Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Leeds

Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 1 SC437645 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private company. The home can provide accommodation for up to four children or young people. The manager is suitably qualified and was registered in September 2011.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/07/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their staring points. Staff provide a good level of care, are responsive to their needs and place the children at the centre of everything they do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide an environment where children are able to build stable and positive attachments. There is a long-standing staff team, which allows children to benefit from the consistency and security of familiar adults. The children are able to form lasting bonds. They know the staff will invest their time in them and they gain a sense of belonging and permanence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to take part in activities and follow their interests and ambitions. One child is supported to go horse riding, while others have interests in playing instruments, music production and stage school. This encourages them to develop their talents, skills and relationships with others, improving their self-esteem through their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children attend school and are making progress in their education. There has been significant delay in accessing a school place for one child. The manager’s resolve in advocating for the child, along with the determination of staff, has achieved a positive outcome. The child has now been successfully supported back into school and is doing well on a reduced timetable. Prior to achieving this, plans were in place to make sure that she was accessing education through a tutor. Time not spent in education was filled with activities to aid her learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their social and emotional development. Each child has a progress tracker and a key-working file. This enables staff to track the achievements of each child and support their ongoing development. This has resulted in a reduction in negative behaviours and children becoming more self-aware. One social worker said: ‘[Name of child] has learned how to take responsibility for her actions and does not blame others.’ This is significant progress for this child, which will form the basis of her ongoing progress into independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When it is time for children to move on from this home, it is carried out in a planned way with positive outcomes. Children have successfully moved to semi-independent living, foster care and have also returned to their parents. This has been achieved through the work that staff have completed with children to prepare them for these transitions. Staff have remained involved with those who have left for an extended period of time to ensure that it is a successful and positive move. When a planned transition has not been possible, staff do everything they can to support the child and remain focused on what is best for them. The care of the children in the home is central to the ethos of the manager and the staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 4

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

Children are supported to feel safe and protected in their home. They do not misuse substances, are not at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation and there are no issues of self-harm. Children rarely go missing from the home, but when this does happen there is a robust and coordinated response from the staff. When children return home, interviews are carried out in each case. These interviews help staff to identify additional issues, which inform the future planning for the child.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted by staff through clear rules and boundaries and a rewards-based system of encouragement. The home also has the support of a therapeutic social worker. She offers the staff advice, guidance and insight into the children’s behaviours and contributes to children’s plans to manage those behaviours. Staff become more effective in de-escalating negative behaviour, which has led to a reduction in the number of physical interventions in the home. Good practice is shown when recording such incidents. De-briefs with staff take place as do targeted key- working sessions with the child. Children are helped to understand their behaviours and consider how they might respond more positively in the future. The oversight by the manager assists in identifying triggers for harmful behaviour. As a result, staff develop more effective working practices.

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

The manager has managed an allegation of harm. He informed the relevant people and ensured that the investigation took into consideration all available information. During this process, the needs of the child and the staff member were protected and their rights observed appropriately. This resulted in a timely and effective investigation being completed and the appropriate outcome was reached.

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

Risk assessments are well formulated and identify the risks for each individual child. The level of risk is calculated by taking into consideration the protective factors and support from other professionals. This means that the actual risk of harm is identified and effective support put in place to reduce risk. However, there needs to be consistency between what is on the child’s file and what is on the electronic system. Staff need to have clarity over where to read the risk assessment to ensure that all staff working in the home have access to the latest information and plans for each child.

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

The home advocates safe recruitment practices to ensure that all staff have background checks, appropriate skills and relevant experience for undertaking the work. However, not all references are verified by phone prior to the commencement of employment, when it is good practice to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a committed and effective manager who has been in post since the home opened in 2011. Staffing is extremely stable with a dedicated team. Children benefit from good-quality care and consistent adults in their lives. The manager has recently increased the number of staff working at the home to better meet the needs of Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 5 the children. This is a real strength of the home and all staff know the children well and can articulate their history, needs and risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have a shared understanding of the needs of the children in their care. The staff have high expectations of the children and what the children can achieve and work hard to help them achieve this. The staff receive regular training based around the needs of the children and regularly reflect on practice in team meetings. Supervision takes place regularly and offers staff the opportunity to discuss their development, any issues and their key responsibilities. Individual staff supervision would be strengthened by evidencing the reflective discussions around the needs and progress of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has demonstrated a good oversight of the strengths of the home. He uses the feedback from professionals, Ofsted and the independent visitor to improve outcomes for children. There are good monitoring systems in place, which allow the manager to evaluate the impact of care on the progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the plans for children continually progress and when this does not happen, takes appropriate steps to address concerns. This includes escalating concerns in respect of one child’s education to the virtual head and to the commissioning and senior leads. The manager’s actions ensured that the child is now in education and is engaging well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes child-centred decisions about those coming to live in the home while maintaining a strong focus on the progress and well-being of children already in their care. This has contributed to the settled nature of the home where the children get on well with staff and each other. However, records relating to matching decisions need to be more robust to evidence the manager’s assessment of how the home will meet the needs of the new child or young person and also the potential impact on those already living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 6

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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, the 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that information on the management of risk is up to date on the children’s files and that there is clarity as to where staff will find the most current information about a child. All staff working in the home should be fully aware of the children’s known risks prior to starting work with them. 28/02/2020

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The statement of purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) In particular, ensure that the information considered as part of the matching assessments is well recorded and the effect of the placement on the existing children is evidenced.  As set out in Regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and

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Recommendations

minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 7 It is good practice for the references for new employees to be checked and verified prior to their employment in the home commencing.  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Professionally qualified staff employed by the home, e.g. teachers or social workers, should be provided with relevant professional or clinical supervision by an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

The manager should ensure that children form part of the discussions during supervision with staff to reflect on how their care affects the well-being and experiences of children.

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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: SC437645 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Deb Duffy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC437645 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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