Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 1 SC410545 Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who have complex needs.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There have been some recent changes to the home’s interim management arrangements. The home is currently managed by someone who is suitably experienced. The interim manager is aware of their responsibility to make an application to register with Ofsted as soon as possible.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 November 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/06/2018 Full Good 10/05/2017 Full Good 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 3

p.2

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.

p.3

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 impact assessments and risk management plans. 12/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)) This in relation to ensuring that children looked after reviews take place when there is a change to their short-term care plan and that these plans are endorsed without delay. 12/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

This regulation applies to a child who is looked after by a local authority. The registered person must co-operate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan. (Regulation 17 (1)(2)) 12/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). 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 (1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) This is in relation to verifying reasons for staff leaving previous employment that is relevant to working with children and/or vulnerable adults. 12/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 4

p.3

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)

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a good introduction to the home and feel involved in this process. The home environment is warm and welcoming and children have personalised their rooms. This helps children to settle in quickly and gain a sense of belonging.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, four children have moved on from the home. Managers and staff supported these children to move on in a planned and positive way.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive relationships with staff and told the inspector that they can talk to staff about their wishes and feelings. Children are offered a range of opportunities by staff to express their views and be involved in day-to-day decisions about their lives. For example, children attend weekly meetings and complete monthly feedback forms, and managers and staff act on what children say. This enables children to feel valued and listened to.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a range of social activities and staff work hard to encourage children to develop interests and hobbies. For example, one child has an interest in animals. Staff have supported him with this interest by finding different films and documentaries centred around animals and by taking him to a safari park. Good support helps children to have a range of experiences, which develops their knowledge and confidence, while having fun.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in education and make good progress with their learning. For example, staff drive children to and from school and complete daily homework with them. Managers and leaders advocate on behalf of children to ensure that they have clear education plans and the right kind of support is in place for them. This ensures that children have opportunities to learn in accordance with their individual needs.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Generally, children receive effectively planned care. However, for one child a change in his short-term care plan was not reviewed promptly following his move to the home. In addition, the initial placement plan does not accurately reflect the change in provision and has not been signed by all relevant parties. Managers have not followed this up with the child’s placing authority effectively. Not ensuring that care and placement plans are Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 5 reviewed and contain accurate information has the potential to cause confusion. In addition, because some statutory documents are not signed, it is not clear that all relevant parties have agreed to the plan.

p.4

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

Staff manage children’s challenging behaviour well. When staff have used physical intervention to keep children safe, there is good management oversight of these incidents. This ensures that staff and children are offered opportunities to learn from challenging incidents and that these incidents are handled fairly and proportionately.

p.5

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

Staff promote positive behaviour by giving children regular rewards and praise when they do things well. This approach helps children to feel valued and raises their self-esteem. When staff give children consequences for negative behaviour, these are restorative. This enables children to understand the effect that their behaviour can have on themselves and other people.

p.5

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

Managers and staff understand their role and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children. They promptly refer concerns to relevant authorities and ensure that any follow- up actions as a result of these referrals have been completed. This protects children and promotes their welfare.

p.5

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

Generally, staff and managers understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities well and these are mostly well documented in children’s plans and assessments. However, when children move in, the impact risk assessments do not provide a detailed analysis of a new child’s compatibility with those children who are already living at the home. In addition, for one child, her risk management plan does not sufficiently detail how staff need to manage and reduce all risks. To date, these shortfalls have not had a negative impact on children but have the potential to do so.

p.5

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

When children go missing from the home, staff follow missing protocols. They try to maintain contact with children, locate them and inform relevant authorities promptly. However, it is not clear from the records whether children are always offered the opportunity to talk to someone independent on their return. Opportunities may have not been taken to understand why children go missing from home and what happened while they were away.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes to the day-to-day management of the home over the last year. However, senior leaders have responded to this swiftly and found suitable managers who have a good understanding of the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the strengths of the home and are clear about the areas for development. They regularly monitor the quality of care provided to children and will challenge issues around staff performance or practice. This ensures that good standards are maintained, and any issues are promptly addressed. Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 6 Staff receive appropriate training to help them to understand the needs of children and meet these needs well. Staff supervision takes place regularly, which provides staff with the opportunity to reflect on their practice. Staff also receive an annual appraisal enabling them to have an overview of their achievements and make plans to address areas for development. New staff receive a good induction, which helps them to prepare well for their role.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

For the most part, managers ensure that staff recruited to work in the home are thoroughly vetted. However, they do not always explore reasons why people have left previous employment. Opportunities may therefore have been missed to explore any issues that may affect the quality of care provided to children.

p.6

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.

p.6

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: SC410545 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park Business Centre, Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands B24 9QR

p.7

Inspector

Shazana Jamal, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC410545 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8