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

Inspection report children's home: SC008607 1 SC008607 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

The home provides care for up to two young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is maintained by a partnership arrangement.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2007.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC008607 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2019 Full Good 03/10/2018 Full Good 04/10/2017 Full Good 09/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC008607 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, seven children have moved into the home and six have left. Most of the children placed had planned discharges and positive moves, for example returning home to parents, moving to foster care or moving on to independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When a child’s placement ends, the manager and staff support the child to move on in a positive way. When the provider has ended a placement, due to being unable to meet the changing needs of a child, the manager and staff support the child throughout their move. The manager completes an assessment for each child who is referred to the home to make sure that their needs can be met in accordance with the ethos, aims and objectives of the home, and that any new placements do not adversely affect the children already living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who was living at the home at the time of the inspection has made good progress from his initial starting point, and is working with staff and other professionals to sustain and build on this progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans in place are detailed, understood and implemented by staff who place positive outcomes for children at the forefront of their practice. Care plans are kept under review and amended as required to further reflect the progress and needs of each child. When additional resources are necessary, the manager ensures that these are requested and sourced. Staff work in partnership with other agencies to make sure that the care provided is consistent and reflective of each child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children admitted to the home have previously had poor, unhealthy diets. Staff work with the children to enable them to try different foods and make healthier food choices. As a result, children’s diets have improved. Children are registered with healthcare professionals and are encouraged to attend routine appointments. However, some children require additional encouragement to access these appointments. When an additional therapy service is required, the manager ensures that appropriate referrals are made and advocates on behalf of the child to make sure these appointments are available and attended.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children, prior to moving into the home, did not attend education on a regular basis. The manager and staff support the re-engagement of education for most children. During restrictions on school attendance due to COVID-19, staff supported children with education at the home. At the time of this inspection, schools were closed due to summer holidays. However, staff were supporting and preparing the child in placement for his return to education in September.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The wishes and views of children are regularly sought to help them have input into their care and support. Inspection report children's home: SC008607 4

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

Staff understand potential risks associated with each child and take action to address these. When implemented strategies are not consistently effective, the manager and staff work with other professionals, including police and youth offending services, to provide additional ways of reducing risk to keep children safer. A social worker commented positively about the support provided by staff to promote the safety and well-being of the child living at the home.

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

Children are helped to manage their behaviours through regular key-working sessions, advice and support. The home focuses on de-escalation of heightened behaviour and, as a result, physical intervention is rarely used. If there has been an incident of physical intervention, detailed records are maintained and demonstrate that procedures are followed to ensure the safety of the child and staff.

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

Staff are trained in child protection and understand the risk associated with county lines, radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. Significant incidents are reported appropriately. Staff undertake key-worker sessions with children to help them to understand potential risks and provide them with relevant information and enable open discussions.

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

Some children have had several incidents of missing from home, although some of these incidents have taken place when children have been late home. Staff are aware of the procedures to follow. They actively look for the child who is missing and try to contact them. Staff work with police to find the child and ensure their safe return to the home. The manager requests independent return home interviews for each child. However, these are not consistently undertaken which is a missed opportunity to provide information in relation to any concerns a child may have.

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

Children are protected by a range of health and safety risk assessments alongside routine household checks, including fire safety. The current child at the home said he feels safe because he feels settled at the home, and staff support him to stay safe.

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

Recruitment and selection of staff follows safer recruitment practice to make sure that staff are suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2007. He has the necessary qualification, skills, experience and provides effective leadership. He is supported in his role by an experienced deputy manager. This enables him to manage both this home and another solo-bedded home in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by an established, consistent and experienced staff team. They access appropriate training and development courses to ensure that their skills and knowledge remain up to date. Regular team meetings are held which enable all Inspection report children's home: SC008607 5 staff to review practice and discuss the progress children are making. In addition, external specialists working with the children are invited to attend team meetings to enable sharing of knowledge to provide cohesive support for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular formal supervision which supports their practice. Records of supervision are maintained at the home. In addition, staff say the manager is available for additional support on an informal basis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager received virtual supervision. However, records maintained do not reflect this and a requirement has been raised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Of the three recommendations made at the last inspection, the home has met one. The recommendation with regards to obtaining paperwork for children in placement has not been met. However, the manager and staff escalated this with the placing authority social worker, team manager, commissioning officer and reviewing officer. Despite these numerous attempts, the placing authority failed to provide these to the home. As a result of ongoing concerns in relation to this and the increased needs of the child, the manager identified that the placement was not suitable and served notice to end the placement. The final recommendation, in relation to children attending healthcare appointments, remains outstanding. These two recommendations have been made again at this inspection. Inspection report children's home: SC008607 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 4(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records are maintained in the home to reflect the manager’s supervision arrangements. 1 November 2021

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Recommendations

 The responsible person should ensure that children attend all their routine health appointments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.11)  The responsible person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take into account information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: SC008607 7

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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

Sarah Oldham, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC008607 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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Inspector

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