Children's home run by Positive Pathways Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 1 Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited 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 privately owned. The home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/ or behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties) and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented and maintained. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed. This is reflected in the interactions between staff and children. Children say they are happy living in the home and refer to staff as their ‘family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel settled and secure. Prior to coming to this home, one child had lived in four different children’s homes before moving to this home. The child told the inspector, ‘I know staff care about me, and they do their best for me because they want to.’ As a result, this child feels wanted and a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living at the home are engaged with education. The manager is passionate about children receiving an education. Since living at the home, two children have re-engaged with education, after not being in education for some time. One child has recently increased his attendance at college and is also undertaking volunteer work there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff often tell the children that they are proud of the progress they are making. They praise the children for their efforts as well as their achievements. As a result, children feel valued and rewarded. This encourages positive behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff give children incentives to meet targets to develop their independence. When one child first moved in, they felt anxious about spending time outside of the home. This child now goes out independently. For example, they regularly attend a youth club and use public transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to understand their needs such as autism or mental health. Staff use key work and role modelling to help children develop coping strategies. When talking about improvements to their mental health, one child said, ‘I no longer feel it.’ This child no longer takes medication or receives specialist mental health support. This is because of the progress they have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children express their wishes and feelings through a variety of ways, for example during key-work sessions and children’s meetings. Children understand how to make complaints. They feel that the manager takes complaints seriously. If they make a complaint, the manager keeps them informed of what is happening. As a result, children feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to keep in touch with the people who are important to them. This enables the children to maintain meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging within their families. The manager communicates well with parents. They work with parents to identify solutions to difficulties the children may be having. One parent said, ‘This is by far the best home [the child] has lived in… they are doing a brilliant job of doing what I can’t do at the moment.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff are sensitive and respectful to children’s wishes and feelings, particularly in respect of children’s identity. A child’s social worker said that they can Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 4 already see a change in the child’s demeanour. The social worker described the child as being ‘happier’. This is in the short time that the child has been living at the home.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about risk to children and know the children well. Detailed risk assessments identify the steps staff should take to reduce the risk to children. As a result, staff respond to risky situations effectively and keep the children safe.

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

Children experience trusting relationships with staff. Children are aware of staff’s expectations in relation to their behaviour. Staff use verbal de-escalation skills successfully to encourage children to make positive choices. This further increases children’s feelings of safety and security.

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

The manager’s strategies to explore the ‘push and pull factors’ that lead to children going missing have successfully reduced the frequency of these occurrences. After each incident, the manager completes a debrief to identify strategies to mitigate the ‘push’ factors, for example supporting children to safely spend more time with their family. One child who often went missing no longer does, and when they spend time outside of the home they keep in touch with staff.

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

Staff help children to make positive choices about improving their health and well- being. Through key-work sessions, staff encourage the children to learn about the effects of substance misuse and to develop safer coping strategies. One child engages with a specialist service in relation to their substance misuse. This child has since reduced their substance misuse and re-engaged with their education.

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

One child made an allegation against a staff member in the form of a written complaint. The manager responded by prioritising the child’s safety. They also investigated the complaint thoroughly. However, the manager did not liaise with the designated officer. On a separate occasion, when a child made an allegation the manager did not inform Ofsted. Although appropriate action was taken to safeguard the child, external scrutiny of safeguarding measures in the home did not take place.

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

An external fire risk assessment has not been undertaken in the home since December 2019. This does not provide assurance that the environment is safe from fire hazards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates good leadership in the home. The manager and staff are a close-knit team. They are supportive of one another and passionate about caring for children. The staff team is well established and stable. This promotes consistency and continuity of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff personalise the recordings of their day-to-day interactions with children. They record information with empathy and are mindful of the language they use. Recordings illustrate the determination and commitment of staff in supporting Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 5 children. One member of staff said, ‘We just want them to leave and look back on the positive experience they had at [name of home].’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have positive relationships with professionals such as social workers. The manager shares with them any concerns they have about children’s safety. The manager also provides social workers with regular updates. This means that social workers can track the progress children are making. As a result, they feel satisfied that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear vision and is striving to improve outcomes for children. They monitor and review the quality of care children receive. As a result, the manager is knowledgeable about the home’s strengths and areas for development. This includes developing staff’s confidence in their ability and, in particular, their decision-making. The manager uses this knowledge effectively to continuously drive improvements in the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides staff with regular supervision which is of good quality. They encourage staff to reflect on their practice by empathising with children. The manager utilises the strengths of the staff team. Consequently, the staff feel valued and children receive care by staff who understand their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive some training pertinent to the needs of the children. However, only half of the staff team have completed training about autistic spectrum disorder. This is despite two children living at the home with autistic spectrum disorder. Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 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 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 promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) This specifically relates to staff receiving adequate training pertinent to the needs of the children they care for. 1 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) This specifically relates to the provider ensuring prompt notification to HMCI of an allegation of abuse against a person working at the home. 3 June 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This includes ensuring that the home’s fire risk assessment is reviewed. This includes liaising with any external professionals such as the fire service and acting on any raised recommendations. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 7

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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: 2557914 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2557914 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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