Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 1 SC378187 Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (residential Care) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a small independent organisation and has been registered since 2008. The home provides care for up to two children who need support with their emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2019 and manages both this home and a sister home within the organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this home on 19 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 26 November 2019

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 2 A monitoring visit took place on 7 January 2021. Serious and widespread concerns were identified at this visit. As a result, two compliance notices were issued in relation to Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i) and Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv).

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A further monitoring visit took place on 19 February 2021 which concluded that the compliance notices had been met. Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2019 Full Good 02/10/2018 Full Good 07/12/2017 Full Good 22/08/2017 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 4

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inadequate

One child has moved out of the home during this inspection period. The move was not planned and was due to the home being unable to manage their needs. Two children have moved into the home and remain living there.

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inadequate

Children are matched well to one another but not to the skill set of the staff team. Staff are not skilled enough to understand how to care for the children when they arrive at the home. Staff shared that they feel ‘anxious about not being prepared with the skills needed’. They have raised these concerns with the registered manager, but he has not taken action to rectify this shortfall.

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inadequate

Staff do not offer guidance and support to children to meet their emotional needs. One child disclosed information to staff about their previous traumatic experiences. Staff failed to discuss this further with the child to offer them reassurance. They also failed to seek extra help for this child in spite of their emotional distress escalating recently. This does not let children know they are valued, and it prevents them from making sense of their experiences to help them make progress.

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inadequate

When mental health needs emerge for children, staff make initial referrals. However, staff do not offer further support in the interim or challenge professionals to secure specialist input for children if their needs are increasing. This hinders the progress that children make.

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inadequate

Both children go to school. Staff effectively monitor children’s educational progress. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff supported children to continue with their education and achieve their goals. One child successfully completed their GCSE coursework and attained grades which enabled them to enroll onto a course in their career choice. School professionals shared that the staff have communicated well with them. This communication has supported a settling-in plan for one child at a new school. As a result, the child is starting to feel less afraid of school.

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inadequate

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are inadequate. As a result of this inspection, Ofsted has issued two compliance notices under regulation 12 and regulation 13.

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inadequate

Managers and staff do not understand their safeguarding responsibilities, and they do not offer children reassurance when they share safeguarding concerns. Staff do not follow the home’s reporting and recording procedures. During one incident, staff did not report to managers that a child had made an allegation against a staff Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 5 member. As a result, there was no investigation or external scrutiny of this allegation. This fails to protect children from potential harm.

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inadequate

When children go missing from home, staff do not act quickly to contact emergency services and ensure the safety of children. During one incident, a child went missing, which posed a significant risk to them due to their emotional well- being. Staff did not act straight away to contact emergency services. During another incident, staff did not follow a child’s missing-from-home plan and did not check known places or people they could be with. Staff did not look promptly for the child to ensure their safety. This puts children at risk of harm for longer than they need to be, and it could result in serious harm to children.

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inadequate

Children do not receive an independent return home interview when they have been missing. Managers have not escalated this to the local authority. This has prevented children from having the opportunity to reflect after incidents and share their experiences independently of the home. This impedes the staff’s ability to learn from incidents to reduce their future likelihood.

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inadequate

Staff do not understand clearly how to safely care for children. They do not always identify potential risk or how to minimise risk. Furthermore, risk management plans do not give clear guidance on what steps to take to keep children safe. In addition, staff do not fully understand the strategies included in these documents. Effective action is, therefore, not taken to keep children safe.

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inadequate

Children do not receive good-enough support for their emotional health and well- being. Staff offer children emotional support when they feel low. However, staff do not effectively risk assess situations when children have harmed themselves and pose a further risk to themselves. Staff shared that there is no specific plan for this, so they ‘follow their instincts’. This leaves children vulnerable to harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not effectively use monitoring and recording systems to improve the quality of care in the home. For example, they have repeatedly failed to make improvements to the home’s decor which is recommended by the independent visitor since June 2021.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers fail to listen to children and make improvements to their bedroom. One child has waited over five months to personalise and redecorate their room despite being promised this would happen. This poor care has had a negative impact on the child’s emotional well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

These examples demonstrate poor leadership and management of the home. Leaders and managers persistently fail to use their own quality-of-care review and external scrutiny to improve the quality of care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders do not have a system in place to monitor and quality assure the home’s performance. This includes oversight of the registered manager’s Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 6 performance. Therefore, senior leaders do not have the insight to hold managers and staff to account or understand the quality of care being offered to children. This lack of oversight in the organisation leaves children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive regular supervisions and appraisals in line with the home’s statement of purpose and the home’s supervision policy. The quality of supervisions, when these are completed, is not reflective and does not always offer practice-related oversight. This means that staff do not get a chance to reflect on the progress of the children and think about better ways of meeting their needs. This has a negative impact on the care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not received training in mandatory areas needed to ensure the children are kept safe in the home. For example, safeguarding training for many staff is out of date. The team has not received first-aid training, or training to enable them to meet children’s complex needs such as attachment, trauma or mental health. In July 2021, the registered manager identified in his quality-of-care review that staff needed further support in understanding mental health. However, he failed to act on this when this was important to meet the needs of the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not challenge partner agencies to make sure children receive care that meets their needs and keeps them safe. For example, leaders failed to pursue actions required as part of a safeguarding referral. They also failed to ensure one child received specialist mental health support despite increasing concerns about the child’s emotional well-being. In addition, leaders failed to report an allegation of harm. This means that, in some instances, children are at risk of harm without proper investigations taking place, and they do not benefit from care which involves the individuals who have the specific skills needed to support them. Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 7

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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

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that any safeguarding incidents are referred on to other professionals if there are concerns for the safety of children.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that the registered manager challenges the local authority when necessary if return home interviews are not completed for children and promptly shares information with wider agencies. 14 January 2022

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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 the 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to — 14 January 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 8 ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished 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)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that any needed repairs or upkeep of the home environment, which are identified as required, are addressed promptly to ensure that the home environment creates a homely atmosphere for children to make them feel valued.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff understand safeguarding procedures and take effective action to protect children when children make disclosures and allegations, or when the staff may have concerns about a child’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that risk assessments give staff clear guidance to help them understand risks for individual children and what to do when a risk arises to keep a child safe. 14 January 2022

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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 — 14 January 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 9 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

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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff receive regular practice-related supervisions and appraisals of their skills in line with the home’s own policies.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have a system in place to be able to monitor the quality of care and have a clear understanding of how to improve the care offered to the children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have a good understanding of the care children are receiving in the home and that this should inform the quality-of-care review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager should also ensure that staff have had the training they need to adequately meet the needs of the children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 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 for children's home: SC378187 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (residential Care) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Apex, 2 Sheriffs Orchard, Coventry, Warwickshire CV1 3PP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC378187 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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