Children's Home run by Partners in Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 1 SC441717 Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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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 is one of a range of residential services provided by a private organisation. The home can care for four children and young people aged between eight and 17 years old. The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 10 April 2012 and holds the relevant qualification.

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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: Requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/11/2016 Full Good 21/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d)) 14 Jun 2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should have a clear understanding of the expectations of the young people’s behaviour. Staff should address poor behaviour in a consistent way. Agreed strategies are to be in place and staff should apply these when managing challenging behaviours. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11). In particular, behaviour should be monitored and analysed to inform practice. In addition, key-work sessions should be used to support young people to understand their behaviours and ways to improve these.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return to home interview. Homes should take account of the information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect a child. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30). In particular, that young people’s absences from home are assessed in line with missing from home policies and procedures, and that these are responded to accordingly.  The registered person should ensure that staff access training that is relevant to the young people’s needs and risks. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people make good progress living here. Their placement plans are of a good standard and clearly identify the children and young people’s needs. They also clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of staff. Children and young people speak positively about living at the home. They know that staff care about them and, as a result, they have strong and trusting relationships with them. Staff demonstrate a nurturing approach to the care of children and young people, who respond well to this. Children and young people identify with the progress that they have made while living at the home. They also understand how they can continue to make positive progress. Children and young people have access to a variety of activities that help them to build their social skills, confidence and self-esteem. Staff work together effectively to ensure that children and young people receive consistent care. They provide a safe environment for children and young people to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

express themselves and share their worries and concerns. Staff support and encourage children and young people to establish and maintain positive relationships with their friends and family. When these relationships are not positive, staff work together with the child or young person, their families and the relevant agencies to manage these concerns safety. Children and young people attend school regularly. They make good progress in education and their attendance and attainment improves. When children and young people are not engaged in education, staff are proactive in supporting them back into education. Staff recognise when children and young people’s behaviour requires additional specialist input and make the required referrals to the relevant professionals in a timely way. Children and young people move on from the home in a planned way. Staff work in partnership with the local authority to support children and young people to make a

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

positive transition to their new placements.

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

Children and young people say that they feel safe at the home. Staffing levels are good and this allows young people to have good levels of support that are in line with their individual assessments. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities in keeping children and young people safe. However, staff do not always have the relevant knowledge and experience to understand specific safeguarding concerns. In these instances, the relevant assessments and plans are not clear enough. In particular, this relates to children and young people who go missing from the children’s home. Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 5 Staff help children and young people to understand their behaviours and support them to manage these. Staff record incidents to a good standard. However, there is limited analysis, evaluation and learning about incidents and specific behaviours. Behaviours, therefore, continue and, in some instances, escalate.

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

Staff have access to a clinical psychologist within the company. This enables staff to have a clearer understanding of the children and young people’s therapeutic needs, and the strategies that they can use to help and support the children and young people. The home is damaged and is in need of repair and, in some places, the home is unclean. In addition, the external grounds of the home are not fit for purpose. There are a number of hazards and, as a consequence, the outside area is not safe for the children and young people to play in. Staff manage safeguarding concerns effectively. They follow procedures well. Recording is clear and provides the reader with a good understanding of the situation and the actions taken.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is qualified and has a wealth of experience. The registered manager and the staff have high aspirations for children and young people. They are passionate about the work that they do. The registered manager and the staff have worked together to improve the home and address the shortfalls from the last inspection. These improvements have been further enhanced by the thorough monitoring completed by the independent visitor and the support from the responsible individual. The training that is available to staff is good. However, in some instances there is a delay in staff completing the training within the required timeframes. In addition, staff do not routinely receive all the up-to-date training that they need to meet the children and young people’s needs. Consequently, there are gaps in staff’s up-to-date knowledge. The registered manager and the staff work well with other professionals involved with

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

each of the children and young people. Professionals speak positively about the care that children and young people receive. One social worker said, ‘All of the staff appear to have a genuine interest in [name of the child] and his progression – they tailor rewards and activities to his likes and interests and, in doing so, are achieving good outcomes for him.’ Staff receive regular supervision, both formally and informally, and this is of a good standard. Staff feel supported by the registered manager, the deputy manager, and each other. They enjoy working at the home. The registered manager recognises the importance of good-quality monitoring systems and has these in place. She recognises that these systems have assisted in the positive development of the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 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: SC441717 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rouse House, 2 Wyther Lane, Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS5 3BT

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Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC441717 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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