Children's Home run by Progress Children’s Services Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 1 Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This service offers short breaks for up to six young people. The service is available to young people who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or sensory impairment. A large private provider operates this service. Two suitably experienced interim managers are currently in post.

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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: 19 February 2019

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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: 1266267 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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)) 24/02/2020

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Recommendations

 All children’s case records (Regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular, ensure that internal plans reflect the progress of each child. In addition, ensure that key-work sessions provide children with targeted support in line with their needs.  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that the necessary redecoration of the home takes place.  Regulation 5 sets out overarching requirements that run across all of the Quality Standards. To meet the aspirations embodied in the Quality Standards, children’s

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Recommendations

homes need to connect with and be part of the wider support system for each child in their care. No children’s home will be able to meet, on its own, all of a child’s needs. It is crucial that the home works in close partnership with all those who play a role in protecting and caring for the child, but particularly the child’s local authority and statutory social worker. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3) Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 4  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high- quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4) In particular, ensure that staff receive training to understand the social pedagogy

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Recommendations

model and how it influences their practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children really enjoy their short breaks. They feel welcome and settle quickly by choosing their favourite bedrooms and activities. Relationships between children and staff are extremely positive. Staff are passionate about the children they care for. They take the time to get to know children well and provide individualised care. A parent told the inspector, ‘She [child] gets really excited before she visits for short breaks. She enjoys it so much she doesn’t want to leave.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff skilfully use a variety of communication aids to help children express their wishes and feelings. This helps children to form strong and trusted relationships with staff. Children play a key role in planning key aspects of their care. For example, at children’s meetings, the children decide upon activities, menus and organising celebratory events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of experiences and activities. These include trips to go bowling, trampolining and to the cinema. A member of staff takes lead responsibility for planning these events. She has recently developed a new targeted approach, which captures the impact of activities on children. This well-thought-out care ensures that children continue to have fun and learn through enjoyable experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with specialist health professionals to develop a strong understanding of children’s complex health needs. When necessary, the interim managers provide staff with specialist training. Recently, staff attended training at a local hospital to develop their knowledge about a child’s health condition. This informed approach ensures that children’s health plans are well managed during their short-breaks stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-planned admissions to the home. Staff gather important information from a range of key agencies. For example, children’s files contain a range of social work and health reports. In addition, staff observe children in their school environment. This proactive approach helps staff to identify how best to meet children’s needs. Children also enjoy visiting the home prior to their short breaks commencing. This helps children to settle quickly and enjoy their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s complex needs are not seen as barriers to their progress. Staff treat each child as an individual and use a targeted approach to help them make progress. For example, Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 5 they use children’s interests in music and dance to encourage them to verbalise new words and expressions. Other children develop important self-care and independence skills and increase their confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The interim managers continue to embed the social pedagogy model. However, staff knowledge of the model is limited. This is a missed opportunity to enhance staff’s understanding of the model to further improve the experiences and quality of care that children receive. The interim managers are planning to provide staff with further training to develop their knowledge.

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

Staff know children well and use this knowledge to manage risks. The interim managers understand the triggers that result in children feeling anxious or distressed. They use this knowledge to carefully match children with their peers and plan adequate staffing ratios. This robust approach helps to keep children safe and promotes a calm and settled environment.

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

Overall, staff share information well with key safeguarding agencies. For example, they work closely with social workers when supporting children who are subject to child protection plans. Staff attend regular multi-agency meetings to share important information about children’s progress. This coordinated approach helps to keep children safe.

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

Staff support children to understand how to keep themselves safe. For example, key work and children’s meetings focus on road safety and other community risks. When appropriate, they encourage children to take appropriate risks such as independently buying items from shops. This equips children with key life skills and the knowledge to keep themselves safe.

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

Processes for handling, administering and recording medication are safe and robust. An interim manager and senior staff take lead responsibility for managing and overseeing the administration of medication. The interim manager regularly completes audits to review the effectiveness of these procedures. She has learned from previous medication errors by embedding new processes. As a result, there have been no medication errors for a significant period.

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

Staff recruitment is safe. The interim managers make sure that all necessary checks on potential new employees are completed. This helps to protect children from possible harm or abuse from unsuitable adults caring for them.

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

Some risk assessments do not reflect children’s needs and are out of date. In addition, they lack information about significant incidents and the steps required to manage risk. The impact of this shortfall is lessened as staff safeguarding practice is proactive and robust. However, the disconnect between staff practice and the quality of risk assessments has the potential to compromise children’s welfare. Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recently left the home. However, this has not compromised the effectiveness of leadership and management. Two suitably experienced and skilled interim managers offer staff consistent and seamless support. Staff feel supported by the interim managers and enjoy their roles. Significant recruitment has taken place since the last inspection. As a result, children receive care from an experienced and well- resourced staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim managers are passionate about the children in their care. They know children well and care about them. The interim managers use their knowledge of children to provide effective, individualised care. Staff take great pride in their sense of teamwork and the environment they offer children. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘The staff team [members] are like family. We make sure children have the best time when they are here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim managers use a range of internal audits to monitor the quality of care that children receive. They use this information to identify strengths and areas for development. In addition, the interim managers work alongside staff to observe the quality of care on offer. They complete unannounced spot checks to ensure that children receive good-quality care. The quality of staff appraisals and supervisions is good. The interim managers provide a healthy balance between staff challenge and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand the important role that parents and carers play in planning children’s short breaks. They undertake home visits to gather key information about children’s needs. Staff and parents communicate regularly to provide children with seamless care. For example, staff contact parents prior to short breaks commencing and complete a diary outlining the child’s progress. Parents feel involved in the service and appreciate the support that staff offer. A parent told the inspector, ‘They [staff] always call me to pass on information. It’s really well planned. I don’t worry about leaving my child to enjoy short breaks.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the home provides children with a bright and spacious environment to enjoy their short breaks. However, communal and private areas need redecoration. In addition, children’s bedrooms would benefit from further personalisation. The interim managers have plans in place to address both shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some social workers feel that staff information sharing needs to improve. For example, social workers do not receive regular updates about children’s progress and experiences. This is a lost opportunity to review the impact of short breaks for children and to continually improve their care. The interim managers plan to share a regular progress report with social workers to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s plans and records do not consistently capture their positive experiences and progress. For example, internal short-breaks plans are out of date and do not reflect children’s progress. In addition, some children’s key-work sessions are not targeted pieces of support and simply describe day-to-day care. These recording shortfalls are in Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 7 part due to the continued embedding of an electronic recording system. Nonetheless, the interim managers have plans to improve the quality of staff recording by arranging a workshop.

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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: 1266267 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Progress Children’s Services Limited, Progress House, 127 Millfields Road, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire WV4 6JG

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Inspector

Gareth Leckey: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1266267 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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