Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 1 SC410537 Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company runs this service. The home accommodates up to three children who need help with their emotional or learning difficulties. The company aims to provide care in a safe, nurturing, family-type environment.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started to work at the home in February 2018 and has a suitable qualification in management. She has applied to Ofsted to become registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2018 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/10/2016 Full Good 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to making satisfactory fire safety arrangements, carrying out a review after children’s self- harming incidents to assess, manage and reduce risk, and reviewing risks relating to pets in the home. 13/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13(1)(b), (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to employing senior residential staff, supervising casual staff and showing that staff will obtain qualifications within the required timescales. 13/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 10/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), 2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to monitoring the service effectively. Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children. (Regulation 39(1))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to following such procedures in detail. 13/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(c)) 13/08/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to respond to the health needs of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.12) This is with regard to knowing when children require a review of their medication by the relevant health professionals.  The registered person should have a workforce plan, which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) This is with regard to the plan being up to date and complete.  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 5

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improvement to be good

Staff generally respond to children’s health needs. Children attend routine appointments, which helps them to keep in good health. However, staff are not aware when certain medications prescribed to children need to be reviewed by a consultant. Although this does not pose an immediate risk to children, it highlights a shortfall which has the potential to undermine children’s well-being. Furthermore, it reflects the need for improvements in some aspects of the monitoring of the service.

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improvement to be good

From a low starting point, children begin to make progress in most areas of their development. For example, they engage regularly in formal education. They sit examinations and compete with their peers. Children gain the confidence to attend places of education regularly. One child recently achieved special recognition for her artwork.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children receive extra support when it is necessary. For example, they arrange education tutors and tackle obstacles to children’s progress in collaboration with other professionals. External professionals confirm that staff have a good understanding of the children.

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improvement to be good

Children make the most of the extensive opportunities available in the local area. They enjoy memorable occasions with staff, which builds on their positive experiences.

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improvement to be good

Although new children find staff’s supervision of them frustrating at first, the established children understand how this benefits them in the longer term. Children enjoy mostly positive relationships with staff, are settled and enjoy fulfilling lifestyles. One child said, ‘I get on well with staff. It really feels like home to me. Trust is the key. I found a worker I get on with… I can open up (now).’

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improvement to be good

Children feel comfortable and gain self-confidence. Staff use external resources, including a psychologist, to give children the help that they need.

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improvement to be good

Children make new friends and try new things. For example, one child reported trying archery and playing the home’s piano. Children maintain close contact with their families, where appropriate. One parent said, ‘It’s a lovely house – very well kept.’ Another said that staff provide a ‘very high level of emotional support’ to children. Her child has made ‘better than expected’ progress.

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improvement to be good

Children can have pets. Although this does have some benefits for children, the staff do not consider and act on the potential challenges that having a pet brings. As a result, Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 6 there are some risks relating to pets in the home that need to be addressed. Although fire drills and checks are regular, they do not raise the awareness of staff, children or visitors sufficiently. For example, some children do not always react to the fire alarms, and staff have not worked with the children to help them to understand the potential consequences. Furthermore, staff do not follow some aspects of the fire safety risk assessment, such as telling visitors about the evacuation procedure and checking gas appliances weekly. In addition, the side gate has a chain and padlock, which obstructs its use in an emergency.

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improvement to be good

Staff address the risks that relate to children harming themselves. Consequently, the rate and severity of incidents have been reduced. However, when one incident occurred the manager did not adequately review what happened or consider what further actions may be necessary to reduce risks further.

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improvement to be good

Children face several challenges associated with their personal circumstances. However, staff prevent these challenges escalating to a serious level. Incidents such as children going missing from the home or staff resorting to physical intervention are rare. Consequently, children feel safe and learn to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Children make substantial emotional progress. This results in them not feeling the need to harm themselves. They discuss their feelings with staff and learn the benefits of talking as a way forward. This frees them up emotionally to enjoy wide-ranging social and educational opportunities.

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

The manager joined the company in February and benefited from a handover with the previous manager. She is steadily addressing the challenges of complex childcare issues, supporting her new deputy and training the new members of staff. The prioritisation of tasks means that children are doing well but that the administration of the service lacks rigour.

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

The manager and deputy regularly provide staff with formal supervision. However, they are not using the information that is available in staff members’ individual records, for example recruitment, induction, appraisal and supervision records, some of which are kept at other homes. This means that the manager and her deputy do not have a complete understanding of their team.

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

The manager does not have a workforce plan that shows how she intends to fill the senior posts described in the statement of purpose, the timescales for individual staff to achieve their qualifications or the supervision of casual staff. This shows a lack of planning which may undermine some aspects of team development.

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

Due to changes in the team, only a minority of staff are suitably qualified. Although several of the new staff are unqualified, some have succeeded academically in other subjects and bring maturity and confidence to their work. Inspection report children’s home: SC410537 7 Staff do not always share information about serious incidents with Ofsted, for example a complaint and a child’s challenging behaviour. This prevents the regulator from carrying out its duties. The manager addresses the concerns of other agencies promptly. However, she does not always do this thoroughly. Consequently, the records of her investigations are not clear, and some complainants remain unhappy.

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

The manager is not undertaking sufficiently robust monitoring and evaluation of the whole of her service, either monthly or six-monthly. For example, she is not familiar with all the records. This affects her ability to prioritise tasks, particularly with staff. This has little impact on children and is something that the manager is gradually addressing.

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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 difference 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: SC410537 8

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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: SC410537 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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