Children's home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Leeds

Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 1 SC379274 Registered provider: Pebbles Care

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates and runs this home. It provides care for children and young people whose plan is to live in a medium- to long-term residential setting. The manager has been in post since 12 March 2018. She has 14 years’ experience in residential care and has previously managed homes in both the private sector and a local authority.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 7 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2018 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/11/2016 Full Good 15/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 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 system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4) (a)(b)(e)) 30/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (2) (f)) 30/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4) (b)) 30/06/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff - including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 4 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)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people, including a new resident, report how happy and settled they feel in the home. The close and nurturing relationships the children and young people build with trusted staff team members enable them to grow in self-belief and confidence. A social worker said, ‘She knows that she is loved and cared for.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Day-to-day care plans hold good, clear information about the children’s and young people’s aims and goals. However, reviews and updates are not dated therefore it is not clear how or when changes have occurred, and it is not evident whether the children and young people are aware of what is in their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people live in a spacious, detached home in a residential area which is close to local amenities. There is evidence of damage caused by a previous resident, but a comprehensive repair plan is underway to return the home to a high standard. The children and young people take pride in being able to invite their friends to visit and spend time with them as they would in a family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A diverse, enthusiastic and committed staff team has productive working relationships with all of the partner agencies involved with the children and young people. This ensures that the children and young people receive consistent care messages, enabling them to make good progress in all aspects of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Targeted health care allows the children and young people to develop an understanding of the benefits of participating in regular exercise and eating a nutritious diet. For one young person this has resulted in significant weight loss and a marked improvement in self-esteem. The children’s and young people’s emotional and psychological health improve as they engage with specialist care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children and young people attend suitable education provisions. The committed staff team facilitates their daily attendance at school, often at some distance from the home. This enhances the learning experience and provides further opportunities for the children and young people to forge safe attachments to individual staff members. The older young people take pride in their educational achievements and have aspiration to go on to further education and achieve their chosen careers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people learn how to positively express their wishes and feelings, which enhances their sense of feeling heard and being valued. They contribute towards planning their daily activities and preparation for adulthood. The children and young people have the opportunity to engage in a range of activities which enhance their social Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 5 and life skills, while they have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team members’ commitment to facilitating contact arrangements ensures that the children and young people are able to have regular and satisfactory interactions with their family members. For some young people this has led to a marked improvement in their relationships with parents. The children and young people are able to maintain important community and cultural links. A parent said, ‘[Name] has come on leaps and bounds.’

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improvement to be good

Following the last inspection, there was a period when one young person’s behaviours were negatively impacting on the other children and young people. The police and some professionals reported their concerns that the risks this young person posed were known prior to admission and hadn’t been fully considered. These included a significant number of missing episodes, damaging property, assaulting staff team members and introducing illicit substances into the home. The manager acted appropriately in giving notice on the placement as the home was unable to adequately safeguard the young person and the situation was placing the other children and young people at risk. Ofsted was not notified of all of these concerns as they should have been. The regulator was not able to have sufficient overview of the care in the home.

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improvement to be good

There have been a high number of missing episodes. On some occasions all of the children and young people absented themselves from the home together. The proactive staff team members did all they could to prevent this, and actively searched for the children and young people while they were missing. Good relationships with local and specialist police officers assisted in providing protection for the children and young people. Following the departure of one young person, the children and young people now recognise that they were at risk and that the staff team genuinely cares for them. This has led to a significant decrease in absences from the home. A social worker said of a member of staff, ‘When I think of a parent I would want for [Name] it would be him. He’s not afraid of going to find her and get her home safe. He has never once let that kid down.’

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improvement to be good

The children and young people respond well to the staff team members’ positive role modelling, and none of those currently resident have had to be physically restrained. Those restraints that did occur with a previous resident are recorded well, with all involved given the opportunity to learn from the experience. The recent introduction of a new rewards and achievements system is encouraging the children and young people to learn more appropriate ways of behaving.

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improvement to be good

The children’s and young people’s individual risks are known and planned for. For example, the children and young people are asked to return to the home at regular intervals while they are out on free-time so that staff know they are safe. Staff proactively plan with the children and young people to enable them to understand why adults are concerned about them and to help them to develop self-care skills. A police Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 6 officer said, ‘[Name] has made real progress when you look at what she was like when she first moved there.’

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improvement to be good

The staff team members apply clear safeguarding procedures. A proactive senior carer has arranged for specific training to ensure that all staff are aware of the risks posed by extremism, radicalisation and county lines. The children and young people are safeguarded as a result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The newly appointed manager has worked very hard since she has been in post to build good working relationships with the children, young people, staff team members and professionals. She is in the process of submitting her registered manager application to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s understanding of the needs of the children and young people and the progress they make informed her concerns that the staff were not meeting the needs of one of the young people. She made the difficult decision to end the young person’s placement so that he could be moved to a more suitable setting, which has benefited both him and the children and young people remaining in the home. A social worker said, ‘The new manager has her head screwed on and is rightly firm.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Apart from one requirement relating to the manager’s regulation 45 report, which is not due until 31 August 2018, the manager has met all of the requirements raised at the last full inspection. These improvements demonstrate a capacity to improve while enhancing care and outcomes for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The two recommendations made at the last inspection have been repeated. Sufficient improvements have not yet been made in the quality of some recording on the children’s and young people’s records. Although the staff team members are attending requisite training courses to meet the children’s and young people’s needs, a clear workforce plan has not yet been implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been a number of changes in staff over the past few months. A committed and experienced core staff team has been complemented by the addition of enthusiastic new individuals who have swiftly built positive relationships with the children and young people. The staff team members feel well supported on an individual level, but records evidence that the frequency of formal supervision sessions is inconsistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations for the children and young people to receive the best possible care in order for them to achieve and thrive. She is in the process of instituting new systems and empowering the individual staff team members to take on ‘champions’ roles’ to expand opportunities for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring visits and reports are detailed and thorough. They contribute towards the children’s and young people’s well-being and safety. The manager’s internal auditing processes assist her in overseeing care and identifying areas for development, Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 7 for example the introduction of the reward and achievement system.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team’s understanding of each of the children’s and young people’s unique and diverse needs allows for the promotion and celebration of diversity, whether it be faith, nationality or sexuality.

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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: SC379274 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Wyther Lane, Leeds, Yorkshire LS5 3BT

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Inspector

Ann-Marie Born, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC379274 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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