Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today Children‟s Services

Inspection report children's home: SC021677 1 SC021677 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 children’s home is one of a number of homes run by a partnership. It is registered to provide care for up to four children. At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. Two of them spoke to inspectors about their experiences living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2015.

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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: 22 October 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC021677 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2019 Full Good 19/09/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/06/2018 Full Good 05/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC021677 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good experiences and make significant progress when living in the home. Their life opportunities are enhanced by individualised care that is child centred and nurturing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are happy and feel listened to. One child said, ‘The staff listen and they help, it’s really good. The staff are very kind and approachable. I feel I have worth when they talk to me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with stability and consistency. Children who have historically experienced many placement moves have lived in the home for several years. They are helped to settle and build positive relationships with staff who care about them and who understand their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team consistently engages children’s wider networks to create positive experiences for children. They creatively support children to see people who are important to them, resulting in strengthened family relationships. Families speak highly of the support they receive from the team and the progress that children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are highly positive about the levels of care and communication provided by the staff team. One social worker said, ‘They have a good team here who are in touch with the children. They [the children] do really well with support from the team.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team works closely with education providers. Incentives are in place to encourage children’s attendance and achievements. Any issues are swiftly addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical and emotional health needs are well supported. Complex health conditions are sensitively managed, and children are encouraged to engage with health professionals and specialist services. Medication practices are clear, but recordings are not always consistent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move in to and on from the home in a planned way. Transitions are well managed and consider the needs of other children living in the home.

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

Children say they feel safe living in the home. Family members and professionals spoken to also share this view.

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

Staff have a real can-do attitude to understanding and managing risks. Individual vulnerabilities are understood and incidents are appropriately managed. Risk Inspection report children's home: SC021677 4 management plans are detailed but inconsistencies in recording could lead to plans being misinterpreted.

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

Staff have a balanced approach to providing supervision and supporting children to take age-appropriate risks safely. Online safety is well understood, and staff talk to children about issues that are affecting them. Through direct-work sessions, children are supported to make safer choices. As a result, risks for most children significantly reduce when they are living in the home.

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

Incidents of self-harming behaviour and children going missing from home are managed effectively. Staff proactively search for children who go missing. They work as part of a multi-agency team to identify and address concerns, and frequently challenge placing authorities to ensure that processes are followed.

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

Relationships in the home are built on mutual respect and trust. Positive behaviours are rewarded. Sanctions focus on reparation and are used infrequently.

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

Staff know and understand the children well. Behaviour management plans are detailed and focus on individual triggers and responses. Incidents of physical intervention are rare, and when used, are low level.

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

It has been practice in the home to lock the kitchen door at night as a security measure. This restricts children’s movement in and around the home and has not been reviewed to reflect the needs of children currently living in the home.

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

The cellar is kept locked, but children have supervised access to the laundry equipment and additional food store kept in the cellar. Inspectors identified a number of hazards in the cellar area, including gardening equipment and cleaning materials that had not been stored securely and could be easily accessed by children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and qualified. He is supported by an operations manager. Together, they have strong oversight of practice and provide clear leadership and direction to the team. Managers ensure that equality and diversity are promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and consistent. Many staff members have worked in the home for several years. New staff joining the team are made to feel welcome and benefit from a robust induction programme. Agency staff are not used and any shortfalls are covered by staff from across the organisation who know the children well. The statement of purpose has not been updated to reflect new staff working in the home and the workforce plan is not in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and benefit from opportunities to further develop and progress within the organisation. They have access to relevant training and any gaps are Inspection report children's home: SC021677 5 quickly identified and addressed. Some staff have not received supervision in line with the organisation’s supervision policy and children are not routinely discussed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is suitably decorated and furnished, but some areas appear tired and are in need of repair. The home would also benefit from being personalised throughout to give it a more homely feel.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report children's home: SC021677 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, 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

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 outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need on order to live their comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(iii)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that repairs are completed and the home is personalised throughout to give it a more homely feel. 17 September

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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

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 (2)(d)) 17 September Inspection report children's home: SC021677 7 This specifically relates to ensuring that all hazardous materials are stored securely, and measures are taken to reduce risks in the cellar area.

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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 reviewing the practice relating to locking the kitchen door at night. 17 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that supervision takes place in line with the organisation’s supervision policy and focuses on the needs and progress of children. 17 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of recording information in way that is clear and not open to misinterpretation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: SC021677 8  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, 10.8 page 53)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose reflects the experience and qualifications of all staff working in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)

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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: SC021677 9

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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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Inspectors

Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector Lisa Walsh, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC021677 10 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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