly check that external doors were locked. The young person no longer does this, as he knows that he can trust staff to protect him and that he is living in a safe environment. Young people benefit from clear rules and boundaries. A staff member told the inspector that they teach young people what is right and wrong by ‘explaining to them what we want from them, so that they know what to achieve’. Staff are successful at promoting good behaviour. Young people receive lots of positive praise from staff. Young people value this and strive to do well. Consequently, there are noticeable improvements in young people’s behaviour from their starting points. Staff use the input of partner agencies well and this helps to keep young people safe. For example, visits by the police, youth offending service and a specialist drug service

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

have been used to provide young people with preventative information and advice. Good planning helps to reduce the likelihood of risk-taking behaviours. The young people do not go missing. However, staff recognise how vulnerable young people would be, should they go missing. Staff plan for such situations, and have the knowledge and skills to respond appropriately. There are no immediate concerns about young people’s vulnerability to exploitation. Nonetheless, staff support young people when they are out in the community and help them to access the internet safely. Staff take the time to teach young people about the Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 5 dangers of talking to strangers so that young people develop the skills to keep themselves safe. The local fire and rescue service has identified that fire safety in the home is not good enough. Suitable interim arrangements are in place to keep the young people safe, while

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager holds a suitable qualification. The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the home and areas of development. She is receptive to new ideas and is motivated to continue to improve, in order to provide young people with the best possible care. The registered manager is supported by a strong deputy manager. This is a productive partnership. The two managers lead an experienced and knowledgeable staff team. The depth of quality benefits young people. All young people are making progress socially, emotionally and academically. Staff feel well supported by the registered manager. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘She looks after you, she keeps on top of you. If you are starting to slip in an area, she will pull you up on it. She keeps everyone on track. I think she is brilliant.’ The registered manager is effective at using supervisions and training opportunities to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

develop her staff team. This ensures that staff have the skills to meet the needs of young people. Staff work jointly with partner agencies, including schools and local authorities. This collaborative approach is based around good communication. Despite this, for one young person, the registered manager has not ensured that a statutory review has been completed following the young person’s admission to the home. The impact of this is minimal, although this is a missed opportunity to promptly review the care being provided to the young person. Notwithstanding this, the registered manager has demonstrated her willingness to challenge partner agencies to fulfil their obligations. For example, a police officer told the inspector about the registered manager’s tenacious response to anti-social behaviour issues within the local area. The input from the manager contributed to the police being able to resolve these problems for the benefit of

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC005040 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

Paul Robinson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC005040 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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