Children's home run by PIC Children’s Services in St. Helens

Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 1 SC022444 Registered provider: PIC Children‟s Services 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 several owned by a private company. The home provides care and support for one child or young person. The home provides care and support for children and young people who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

An acting manager is currently in charge of the home. He has submitted his application to be the registered manager to Ofsted.

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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: 30 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/06/2017 Full Good 14/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/11/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 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 the HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any direct reference to the young person living in the home is removed and that the information contained in the statement of purpose is correct. 24/08/2018

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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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records and documentation are regularly updated and conflicting or out-of-date information is removed. 24/08/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)(5)(7)(a)) In particular, ensure that the reports are received within the specified time frame and that the registered manager challenges any inaccuracies in the report. 24/08/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 4

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Recommendations

 Regulation 11(2) sets out the expectations on staff in building positive relationships with each child and helping the child develop skills to have positive relationships with them. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 38, paragraph 8.6) In particular, that the incentive plan is clear, the consequences of any sanctions are appropriate and are accurately recorded.  Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information 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) In particular, that records and documentation such as key-

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Recommendations

worker sessions are detailed, and that all emotive language is removed.  For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph, 3.9) In particular, ensure that there are suitable window dressings in the lounge and the vinyl flooring in the kitchen is repaired.  Ensure that the registered person is responsible for deciding what the manager‟s review should focus on. They will consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home‟s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6

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Recommendations

months of delivery within the home and how these actions will be addressed. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person enjoys a trusting, caring and nurturing relationship with the staff. He enjoys spending time with the staff, going to the park, and watching DVDs or television programmes with them. The staff know the young person very well; they listen to him and invest time in him. A member of staff, who is moving on soon, said that it was a very difficult decision to leave. The young person is struggling with this news but is looking forward to having a goodbye meal with the member of staff. The young person said, „I‟m sad they are leaving.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are aware of the young person‟s feelings about the staff member leaving and Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 5 are offering additional support and reassurances. The staff are aware that the increase in negative behaviour may be because of this. The manager has ensured that the remaining staff team remains stable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person‟s health is improving. This is because he is eating less junk food and sweets. The manager and staff had noticed that the young person was gaining weight and becoming less active. As a result, the staff worked with him to monitor his consumption of sweets and agreed on a set amount to have each day. The young person is happy with this and during the visit happily shared his sweets with staff. The young person said that he enjoys using the new trampoline and going out on his scooter, especially as he is now allowed to go out for a short time on his own.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person‟s plans are generally up to date, but there are omissions in some risk assessments and the placement plan regarding new activities. The young person enjoys a range of activities, including playing football with the staff. However, on occasion, it can become limited with regards to the choice of activity. The manager has identified this, and steps are in place to provide a more extensive choice of activities for the young person to participate in and enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person‟s wishes and views are respected and acted on whenever possible. The young person is thrilled to be going to scouts and has asked to go to a camp with them. The manager and social worker are considering this as the young person has only been attending for a few weeks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person continues to achieve 100% attendance at school. There have been some recent incidents with regards to poor behaviour at school. The manager and staff are working closely with the school to overcome these difficulties. Staff are proactive in helping the young person to make progress with his maths, reading and writing. The young person enjoys completing workbooks with the staff, especially as they are about his favourite film characters. Teachers have recognised the improvement that the young person is making in these areas that will help his future prospects.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact arrangements are managed sensitively. The young person meets up with his family regularly and enjoys spending time with them. This helps to maintain and build on relationships that are important to the young person.

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

The young person lives in a safe home and is protected from harm. Staff are fully aware of the young person‟s vulnerabilities and plan accordingly to help to keep him safe. Staff have the necessary skills to identify and respond to any concerns about the young person.

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the local area. They use this information well to keep young people aware of problematic areas. The staff also talk to the young person about the potential dangers when using the internet and, given the age of the young person, of stranger danger. Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 6 The young person proudly said that he can now go „around the block‟ on his scooter. The young person said that the staff wait at the door so that they can wave to him as he goes past. The young person said, „It is so that the staff know where I am.‟

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

The young person does not go missing from care. Procedures are in place and are understood by staff should this occur.

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

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of incidents for the young person, in school and at home. Incentive plans are in place but are not used effectively and on some occasions are providing a double negative for the young person. For example, poor behaviour in school means a loss of a „star‟, which can lead to a loss of activity in the home. This is not consistently promoting positive behaviour. On at least one occasion, a sanction was not recorded in the sanction book. This does not encourage transparency.

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

The home is warm and welcoming. Some items have been damaged recently and have been removed. The young person is extremely proud of his new Star Wars-themed bedroom and excitedly told the inspector all about this. There are some maintenance issues concerning the flooring in the kitchen. The flooring is lifting, and there is a lack of window dressings in the lounge. This means that people walking past have a direct view into the home. This does not promote the young person‟s privacy.

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

Recruitment practices are generally sound and prevent unsuitable people from working with the young person.

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

The registered manager left the home in August 2017 and a new manager has been appointed. He has submitted his application to Ofsted to become the registered manager. There has been a delay in processing this as it has not been possible to verify one reference. The manager is seeking to resolve this issue.

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

There is a statement of purpose. However, it contains inaccurate information about the staff in the home and their qualifications. This is not an accurate reflection of the home. The statement of purpose also includes personal information about the young person living in the home. This is a breach of confidentiality and as such should be removed. The statement in its present form does not provide other professionals with the correct information about the home and the service offered to the young person.

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

Internal monitoring of the home by the manager is improving. He has identified areas for improvement, including the quality of record-keeping. However, the registered manager‟s reports would benefit from more evaluation. The monitoring reports undertaken by the independent person are improving as they now provide an opinion as to whether young people are adequately safeguarded. However, the reports from the independent person have not been sent to Ofsted within the specified time frames. In addition, the reports contain factual inaccuracies, which have not been challenged by the manager. This does not promote transparency or thorough scrutiny. Inspection report children‟s home: SC022444 7 The young person‟s files are now updated on a regular basis. In the main, the files contain the correct information, although some have not been updated with regards to the young person attending scouts and going out alone on his scooter. More importantly,

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

the changes to the young person‟s daily routines are not recorded. This could lead to increases in the young person‟s anxiety levels.

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

Further work is needed to correctly identify what is an actual key-worker session and what is a record of a conversation. Staff should be mindful of the use of subjective writing, for example, „playing up, violent, and sulking‟. This is not effective recording. The manager is fully aware that recording is an area for improvement and it is a regular discussion point at the team meetings and during individual supervisions.

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

The staff hold level 3 qualifications. They said that they are well supported by the manager and that they are confident to go to him with any concerns. Staff receive regular supervision and have had attended a range of training, including training on understanding attention deficit disorder to support the care of the young person. The manager is confident to challenge other professionals to ensure that the young person receives the care and support that he needs. This includes chasing healthcare professionals to ensure that the necessary tests are carried out quickly so that young people receive the right medication.

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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: SC022444 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: SC022444 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 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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