Children's Home run by PCF Residential Childcare Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 1 Registered provider: PCF Residential Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who may experience behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A registered manager has been in post since the home opened in February 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 2

p.1

improvement to be good

Since the home was registered in February 2021, five children have moved in and out of the home. At the time of this inspection, no children were living at the home.

p.2

improvement to be good

The registered manager does not always understand the extent of children’s individual needs until after they have moved in. Because of this, staff have struggled to manage some children’s behaviour. This has resulted in the registered manager serving notice on children’s placements soon after they have moved in. The impact of multiple moves for children does not provide them with stability or the opportunity to form positive relationships.

p.2

improvement to be good

The registered manager has reflected on the previous planning for new children moving into the home and identified learning. The registered manager now has a better understanding of what information to request prior to a child moving into the home to improve care planning and prevent unplanned endings for children. During children’s short time living in the home, staff work hard to put in place the support and help that children need. Although there are some isolated examples of success, the efforts made by staff are diminished as most children have not lived in the home long enough to make sustained progress.

p.2

improvement to be good

The longest a child has lived in the home is six months. The child did make some progress during this time. For example, staff helped the child attend education and to access health appointments. This had a positive impact on the child’s overall emotional health and well-being.

p.2

improvement to be good

When children leave the home, the registered manager works effectively in partnership with the children’s local authority to ensure that the children are supported. For example, one child and his family have been provided with food parcels and Christmas gifts. In addition, staff have had daily telephone calls with one child’s carer to provide support and guidance. This continued support has helped to meet the child’s needs.

p.2

improvement to be good

The home is maintained to a beautiful standard. It is spacious and has a warm and homely feel.

p.2

improvement to be good

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that a serious child protection allegation was being investigated by the appropriate authorities. As this is an ongoing investigation, inspectors were not able to fully consider the concerns related this allegation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 3 In the main, staff take effective action to safeguard children. Staff have a good knowledge of safeguarding procedures and follow protocols when needed. Furthermore, risk assessments provide good guidance to staff on what they should do. However, the poor planning prior to some children moving into the home means that staff were ill equipped to deal with the complex vulnerabilities of those children. This has contributed to some children having to move out of the home sooner than planned.

p.2

improvement to be good

When children are missing from the home, staff use their knowledge of the children to locate them quickly. However, concerns about the safety of staff meant that when one child was located, the child was required to make their own way back to the home. This delayed the safe return of this child on some occasions. This was an avoidable situation, but the registered manager had not successfully worked with the child’s local authority or the police to agree what to do when this child was found.

p.3

improvement to be good

The registered manager has not challenged placing authorities effectively when they have failed to undertake return home interviews following incidents of children going missing from the home. This is a missed opportunity to speak to the child about the reasons why they left the home or their actions during this period of absence.

p.3

improvement to be good

The registered manager’s oversight of staff’s management of children’s behaviours is weak. For example, the registered manager’s review of the consequences given to children for their behaviour is not good enough. This means that the effectiveness of staff’s response to children’s behaviours is not fully understood.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff are trained to safely hold children as a last resort to keep them and staff safe from harm. When staff restrain children, they document at length the incident and why the restraint was required, demonstrating that holds are used for a minimal amount of time. However, they do not consistently detail the required information, such as who held the child and how. Furthermore, the registered manager does not consistently document her debriefs with the children and staff involved in the restraint.

p.3

improvement to be good

The registered manager has been involved in incidents including physical interventions that have required management oversight and a debrief. On these occasions, the registered manager has not been debriefed and she has reviewed the incident herself. A lack of independent review of the incident is a missed learning opportunity.

p.3

improvement to be good

The registered manager has not notified Ofsted of some serious incidents. While appropriate action was taken by the registered manager and staff to safeguard children, the lack of notifications prevents the regulator from reviewing the service. Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 4

p.3

good

The registered manager has been in post since the home opened in February 2021. She is still developing in her role, but she is keen and willing to learn. She has demonstrated that once a child moves into the home, she is child-focused and does all she can to try and meet the child’s needs.

p.4

good

The registered manager has maintained a stable staff team despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the high number of incidents in the home. This is because staff are well supported by the registered manager. Staff know how to complain and use the whistle-blowing policy when they need to. The registered manager takes effective action when complaints are made. As a result, staff feel listened to and have trust in the registered manager.

p.4

good

Staff have regular supervision sessions that help to promote their learning and development needs. Personal development plans are in place for staff and this links to the training provided to staff. This is helping staff to gain greater knowledge and experience to be able to better meet the needs of children who may live in the home.

p.4

good

The registered manager’s monitoring systems are not yet effective. The registered manager does not clearly document her oversight of incidents detailing her analysis, patterns, trends and learning to develop future practice. However, through discussion with the inspector, it is evident the registered manager has this knowledge but does not succinctly record this.

p.4

good

The quality of the reporting by the independent person who visits the home once a month and the timeliness of the reports being sent to Ofsted have not always been good enough. COVID-19 has been a contributing factor to this. The responsible individual has recently appointed a new independent person. The effectiveness of the new visitor is not yet known. Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 5

p.4

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.

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

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)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager having affective monitoring and review systems in place. 28 January 2022

p.5

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.5

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that she has all the required information about a child before deciding if the home can meet a child’s needs. 28 January 2022

p.5

Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; 28 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 6 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

p.5

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (2) (3)(a)(i)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to physical intervention records and consequence records containing all the required information. The manager should provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of each intervention and undertake debriefs with children and staff after each intervention.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to the registered manager notifying Ofsted of any serious concerns, including allegations against staff and incidents requiring the police attendance at the home. 28 January 2022

p.6

Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to the independent person sending their report to Ofsted in a timely manner. 28 January 2022

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the procedures to be followed when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission and how staff should support the child on their return to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 7 (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)

p.6

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: 2622281 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: PCF Residential Childcare Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 37 Copthorne Road, Wolverhampton WV3 0AB

p.8

Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2622281 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9