Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in Sefton

Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 1 SC040785 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 home is one of several owned by a private company. The home is registered to care for two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. There is currently no registered manager for this home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2017 Full Good 23/01/2017 Interim Not judged Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) In particular, ensure that there is a thorough system in place to track what is considered as non-mandatory training, and provide staff with the training that they require, especially with regards to training around attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. 28/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the young person‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. 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 (1)(3)(a)(b)) 28/06/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of Regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: detail the necessary management and staffing structure, Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 4 (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home‟s Statement of Purpose; detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as

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Recommendations

safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see Regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in this home is making good progress in all aspects of his development. Staff know him well and have developed positive relationships with him. Consistent care has helped him to develop his self-confidence and self-esteem. His health and self-care have also significantly improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable the child to influence his own day-to-day care experiences. They listen to him and give him opportunities to talk about his care, such as his preferences for recreational activities and food choices. This has resulted in him exploring new foods and a wealth of new experiences, for example ice skating and roller blading.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education attendance is 100%. Staff find out the barriers to learning. They work with education staff and devise plans that include strategies to support the child‟s behaviour prior to and after school. This enables both the school‟s and the home‟s staff teams to have a coordinated and consistent response to challenging behaviour. Furthermore, staff provide opportunities for him to improve his reading skills. They have a variety of books, which are age appropriate for the child‟s assessed reading age, to help and support him. This approach has resulted in his assessment at school moving from being described as plateaued to improving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a nurturing environment. They recognise that routine and boundaries provide stability and security. This has been vital in helping the child to manage his anxieties and frustrations in a calmer way and has led to a reduction in incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and nurture the child‟s relationships with his family. He has regular contact that is subject to careful assessment and monitoring and is in line with his present care planning documentation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home presents as a lived-in family home. It is warm, welcoming and comfortable. The quality of furniture and decor is very good. The child‟s bedroom has been highly personalised and reflects his individual preferences. Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 5

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

Staff working in the home are clear about the procedures that are in place should they need to respond to concerns about the safety of a child at this home.

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

The child has not gone missing from the home. This is due to the high staffing ratio. Staff keep the child busy, supporting him to pursue his interests and hobbies. They follow his care plan and supervise him in the community. Staff teach him how to keep safe and support him to access community-based activities safely.

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

The child receives praise and rewards for his positive behaviour. This encourages a constructive and nurturing environment and helps to build strong relationships between him and staff. Staff implement clear and unwavering boundaries consistently, and this helps the child to develop an understanding of what acceptable behaviour is. They manage challenging incidents well and use de-escalation techniques effectively. This has significantly reduced the number of restraints required to keep the child and others safe from harm.

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

Comprehensive risk assessments are in place for the child when he is out in the community and while in the home. These outline potential risks, along with strategies for staff to manage these safely. These are reviewed monthly and amended if needed.

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

Staff have enabled the child to feel safe and secure in the home. He has built trusting attachments with his staff team. This helps him to develop his emotional resilience. The manager and staff have a good understanding of the child‟s emotional needs and they work productively with therapists to provide the right level of care.

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

Staff recruitment is safe. All staff are carefully vetted before starting to work in the home. This ensures that children are cared for by people who are assessed as safe.

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

The physical environment is safe and secure and is checked regularly. These checks, along with thorough risk assessments that are reviewed and updated frequently, help to ensure that the home is a safe place to live and work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is presently managed by an interim manager who is in the process of registering with Ofsted. She is supported in her role by an experienced deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records are clear and detailed and reflect the work that is undertaken with the child. The interim manager routinely monitors, evaluates and analyses the work undertaken by the staff. Weekly and monthly monitoring takes place and has enabled the interim manager to identify weaknesses and to take remedial action. However, the present format for recording sanctions for children does not record how effective the sanction was and does not clearly show a management overview.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff and the interim manager have established strong working relationships with a Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 6 range of agencies and professionals who are involved in the child‟s care. Staff work closely with schools, social workers and child and adolescent mental health workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings occur regularly and are well attended. The manager is proactive in ensuring that other professionals, such as those from the child and adolescent mental health service, meet with staff, so that staff have a full understanding of the child‟s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Individual supervisions take place regularly. This allows the staff team members to discuss the running of the home and to look at ways to improve the service that they offer. Staff also use this time to reflect on the child‟s progress. Staffing levels are good and rotas clearly show the daily management arrangements that are in place. The staff team members speak positively of the support that they receive from management at the home. Staff members commented, „I now get tremendous support‟ and „I feel very supported in my role by both the manager and my colleagues.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home‟s statement of purpose requires updating to reflect the current staff team working within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider has a centralised training matrix document for the home. This document was not kept within the home and therefore the interim manager was unable to have a clear overview of the staff‟s training needs. Furthermore, the interim manager has not developed a workforce development plan to assess the current training needs of the staff. Some staff have not received training in all of the areas required to meet the specific needs of the child, and which were identified at the point of referral. This lack of training means that not all staff can meet the known or emerging behaviours of the child currently living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home and the staff team and has plans to address these. Staff commented that they feel supported by the manager and are encouraged to bring new ideas to her. This demonstrates that the manager and staff remain focused on supporting the child to continually progress and have positive experiences.

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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. Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC040785 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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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant Jillian Whalley

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Inspector

Elaine Allison: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC040785 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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