Children's home run by Positive Outcomes Childcare Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 1 Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated, three-bedded home looks after young people aged nine to 17 who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours. There is a new manager in post who is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 November 2019

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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: 7 November 2018

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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: 1227330 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2018 Full Good 24/07/2018 Full Inadequate 23/05/2017 Full Good 24/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 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

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(2)(c)(g)(ii)(h)) 20/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. 20/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 4 (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(b)(3)(d)) The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year.

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2)) 20/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  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

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a change in the young people living at the home since the last inspection in November 2018. Three young people have moved out and one young person presently lives at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a sound knowledge of young people, including their risks and presenting behaviours. This means that staff can respond quickly to changes in young people’s needs and provide additional support without delay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy living in a comfortable and homely environment. One young person told the inspector, ‘I am happy living here. I have everything that I need, and I like my room.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to keep in touch with their families and others who are Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 5 important to them. Staff have been proactive in working with local authorities to increase and support family time, which in turn has reduced the frequency of young people going missing from care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s progress and attendance at school varies. Some young people have made progress within education. Staff have meaningful conversations with young people to try and support them back into education or training opportunities with informal learning and educational-based activities. One young person is getting ready for semi- independence. Staff support her with budgeting, shopping and cooking to prepare her for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication between staff and other professionals is good. A social worker told the inspector, ‘The home provides weekly reports and also raises any incidents of concern to myself and their [staff’s] communication with myself is good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are not consulting regularly with young people to obtain their views about the home. This is a missed opportunity to inform improvements in the quality of care provided.

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

Staff keep young people safe and prevent serious incidents from occurring. Staff achieve this by understanding the risks that young people face. This has avoided the need for any physical interventions.

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

Most young people make good progress in keeping themselves safe. One young person told the inspector, ‘I feel safe and have good relationships with staff, and I have people that I can talk to.’ This young person no longer goes missing from the home.

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

Staff liaise well with other professionals to minimise the risks to young people by sharing information. Staff have a good understanding of the risks presented by each young person and they update their records regularly. However, some parts of the written risk assessments are not sufficiently clear or accurate. This has the potential to hinder new members of staff, who do not have the same knowledge as existing staff, in keeping young people safe.

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

When a young person goes missing from the home, the staff take prompt action to try and bring about their return. However, managers do not always ensure that the local authority offers the young person a return home interview. This creates a missed opportunity to understand more about the reasons why the young person was missing from home.

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

The manager has reviewed the home’s locality risk assessment. However, the manager’s review has omitted to secure feedback from relevant professionals.

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

At the point of recruiting new staff, managers have failed to document all safer recruitment checks, for example when they have verified references or checked with the Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 6 disclosure and barring service. In addition, managers do not always verify why staff have left roles working with children and vulnerable adults. The failure to document all completed checks means that it is difficult to evidence that staff are safe to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recent changes in management have not affected the care provided to young people. The staff work together to ensure that young people receive good-quality care. The new manager knows the home’s strengths and weaknesses and is working hard to address shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and feel supported. Staff describe the manager as approachable and available. This helps staff to develop their practice as they are provided with opportunities to discuss young people and to reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home. They challenge each other and are well supported by their seniors. The staff create a calm and positive atmosphere in the home that helps young people to feel well cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that the home operates in line with its statement of purpose and that this is regularly updated. However, the training matrix does not accurately reflect all the training that staff have completed. This does not provide an accurate picture of whether staff are adequately trained to meet young people’s needs.

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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: 1227330 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited, Suite 3 Churchill House, Queen Street, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire TF1 1SN

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Inspector

Debbie Holder: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1227330 8 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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