Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today

Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 1 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a partnership. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted on 19 November 2019. When it opened, the manager, staff team and one child moved to the home from another home within the organisation. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection since the home was registered. There is one child currently living in the home. She spoke with the inspector and was highly positive about her experiences of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from care that is child centred and nurturing. She says she likes living in the home and feels safe, listened to, helped and cared for. Despite the child only recently moving to the home, her social worker said, ‘She is making loads of progress in placement in such a short time. They are doing a really good job.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have recently left the service and one child has moved in. These transitions were well planned, and children are helped to move into and out of the home positively. Feedback from professionals about ongoing support provided to children when they move is complimentary. One social worker said, ‘The staff were fabulous over transition. They were flexible, really worked with us, and supported [name of child] to move on positively. She knows they are still there for her and that means a lot.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build trusted, secure relationships with staff who understand and respond to their individual needs. These relationships underpin the progress children make when living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming environment for children. Most areas of the home are decorated and furnished to a high standard, but the staircase is in need of redecoration. The child living in the home likes her bedroom. She is encouraged to develop a sense of belonging in the home and her room has been personalised to reflect her tastes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is well supported. Staff work with education providers to promote attendance and outcomes in line with children’s initial starting points. Any concerns are appropriately addressed, and clear plans are in place for when children choose not to attend education. Due to personal reasons, the child currently living in the home has been struggling to attend school. She is now accessing a combination of on- and off-site learning. Her social worker believes that she would not be able to do this without the nurturing environment and care she receives from the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Health needs are prioritised. The team has developed links with routine and specialist healthcare providers to ensure that children have access to healthcare and that their individual health needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The team understands the importance of children’s relationships with others. Contact with family and friends is appropriately risk assessed and supported in line Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 3 with plans. Staff work with children to promote healthy relationships and to help them to make safer choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence planning is ongoing. The child living in the home is encouraged to develop life skills and assists with age-appropriate chores, such as washing dishes, doing laundry, going food shopping and preparing meals. She has the opportunity to engage in organised leisure activities and has recently joined a local gym.

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

Professionals are confident that children are kept safe and enjoy living in the home. They are positive about the progress children make and are kept updated by the team.

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

Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are understood. Staff implement clear and consistent boundaries and are regularly able to divert children from incidents of going missing from home or self-harming behaviours. Children also have access to a range of resources that help them to manage their emotions, including soothe boxes and online tools. The number of incidents that children are involved in is low and, compared to children’s experiences prior to living at the home, the number of incidents has significantly reduced.

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

Risks around exploitation decrease for children when they are living in the home. The team provides high levels of supervision and works with the wider system to effectively balance age-appropriate independence and risk. Through direct-work sessions with staff, children are supported to understand and recognise behaviours and relationships that may be harmful.

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

Safeguarding incidents are well managed. Staff have access to detailed risk and behaviour management plans. These are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current risks and responses. Strong links with partner agencies are maintained to keep children safe. One social worker said, ‘Communication is superb. Not just with other professionals, but within the team. They are really good at sharing information with each other.’

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

There have not been any incidents in the home that have required staff to physically intervene. Sanctions are rare, and when used they are restorative. However, a recording gap and lack of clarity around timescales and management oversight were identified during the inspection.

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

Group living dynamics are well understood. Consideration is given to the needs of children already living in the home prior to any other children being placed.

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

Children know how to complain. Two complaints have been made which have been dealt with appropriately. There is evidence of how these have been used to develop the service and improve outcomes for children. Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 4 Staff lock all internal downstairs doors at night as a safeguarding measure. This restricts children’s movement in and around the home and has not been risk assessed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager. The team benefits from her clear leadership and guidance. She has developed a child-centred, inclusive, respectful and supportive culture in the home with positive role modelling that helps children to feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to the development of the service and workforce. She understands the home’s strengths and uses internal and external monitoring systems to further develop practice and improve outcomes for children. However, not all serious incidents have been notified to Ofsted as required by regulations, reducing the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by a stable and experienced staff team. Staff speak highly of the support they receive. They have access to regular, reflective supervision and effective team meetings. Safer recruitment practices are in place and new staff benefit from a detailed, robust induction plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training to meet children’s individual needs is prioritised. The team is trained to meet children’s emotional and mental health needs and has recently completed training around supporting children who are experiencing grief.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirement made when the home was registered has been met. Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 5

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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

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any areas of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom when balanced against the needs to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person reviewing and risk assessing the use of locks on internal communal doors. 2 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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)(e)) 2 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all areas of the home remain in good decorative order. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 6  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording, with evidence of oversight from the manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2557152 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services

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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

Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2557152 8 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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