Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC410539 1 SC410539 Registered provider: Positive Pathways 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 managed by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started in April 2018 and has applied to Ofsted for registration. He has started his level 5 qualification in management.

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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

Date of last inspection: 4 December 2017

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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: SC410539 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/12/2017 Full Good 28/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 31/05/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC410539 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 ensure that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)) 29/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”) and supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(3)(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to submitting the delayed report. 29/08/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the responsible individual can demonstrate that they can effectively supervise the management of each home individually. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 60, paragraph 12.4) This is with regard to improving the quality of supervisory meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The outcomes for children living at this home are good. There is a pleasant atmosphere and staff engage well with the children and each other. Children said that staff treat them with respect and that this is a key feature of the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The location of the home gives children easy access to city amenities. Children pursue Inspection report children‟s home: SC410539 4 individual interests and visit friends. One child has recently enjoyed a camping holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s physical and emotional health improve. They learn important skills to keep themselves healthy. For example, one child now understands the importance of having a healthy diet, and another child is now taking care of his dental health. Consequently, their self-confidence has improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child‟s situation is unique, but they have all made improvements in their engagement with school. After hardly attending school at all, one child has, after 18 months, completed his examinations, undertaken other courses, and has been nominated for an award.

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

Staff keep children safe and prevent serious incidents occurring. In most cases, children cease dangerous activities, such as self-harming and going missing from the home. Staff achieve this by understanding the risks to children and educating them accordingly. Staff consult other professionals and work hard to avoid delays occurring.

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

There are suitable health and safety measures in place. For example, fire drills occur regularly. However, staff are not trained in dealing with more than one scenario and do not fully understand the emergency contingency plans. This means that staff and children do not learn how to respond to different emergency situations.

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

Senior staff adapt their team‟s approach to behaviour management and other issues to suit each child. For example, one child has responded well to receiving more support at bedtime. Another child has adjusted his day and night-time routines. This has enabled him to attend school on a regular basis. This has improved his career prospects. One child said, „It runs well. The staff are fair here.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous manager left in April 2018. His long-serving deputy has taken on the role of the home‟s manager and has applied to Ofsted for registration. The new manager has a good understanding of his team and the children. However, in the handover between the two managers the six-monthly quality of care was missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. These meetings provide important opportunities for reflection and planning. However, supervisors sometimes cut and paste information between records, which may suggest that they did not discuss certain issues. Supervisees do not receive copies of the minutes and decisions are not always clear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

More positively, staff receive regular training and are either qualified to a level 3 diploma in residential childcare or are on track to achieve the award within the required timescale. The manager has identified that staff do not always read new documents before going on shift and has implemented ways to monitor and improve this shortfall. Inspection report children‟s home: SC410539 5 Staff have regular conversations with the children to talk about important issues. This helps children understand how to stay safe and make progress in other areas. One child said, „[Staff] try hard for you. You can build a relationship with them. They try and explain things.‟ The directors seek ways to improve the service. For example, they are considering ways to make the company‟s therapeutic approach clearer in practice.

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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: SC410539 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1556 Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 9HA

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Inspector

David Morgan, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC410539 7 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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