Children's home run by Pine Forest Homes Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children's home: SC057688 1 SC057688 Registered provider: Pine Forest Homes 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

This home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children aged eight to 17. The statement of purpose says that the home provides placements for children who may have faced adverse childhood experiences, trauma and placement or family breakdown.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 31/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any therapeutic sessions are delivered under clinical supervision. 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)) 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(1)(b)(2)(a)(iii)) 23/08/2019

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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. 23/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 4 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; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(h)) The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in and through the children’s home. (Regulation 14(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the manager completes thorough impact risk assessments, which take account of the needs of young people already living in the home. 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in and through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that recommendations in relevant reports are actioned. 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to taking timely action to complete fire safety repairs. 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(2)(a)(b)(3)(d)) 23/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate 23/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 5 experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the Quality Standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the quality of care review report provides sufficient analysis and evaluation throughout to fully show the impact the care is having on young people’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Some children benefit from tailored one-to-one sessions with staff that help them to make positive choices about their life-styles, ambitions and goals. For example, staff complete sessions with children about the negative health implications of smoking. However, these keywork programmes are a new initiative and not yet embedded in practice.

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improvement to be good

Managers make sure that children’s case files include all relevant statutory care plans and documents. This gives staff access to the information that they need to support children’s development. This information highlighted the need for a more specialist provision for one child. On this occasion, managers were too slow to follow these plans or to recognise that the service could not meet this child’s needs. This was detrimental to the child’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not make sure that children live in a comfortable, welcoming or homely environment. Although communal areas are tidy, the decoration and furnishing of these areas is sparse and basic. Staff do not help or support children to look after their bedrooms. This means that these rooms are dirty and uninviting. One child did not have adequate bedding, and another child’s bedroom had ripped wallpaper and a stained carpet. Consequently, children do not develop a sense of ownership or have pride in their surroundings.

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improvement to be good

Some children make progress in education, taking account of their starting points. Staff continually liaise with virtual school services to identify and attempt to address the barriers to learning that other children may face. This helps them to understand that education is essential to their development and future career prospects. Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 6 Children can access the additional health services that they may need to support their physical, emotional and mental health. Some children remain reluctant to engage with these specialist agencies. In these circumstances, staff use keywork discussions to attempt to provide children with bespoke support. However, without appropriate clinical oversight by trained professionals, this approach may be harmful to children.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand how important children’s relationships with their families are to them. They work with social workers to help children to maintain or develop healthy relationships with the significant people in their lives. This means that children are not isolated from their families.

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improvement to be good

Some children show challenging and complex behaviours that place them and others at risk of harm. These include physical assaults, verbal threats, criminal damage and racial abuse. Staff are quick to take steps to stop these incidents. When necessary, they contact local police teams for support. However, staff do not help or encourage children to take responsibility for their actions. They do not talk to children about the impact their behaviours may have on others or about victim awareness. This means that children often have a lack of regard for the impact their behaviours have on others or on their own safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not always consider children’s individual risks when they plan to admit other children to the home. Consequently, it may not be safe for children to live together. Children’s relationships with their peers can be both argumentative and emotionally intense. This may have an impact on the stability of children’s placements and increase the potential for them to copy the harmful behaviour of their peers.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with other agencies such as the police and social workers to reduce children’s risks when they are missing from the home. These risks include sexual and criminal exploitation. Staff search local areas to try to locate missing children and continually liaise with children’s families and police teams. They make sure that children’s risk assessments reflect their specific needs and risks and regularly review these documents. As a result, staff are mostly able to locate children quickly.

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improvement to be good

Managers are slow to arrange fire safety repairs. For example, one child’s bedroom door was recently replaced. Initially, managers did not make sure that this replacement met fire safety standards. They rectified this shortfall during the inspection. However, a lack of immediate action places children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Managers appropriately refer allegations of abuse to relevant agencies and work in partnership with these agencies to keep children safe. Records of allegations are accurate and clear and provide a chronological account of the actions taken to keep children safe. Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children. This promotes children’s safety and well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 7 The use of physical restraint is exceptionally rare. There have been no occasions of restraint since the last inspection. Staff use personalised rewards and incentives to encourage children to act appropriately in the home and in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has been absent for over 28 days. An interim manager is in day- to-day charge of the home. He is supported by the responsible individual and senior staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to address all of the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection. This questions the ability of managers to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not create or inspire a culture of high aspirations for children. They do not lead the home in a way that is consistent with the statement of purpose. For example, failing to provide children with clean, comfortable and well-maintained bedrooms shows a general lack of care and nurture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Internal monitoring is poor. Managers do not consistently check the content or quality of records such as those of sanctions and keywork sessions. This means that these records may not accurately describe children’s behaviours or progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not make sure that the quality of care review reflects children’s day-to-day experiences. There is no evaluation of the impact that the service has on outcomes for children. The failure to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the service limits the capacity for managers to make necessary improvements. Consequently, children do not receive consistently good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s complex behaviours lead to managers employing temporary agency staff to increase staffing levels in the home. However, they do not make sure that they check employment references or scrutinise Disclosure and Barring Service checks for these staff. Furthermore, managers do not check that the information provided by an employee on their application form matches the information provided by the referee. These failures mean that children may not be supported by staff deemed suitable to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said that they feel supported in their role, and staff training programmes are up to date. However, not all staff receive regular practice-related supervision in line with their individual supervision agreements. This means that managers do not adequately monitor or review staff performance, which does not help staff to improve the quality of care they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Partnership working between managers and placing authorities has improved since the last inspection. Managers now challenge other agencies and escalate their concerns when necessary. Consequently, all relevant agencies are fully aware of children’s needs and their individual responsibilities for meeting these. Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 8

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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: SC057688 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pine Forest Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ballance and Lowbridge, Accountants, 65 Market Street, Hednesford, Cannock, Staffordshire WS12 1AD

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Lorraine Porter-Stone

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Inspectors

Jo Stephenson, social care inspector Lisa O’Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC057688 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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