Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stockport

Inspection report young people’s home: SC008270 1 SC008270 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 privately owned young people’s home provides care for up to two young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

An experienced and qualified registered manager is in post.

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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

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2020

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 27/02/2019 Full Outstanding 18/07/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, two young people are living at the home. Since the last inspection in January 2020, two young people who had lived at the home for many years had well-planned moves to new homes. This stability enables young people to make good progress. Staff teach young people independent living skills. As a result, young people are prepared for future independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage young people to make progress in their education. For example, young people who previously did not go to school have increased their school attendance. Staff attend education meetings to support young people’s educational attainment. Staff set young people achievable targets and review them weekly. This promotes positive progress for young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to stay in touch with their families. Staff work collaboratively with families to keep them involved in young people’s care. This means that young people are supported to stay in touch with people who are most important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Due to the pandemic, the opportunities for young people to complete activities have been more limited. However, staff have plans in place to engage young people in activities that are relevant to their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a warm and homely environment that is well maintained. Young people build positive relationships with staff. They receive good levels of support from a consistent and committed team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote young people’s health and well-being. Staff make sure that young people are up to date with primary health appointments. Staff are proactive in addressing outstanding health needs, for example ensuring that young people’s immunisations that have previously been missed are completed. On one occasion, staff did not understand the implications of a young person’s potential health condition. The impact of this was minimal because medical tests eventually showed that he did not have the condition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Generally, staff do provide young people with well-planned care. However, staff are working with one young person in a particular way due to receiving information about a behavioural diagnosis. Staff did not request further information to confirm the diagnosis or information on how to work with the young person. As a result, there is no evidence to suggest that the young person has this diagnosis. This means that the young person is potentially being labelled with a condition he does not have. Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s risks and behaviours. This enables staff to keep young people safe and promote their well-being. Incidents are minimal in the home.

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

Young people respond well to incentives such as rewards and verbal praise from staff. This promotes positive behaviour. Staff provide clear guidance and boundaries to young people that they understand and adhere to.

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

Staff are proactive when young people are missing from home. They search for young people, call them on their mobiles, and contact any known friends that they may be with. Staff work collaboratively with other professionals such as social workers and the police, to ensure that young people return home safely.

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

Staff have excellent relationships with the local police community support officers. This means that staff keep up to date with any emerging risks in the local area and young people develop good relationships with the police.

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

Staff complete direct work with young people to inform them of the risks associated with child exploitation, drugs misuse and going missing from home. This gives young people the knowledge and understanding to help keep themselves safe now and in the future.

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

Staff keep young people safe from online risks, for example having internet restrictions in place and being able to monitor their online usage in the home. However, staff do not educate young people about online safety. This does not prepare young people with the knowledge and understanding to make their own safe choices relating to online safety.

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

Staff do not often need to restrain young people to manage their behaviour. Since the last inspection, there have been three physical restraints all of which could have been avoided. The registered manager took appropriate action to address this. The member of staff involved in the restraints no longer works for the company.

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

Overall, recruitment checks are compliant with safer recruitment checks. References for new employees are sought and verified. However, the registered manager has not verified the reasons why staff have left their previous employment. All other recruitment checks have been completed, including exploring any past safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since 2016 and is experienced and confident in her role. She is aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The registered manager has a good understanding of the young people’s needs and the progress they make. Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 5 The registered manager has good monitoring systems in place to make continued improvements to the quality of care provided to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager supports the staff team through regular supervision and yearly appraisals. The registered manager develops staff and supports them to progress in their role. This keeps staff motivated, promotes staff retention, and ensures that young people receive consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff have a comprehensive induction. This has continued even when the standard induction training has been disrupted due to the pandemic. The registered manager has sought alternative learning opportunities to ensure that staff have the required skills and knowledge to meet the young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The inspectors spoke to a social worker, a police community support officer, and a parent. All were positive about the staff and registered manager. They shared that staff were good at communicating with them and meet the young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff have good links with the local community. For example, young people and staff have positive relationships with the neighbours and they do some charitable work for the local community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people are aware of how to complain, their views are sought weekly and they are given the opportunity to share their views in a variety of different ways, such as weekly meetings, discussions with staff and the registered manager. Young people feel valued and listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a wide variety of training that is up to date. Overall, the training provided is relevant to the needs of the young people. Staff have not had any bereavement training. Having this training would help staff support young people who have experienced loss but are not yet ready to access counselling.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the registered manager and staff are good at promoting young people’s views. They arrange advocates for young people and share young people’s views with others. On one occasion, the registered manager did not challenge other professionals to promote a young person’s identity and it remained an unmet need. This was an isolated incident. Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the local authority advocating for a young person to ensure that their identity needs are met. 30 July 2021

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff not having bereavement training. 30 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having the correct information about any diagnoses young people may have. 30 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that staff recruitment checks are undertaken to safeguard young people and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 13.1, page 61)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the relevant knowledge to be able to respond to the potential health needs of young people. (‘Guide to the young children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 7.12, page 34)  The registered person should support young people to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. This is particularly in relation to online safety. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 9.9, page 43)

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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: SC008270 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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Inspectors

Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Inspector Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC008270 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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