Children's home run by PIC Children’s Services in St. Helens

Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 1 SC022440 Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for one young person who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2019 and is also registered to manage another single-occupancy home in the local area.

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Inspection date: 9 March 2020

Date of last inspection: 27 November 2019

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Inspection date: 9 March 2020

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 9 March 2020

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Safeguarding practice in this home is poor and does not promote the welfare and safety of the child living there. Managers and staff are not sufficiently aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting the child. When there is a serious concern about his welfare, effective action is not always taken to protect him from harm. Staff and managers failed to follow child protection procedures and did not report incidents to relevant professionals or record and pass on the safeguarding concerns. For example, staff reported and recorded that they had found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the child’s bedroom. Staff removed the items from the child’s bedroom. However, it is unclear what happened to the drugs or the drug equipment. The registered manager stated that she did not know how or when the drugs and paraphernalia had been disposed of, and confirmed that this information had not been reported to the child’s social worker.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The outcomes for the child have deteriorated in key areas of his life, including education, increased risk of harm from episodes of going missing and the potential safeguarding concerns regarding substance misuse. Furthermore, the records do not provide any meaningful insight into the child’s life and experiences. For example, the lack of comprehensive records of direct work with the child means that there is limited information with which to measure his progress or identify the effectiveness of the support provided. The child is not kept safe while in the community, because staff do not know his whereabouts for prolonged periods of the day. At times, the child has been missing for up to 14 hours in duration. Furthermore, staff do not know if the child is receiving a healthy and balanced diet, as he is effectively only in the home when he is asleep at night and eats very few meals at the home. This means that the child is

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

not protected or cared for effectively. This may place him at significant harm due to his vulnerability and potential exposure to drugs misuse, criminality and exploitation.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The child does not have an identified education provision and does not benefit from structured, purposeful activity. Poor routines and a lack of structure to the child’s days limit his opportunities to reach his full educational potential, and this affects his future life chances. Managers and staff are unable to identify, manage or minimise risks to children. Poor-quality risk assessments prevent the staff from having a clear understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities, including consideration of their previous known risks. These assessments do not provide staff with effective strategies to enable them to keep children safe. For example, swift action is not taken to ensure that all staff are aware of changes to his assessed risk levels following incidents of drug Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 3 misuse. This fails to ensure that risks are managed consistently by staff and that

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

appropriate support is in place to help to keep children safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has failed to implement the agreed strategies in the local authority care plan to keep the young person safe. For example, the local authority care plan confirmed that contact with family members must be supervised. Despite the registered manager being aware of this, the child’s placement plan stated that the child could have unsupervised contact with family members. Furthermore, the staff member on duty on the day of the inspection informed inspectors that supervision was ‘unsupervised’. This does not demonstrate safe care practices.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The child does not have a stable and consistent staff team to care for him. On the day of the inspection, a staff member from another of the provider’s homes was responsible for the care and support of the child living in this home. This staff member, when asked, did not know the current care plans or presenting risks for the child. The rotas sampled demonstrated that seven 24-hour shifts in February were covered by staff from the provider’s other homes. This does not enable the child to build positive relationships with a consistent team of staff team whom he can get to know well. This has had a negative effect on his overall care and experiences and compromises the child’s health, well-being and safety.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

New members of staff are not recruited safely. For example, a member of staff completed only two shadow shifts in another of the provider’s homes prior to being employed by the company. During these shifts, no children were present, therefore there was no opportunity to assess her skills and ability. Despite this, the member of staff then had a shift in this home involving lone working with the child. This does not ensure that only people who are safe to work with children and have the skills and experience to do so are employed at the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Quality internal monitoring does not take place and, as a result, the quality and standard of care have fallen to an unacceptable level. The manager has not reviewed the records in the home or evaluated incidents that have occurred to identify shortfalls in staff practice and highlight patterns and trends. Subsequently, areas for development are not clearly identified, and there is no meaningful development plan to address areas of concern. This means that leaders and managers are not acting to improve the experiences, care and safety of children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Significant events involving children living at the home have not been reported to Ofsted or the child’s local authority. This failure to share information with all relevant people compromises the safety and welfare of children. Furthermore, the regulator is unable to carry out its monitoring function to ensure that appropriate action is taken by the provider to safeguard children. The physical environment of the home is not maintained to a high standard. For example, the child’s bedroom floor was strewn with dirty clothing, discarded drinks containers and dirty plates. Furthermore, the child’s chest of drawers was broken, with missing drawers. This is not conducive to a warm, comforting environment for children and may possibly be a risk to their health and safety. Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 4 The lack of rigour by the registered manager has not helped the home to sufficiently protect children and maintain good enough standards of care. More effective

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

systems are needed to ensure that the safety and well-being of the children are always promoted. Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/08/2017 Full Good 14/02/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who–

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b) 19/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their education potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff–

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8(1), (2)(a)(iv)(viii)(ix)) 19/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 19/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c), (2)(c)) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff–

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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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(e)(d))* 19/04/2020

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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–

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Requirement Due date

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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; 19/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 8 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1), (2)(a)(c)(e))* The care planning standard is that children–

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14(1)(a), (2)(b)(ii)(c))* 19/04/2020

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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

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Requirement Due date

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,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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. (Regulation 32(1), (2)(a)(b), (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 19/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if– a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 19/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 9 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child–

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC022440 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 North Street, Haydock, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 0TW

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Inspectors

Elaine Allison, social care inspector Michelle Edge, social care inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: SC022440 11 to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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