Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in St Helens

Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 1 SC022464 Registered provider: PIC Children‟s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children‟s home provides care and support to one child who is no longer able to live at home. The registered manager has been registered since 2014.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 13 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/06/2017 Full Good 28/03/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 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 keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 06/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the independent person produces a report about a visit (“the independent person‟s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‟s opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children‟s welfare. The independent person‟s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to HMCI (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)(5)(7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the reports are received within the specified time frame and that the registered manager challenges any inaccuracies in the report. 06/07/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and external monitoring (including under regulation 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third party information. Information must always be recorded in a way that is Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 4 helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the

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Recommendations

quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that the records of room searches, the missing from care risk assessment and the bullying risk assessment are recorded in a way that is helpful to the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person lives in a caring and supportive home. Staff are understanding and patient. They give the young person the help and guidance that they need to overcome past traumatic experiences. A social worker said, „Everything is going really well for the young person.‟ This has been especially so over the last six months. The young person has decorated his bedroom, something that he has not done previously. The social worker said, „This is a big step for him [the young person], as he is setting down roots.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person enjoys a positive relationship with the staff. He knows that the staff genuinely care about him and want him to do well. He is very proud of his bedroom and takes pride in his appearance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is supported to attend and engage in their education. Their positive engagement in their education has resulted in improved behaviour in school and means that he has not been excluded for some considerable time. He has received several rewards from school for his attendance and engagement in learning. Staff are currently supporting him through his end of year exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are providing effective support as the young person moves into a new school in September due to the closure of his current school. Arrangements are being made for him to visit his new school and to meet some of the staff and young people. Staff are advocating well on his behalf to ensure that the young person‟s support worker in school moves with him to promote consistency for him in his new school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person‟s health has improved over the last six months. It is commendable that he has not used cannabis during this time. However, during the previous two weeks, he has reconnected with some peers and this has resulted in him coming home displaying the effects of using cannabis. Staff have responded exceptionally quickly and robustly to this. They called a professionals‟ meeting and a clear plan of support was initiated. The plan includes the youth offending service (YOS) visiting the young person to carry out work on drug misuse and the impact of this. The home‟s response to this has been praised by the social worker who commented that, „The registered manager and staff are on top of everything.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff actively promote positive relationships between the young person and his friends. They are mindful of the young person‟s past experiences with the current group of friends and have put steps into place to help him to make Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 5 positive and more informed choices to minimise the risks to the young person‟s health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is increasing in maturity. He has worked well with staff so that he could purchase a mobile phone. He has drawn up a mobile phone contract with the registered manager about its usage. The young person agreed, as has his social worker, for the registered manager to place safeguards on the phone, including a find my phone application. This not only helps to locate the mobile phone should it be lost but may help to locate the young person if he were to be missing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person‟s independent reviewing officer recognised the progress that he has made in recent months. In a letter to him, they commended him for talking at his review about how things are now and what he would like to do in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact between the young person and his family remains an issue as the young person is refusing to see his family. Staff are supporting the young person and his family during this time in the hope that he will choose to see them again. The young person remains in contact via the telephone and occasionally when playing online games with family members.

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

Children live in a safe home where they are protected from harm. Staff are acutely aware of the young person‟s vulnerabilities and how these may affect him. Consequently, staff act swiftly to any emerging concerns. This helps to keep him safe. They use up-to-date written plans and risk assessments that support the young person‟s safety.

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

There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of episodes of the young person going missing from the home. However, since re-engaging with some peers, there have been a small number of times when he has not come home. Staff are talking to him about the potential dangers that he is placing himself at by not coming back to the home.

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

Staff know the areas that the young person may gravitate to and actively search these areas for him when he fails to come home. However, this information is not included in his missing from care risk assessment and may hinder an effective search for him. The young person works well with the YOS and the staff to enhance his understanding of knife crime, gangs and criminal exploitation. This better understanding means that he is less likely to be involved in criminal behaviour and reduces the risk of criminal exploitation.

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

The young person benefits from clear, consistent boundaries. The positive behaviour of the young person is continually promoted and rewarded in the home. This has resulted in the purchase of vouchers that the young person can use on his games console. A restorative approach is taken to managing any negative behaviour. This helps the young person to reflect on his behaviour and to make positive changes. Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 6 Staff are aware that the young person has previously been a victim of bullying. They have worked with the young person to build his confidence and self-esteem so that this does not reoccur. Staff are alert to the signs that the young person may be getting bullied, but this information is not currently reflected in his risk assessment.

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

The young person lives in a warm, welcoming and homely environment. His bedroom reflects his interests and tastes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced to fulfil his role. He is a good advocate for the young person. The registered manager and deputy manager have worked collaboratively to address the shortfalls from the last inspection, which resulted in a declined in effectiveness judgement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

As a result, record-keeping has improved. The young person‟s plans and documentation are now routinely reviewed and updated on a monthly basis. The quality of the recording has improved in the majority of records and the registered manager and deputy acknowledge that this „is a work in progress‟. There remain issues with the recording of room searches as to the quality of the record, and some information is not included in some risk assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Monitoring by the registered manager is improving. He has initiated a number of new monitoring tools to help him to keep abreast of what is happening in the home and to monitor the records. Consequently, he can quickly identify any shortfalls and address this with the member of staff concerned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Monitoring by the independent person is not robust. This is because reports are not sent to Ofsted within the required time frame. For example, the report for January 2018 was not received until May 2018. The combination of three months monitoring in one report does not meet the requirements of the regulation. Also, there are factual inaccuracies contained in the reports. The registered manager has not always challenged this with the independent person or the responsible individual. As a result, the independent person‟s reports are not helping the registered manager to drive forward improvements at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Ofsted has not received a copy of the statement of purpose since July 2017, despite this being updated several times since then. This does not promote transparency or provide Ofsted with the most current information about the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has sought additional training for staff to help further develop their knowledge and skills. He is introducing a mobile phone application that can be used to enhance the discussions between staff and the young person during key-worker sessions. The registered manager holds a level 4 qualification but is completing a level 5 qualification, as is the deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager and deputy are clear about the strengths of the service and the Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 7 areas for development for the staff team and have plans to address these.

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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: SC022464 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PIC Children‟s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 North Street, Haydock, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 0TW

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Inspector

Chris Scully: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC022464 9 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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