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

Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 1 SC025417 Registered provider: Care Today Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The provider offers care to up to four children between the ages of seven and 17 years.

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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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/01/2019 Full Good 14/11/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 3

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improvement to be good

Children are happy in their home and have good relationships with the adults who care for them. Refurbishment has started on their home, however, there is still a lot of progress to be made. Children are not supported to clean their bedrooms, which results in children living in an environment that is not always hygienic.

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improvement to be good

Children do enjoy some activities, however, having new experiences is not part of their everyday lives. Children told us that they would like to enjoy more activities and for them to be planned. Not having varied opportunities means that children’s cultural, emotional and academic development can be hindered.

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improvement to be good

Children have plans in place, however, goals and progress are unclear. Plans contain a lot of information, which results in the content not being accessible for children. The plans do not evidence what is trying to be achieved, what action is going to be taken and the impact on a child’s life when they have successfully achieved a goal. This results in an unclear vision of what is trying to be achieved for children and day-to-day care not being personalised in line with children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

All children are attending education settings that meet their needs and they say that they enjoy school. Children, staff and the manager are able to talk confidently about children’s academic achievements. However, staff and the manager do not have a good understanding of children’s current academic attainment and educational targets. This has an impact on the support that can be offered to children by the staff team to help them overcome any educational barriers.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are unclear. Specialist assessments are either not informing all children’s plans or they have not yet received them. Assessments are crucial in informing the care that all children receive and without this knowledge staff are not able to individualise care to meet all children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to maintain good relationships with their families. Staff and the manager make sure that they provide children with opportunities to spend quality time with their families and ensure that distance is not a barrier. These efforts are recognised by children and they speak positively about their family time and how important it is to them.

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improvement to be good

Children are kept safe by the manager and staff when a safeguarding issue arises. Children talk to staff when they have worries and say that they feel safe. Children’s assessments do not identify current risk in their lives. Plans do not tell staff how to minimise risk and what action to take when a child is at risk. This results in staff Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 4 being unclear of the risks in children’s lives and the consistent approach to follow to safeguard the children they care for.

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improvement to be good

The manager said that they do not complete audits to ensure that medication errors are safely managed and that children are safeguarded when errors occur. This resulted in one medication error that was not handled in line with the medication policy and procedure.

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improvement to be good

Children do not receive assessments when there are indicators that they are vulnerable to exploitation. Also, not all staff have received training in exploitation. Although this is not a current safeguarding risk, without training and specific assessments staff will not be able to put informed safeguards in place.

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improvement to be good

Reported bullying incidents and complaints are not always recorded by the manager. This results in children not always receiving feedback about the concerns that they have raised. The manager does not evaluate the concerns to ensure that safeguarding procedures have been adhered to.

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improvement to be good

Children’s devices are removed from their bedrooms each evening to support their routine and to promote internet safety. However, staff are not consistently monitoring internet use on devices in line with children’s plans, which increases the risks of abuse through online forums.

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good

Staff feel supported by their manager and regular supervision is taking place to support the staff team. Feedback from professionals is positive about communication from the manager and staff team. When poor practice is identified, the manager offers challenge to staff. However, disciplinary processes are not always followed in a timely manner when there are concerns present that meet a disciplinary threshold.

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good

Team development is not central to the manager’s practice. Previous inspection requirements and recommendations do not feature in the staff and manager’s day- to-day practice. Supervisions and team meetings lack focus on future planning, which results in the manager being unable to measure progress in line with the development plan.

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good

There is a culture in the home of judgemental and negative language being used in children’s records. The lack of direction and language issues prevent the manager and staff team from creating a child-focused culture in the home.

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good

The manager does work with some partner agencies. However, this work is lacking with some agencies that are essential to children’s plans. The manager does not always seek out external services to support children with sensitive issues. Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 5 Children do not receive timely specialist assessments for their additional needs and assessments that have taken place are not part of children’s plans or the team’s development.

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good

The independent person visiting the home has not consistently requested feedback from children, family, professionals and the staff team. The lack of feedback from these important people reduces the opportunity for improving the care provided. A further lack of feedback in the review of the quality of care means that the manager is unable to identify areas for development and growth for the team. Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 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 enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children having new experiences through activities and this being part of their everyday lives. 27 August 2021

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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

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; 27 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(b)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to: risk assessments being current and clear risk management plans being in place, using external assessments for children with additional needs; assessments taking place for children who are potentially at risk of exploitation; training for staff to be able to identify risk such as exploitation; management of allegations, complaints, internet safety and bullying incidents to be in line with statutory guidance. Also, to ensure that the home is homely, clean and without hazards.

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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— 27 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to partnership working with other agencies, to ensure that children have specific assessments to inform their plans, and the manager has clear actions in supervision and team meetings to inform developments. Development plans should be underpinned by inspection requirements and recommendations and inform practice. Staff and the manager should change institutionalised and judgemental language.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 27 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 9 that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iii)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to audits taking place of the administration of medication’ to identify errors, and seeking health advice when children have missed medication before then administering it. 27 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps for learning. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.11)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 10

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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: SC025417 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Today Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC025417 12 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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