Children's home run by PCF Residential Childcare Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 1 Registered provider: Pcf Residential Childcare Ltd

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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 service is a private children’s home offering care and accommodation for three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has managed the home since July 2019. He has submitted his application for the position of 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 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: this is the home’s first inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 2

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)) This is in relation to risk assessments needing to be clear and kept under review. 30/11/19

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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)) This is with regard to training for staff around gang culture and county lines. 30/11/19

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child . (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusted and secure relationships with staff. Staff know the children well and take the time to listen to them. Staff plan children’s day-to-day care around their individual needs. As a result, children receive personalised care and feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. For example, they achieve 100% attendance at school, and noticeable improvements in their behaviours at school means that they engage well in lessons. Regular contact between staff and teachers helps track children’s progress and allows staff to address any issues quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer children consistent routines and boundaries, ensuring that their day-to-day needs are met. This offers children stability, which helps them to feel secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop strategies to manage their frustrations and feelings. This good work enables children to manage their emotions and behaviour more appropriately.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. The manager deals with complaints effectively and informs children of the outcome of their complaint. As a result, children feel listened to and confident in expressing their concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. This ensures that children can maintain positive and safe links with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s interests are actively supported by staff through a wide range of activities within the home and in the community, including pamper evenings, youth club and swimming. This helps them to develop new skills while having fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to cook and bake with staff and help with household chores. This enables children to learn age-appropriate independence skills, which increases their confidence.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s behaviours. Staff implement good de- escalation techniques and this has led to a reduction in the number of challenging incidents for one child. Staff use praise and reward to encourage positive behaviour.

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

Safe recruitment practice ensures that staff employed in the home are safe to work with children.

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

Children’s risk assessments detail strategies for staff to use to reduce and manage known risks. Staff implement the behaviour management strategies well and this enables them to keep children safe. However, risk assessments are long and can be confusing, particularly to new staff. In addition, managers and staff do not regularly Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 4 review risk assessments to reflect changes in risk levels or risk management strategies. For example, they do not show that staff no longer activate alarms on children’s bedroom doors because the children do not need this as a safety measure. This recording shortfall has not had a detrimental effect on children’s welfare.

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

Staff work closely with children to help them to understand concerns around their behaviours and potential risks. This is undertaken through careful monitoring. For example, staff supervise one child and manage the time he spends gaming online. In addition, staff undertake carefully planned key-working sessions with children, which enable staff to talk to children in detail about specific areas of concern.

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

The manager and staff are clear about procedures to follow when children make allegations. The manager is clear about his role and responsibility in safeguarding children.

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

Children living at the home now do not go missing from the home. When children have gone missing from the home, staff have acted quickly to ensure their safe return. However, it is not clear whether children have had the opportunity to talk to someone independent and if they have, this has not been recorded by staff. This represents a missed opportunity to understand why children go missing from home and share information to reduce risk.

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

On one occasion, managers did not fully consider the suitability of a child to live alongside another child already living in the home. The new manager has taken learning from this on board. He is developing systems to ensure that all issues are fully considered so that children living together are compatible with each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear vision for the home, he has good monitoring systems and is aware of the home’s strengths and areas of development. He welcomes scrutiny and constructive feedback and has demonstrated that he addresses issues that arise. This helps to maintain good standards of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable and very experienced staff team provides consistency and stability to the children. There is a positive culture and ethos in the home, which is good for children’s experiences. The manager and staff have high expectations of children in their care and provide support, which helps them to realise their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff told the inspector that they feel valued and supported by the manager. Staff receive regular supervision and feel this is reflective and helps them to develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake a range of mandatory online training courses and have access to some face-to-face training. This enables them to develop skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs well. However, staff do not yet receive training in specific areas, for example gangs and county lines. As a result, this does not enable them to develop their awareness about such issues. Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 5

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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: 2503031 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pcf Residential Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 37 Copthorne Road, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire WV3 0AB

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Inspector

Shazana Jamal, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2503031 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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