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

Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 1 SC454838 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A large national provider of children’s services operates this service. Ofsted has registered the home for six children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is in a rural location.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last inspection in July 2017, which found that the service was inadequate, Ofsted suspended the registration of the service. Ofsted lifted the suspension in September 2017 after completing a monitoring visit. This showed that the organisation had addressed the shortfalls, particularly in terms of the safety of the property and internal presentation. Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Leadership of the service is good. The registered manager provides staff with strong guidance.  Children experience highly personalised care.  Children’s views and needs play a key role in the day-to-day operation of the home.  Children make progress in their education, family contact, and with their emotional difficulties.  Children enjoy active and healthy lifestyles.  Staff understand children’s needs and keep them safe.  Staff develop positive relationships with children.  Children are happy and safe.

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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

 Ensure that children’s written plans contain details of contact arrangements, including details of any person the young person may not have contact with.  Ensure that children’s behaviour management plans contain details of physical intervention techniques.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2017 Full Inadequate 28/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/07/2016 Full Good 24/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand, for each child, what the placing authority has recorded in the relevant plan as an appropriate level of contact with family and friends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3) In particular, ensure that written plans reflect children’s contact arrangements including any people that children may not have contact with.

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Recommendations

 In a restraint situation, staff should use their professional judgement, supported by their knowledge of each child’s risk assessment, an understanding of the needs of the child (as set out in their relevant plans) and an understanding of the risks the child faces. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 48, para 9.53) In particular, ensure that children’s behaviour management plans contain details of physical intervention techniques so that staff are fully informed about what strategies work best.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a good standard of care that is highly personalised. Staff nurture children and this helps children to make good progress. There is a particularly high level of consultation between staff and children. One child said about her move here, ‘It was alright because I was moving with all the staff. It was good.’ Children like the staff and have positive relationships with them. One child said, ‘The staff are kind and nice. They make you feel safe. They are always here with you.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop positive relationships with children’s families. The ongoing and supportive communication between staff and children’s families is beneficial to children and helps them to feel less isolated. Because of the staff’s work, children strengthen established relationships and repair damaged ones. Staff know about those adults with whom children may not have contact. However, records do not show this information and, consequently, there is a risk that this information may be lost or misunderstood. A recommendation is raised to rectify this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and they make progress from their starting points. Children also develop ambitions. One child can now read to herself rather than aloud and receives regular help from the care staff. She said, ‘I like school. I enjoy English and I particularly like maths. I want to be a vet for pets.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 4 Central to staff’s relationships with children is their detailed understanding of children’s emotional needs. With the support of in-house therapists, children work through their difficulties. One child has progressed to going to a mainstream dentist instead of a specialist. This helps her self-confidence and her dental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy an active lifestyle and participate in different leisure activities. One child has recently joined the cadets. Children enjoy holidays and seasonal events. For example, a child recently enjoyed a Halloween event and is looking forward to a Christmas pantomime. A child also said, ‘We went to Wales and stayed in a chalet near the sea.’ Engaging in different activities broadens children’s horizons and enables children to develop social skills.

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

Staff protect children well. Children rarely put themselves at risk or run away. They feel that the staff help them. One said, ‘Everything is fine here. If not, I’d tell the staff. They’d sort it out.’

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

Staff are familiar with issues such as radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. They employ this knowledge to protect children and educate them, for example during conversations about current events.

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

Staff understand each child’s vulnerabilities and adapt their practices accordingly. They are undertaking particular work to protect one child from risks online. Staff have an effective means of assessing the level of risk and use this to educate children. Through key-working sessions, children gradually learn what the risks are and how to protect themselves.

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

The behaviour management procedures encourage positive behaviour in children. Children understand the expectations and the opportunities. One said, ‘If you want to earn towards something, you have to have so many good weeks. I’ve done it [before]. I went mini-golfing, ice-skating, and to watch [my favourite football team].’ In this way, children learn how to manage their own progress.

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

The manager expects a high standard of role-modelling from her team, which the children recognise. One said, ‘The manager makes promises and doesn’t break them.’ Very rarely do staff resort to physical interventions to keep children safe. However, the written guidance to staff lacks sufficient detail about particular techniques to support individual children’s needs, keep them safe and minimise the risk of injury to staff.

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

The organisation has recently invested in making the outside of the property much safer. For example, steps have been taken to prevent children getting access to fragile roofs. The property retains several commercial features that detract from the homely appearance, which the organisation is gradually addressing. Staff educate children about the risks posed by the buildings, the adjacent farm, farm animals and the rural location. This helps children to understand the dangers and keep safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In July 2017, Ofsted judged the service inadequate and suspended the registration. Because the organisation addressed the serious shortfalls, Ofsted lifted the suspension in September 2017.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The company has made a number of major changes. It altered the statement of purpose so that the home caters for a younger age group, it invested in a comprehensive refurbishment of the inside of the property and it took measures to prevent children climbing onto the roof. The significant developments made show the provider’s commitment to improvement and it is now providing good standards of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager, her staff team and one child moved from another home to this home in October 2017. The manager is registered with Ofsted and is suitably experienced. She is undertaking a relevant management qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has clear plans for the development of the service, based on detailed monitoring. The manager has researched and addressed the previous shortfalls. In particular, the previous health and safety concerns have been resolved. The manager is intent on improving relationships with neighbours. She provides clear and firm support to her team and has effective deputising arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership of the service involves the wider organisation. The responsible individual has reflected on and learned from the events that led to the previous inadequate judgement. For example, there is now closer monitoring of the standard of children’s bedrooms by the independent visitor. The area manager has changed and he undertakes effective supervision of the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the team consists of experienced and qualified staff who are used to working together. The one member of staff who is unqualified is on target to complete the course within the statutory timescales. The manager ensures that other aspects of staff training are up to date. Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive and provide children with good-quality care. The staff team’s consistent approach helps children to feel safe and to develop positive relationships. Staff are very familiar with the children’s individual needs, take prompt action when issues arise and can describe children’s marked progress. Such good awareness ensures that children’s care plans progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 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 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: SC454838 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

David Morgan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454838 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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