Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 1 SC040785 Registered provider: PIC 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 home is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to two children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties).

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account Good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/05/2019 Full Good 21/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is currently one child living at the home. The child benefits from individualised care and support, which contributes to the child’s overall progress and outcomes from his initial starting point. Care planning is discussed with placing social workers to ensure that the care provided is consistent with longer-term planning. One social worker said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘The care that [name of child] receives is meeting his needs well. Staff understand him and support him to make progress in all aspects of his development. They manage his behaviour well and this has reflected not only at home, but also in school. He takes part in lots of activities, and this has further increased his overall experiences and confidence.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide warm, nurturing care and support. The child says that staff care about him, and this makes him feel safe and contented living at the home. He said, ‘I like living here and get on well with the staff. They listen to me and make sure I am happy. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child attends full-time education. Staff understand the importance of education and make sure that they have effective communication links in place to support educational outcomes. A school representative spoken with during the inspection confirmed that the child is making good progress at school. He recently completed work experience, which was a positive experience for him. Staff from the home helped him to prepare for this as it was a new experience and a change to his routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are identified in his healthcare plan. He is registered with community healthcare professionals, including a doctor, dentist and optician. He is supported by staff to attend appointments as required. In addition, his emotional welfare is supported through accessing child and adolescent mental health services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aware of how important maintaining family time is for the child and, in conjunction with the placing authority, make sure that these arrangements are in place and supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to take part in activities, although there has been some limitation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has enjoyed shopping excursions and trips to local parks and cinemas. He has also had a short holiday away and another holiday has been planned.

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

Staff ensure that the child lives in a safe environment and promote his well-being. The staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities, including those linked to behaviours. Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 4 The child has detailed risk assessments in place. These outline individual risks and the measures in place to reduce and manage risk. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of their role and responsibility in managing risk.

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

The child has a court directed order in place to further safeguard him. The home has a copy of this document, and this has been factored into the staffing levels and risk management strategies. There have been no missing-from-home incidents. However, staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the procedures to follow if this should occur.

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

Staff support the child to manage his behaviours through clear and consistent boundaries. They are aware of the potential triggers which may heighten the child’s behaviours and use de-escalation techniques to help him to calm and manage his emotions and behaviours well. This is reflected in the reduction of incidents necessitating police involvement. Restorative practice used in the home helps the child to reflect and understand the consequences of his behaviour. However, audit trails for the recording of sanctions are not consistent to ensure that they have clear oversight.

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

The provider follows safer recruitment and selection procedures to make sure that people employed are suitable to work with children.

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

Some areas of the home have been redecorated, including the lounge and dining room. This has improved the physical environment as it has made it more homely and comfortable for the child living there. Refurbishment of the bathroom is planned and due to commence in the next month. However, the external garden area requires further improvement to make it welcoming for the child to relax in.

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good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She demonstrates child-centred practice and has a positive relationship with the child.

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good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been staffing changes in the home. However, the manager has ensured that there is a core team of staff working with the child, who he knows well. To ensure that staffing levels are appropriate, the manager has used agency staff. Again, this has been a consistent group of staff and has minimised disruption for the child.

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good

The manager understands the progress the child has made. However, management oversight, monitoring and review of records should be improved to enable her to demonstrate clear evaluation of the care and progress the child is making. For example, a range of additional paperwork has been introduced into the home, which has resulted in staff being unclear about where they should record information. This has led to duplication of records or recording placed under incorrect headings. This affects the quality of evaluation and oversight by the manager. Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 5 Staff confirm that they receive supervision, and a supervision matrix is in place. However, the records of supervision were not available in the home at the time of the inspection. Therefore, it is unclear whether staff are being supported to reflect on and develop their practice.

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good

Training for staff has been undertaken online, although face-to-face training has recommenced, which staff are accessing.

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good

The manager has updated the home’s statement of purpose and forwarded a copy to Ofsted as required by regulation. This document sets out the aims and objectives of the service. It is available on request to placing authorities and other interested parties.

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good

The home has recently had a change in the independent visitor. The manager responds to recommendations made by the visitor and has found having a change in visitor useful.

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good

The manager has prepared a report on the review of the quality of care. However, the last review did not fully consider all areas to enable a robust evaluation of the care provided.

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good

At the last visit, two recommendations were raised. The manager has partially met these. A workforce plan is in place but requires updating. The home has had some redecoration, but the refurbishment of the bathroom and external garden area have yet to be started. Therefore, these recommendations have been made again. Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 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 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;

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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

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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that she consistently uses effective monitoring tools to evaluate the quality of care provided to the child. 30 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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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 their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 30 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 30 June 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 7 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—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that consequences for a child’s behaviour provide clarity and that there is a clear audit trail of the event.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 30 May 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. This particularly relates to ensuring that the bathroom is refurbished and that the garden area is made available to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the home has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC040785 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 North Street, Haydock, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 0TW

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Inspector

Sarah Oldham, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC040785 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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