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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 1 SC378181 Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (residential Care) Limited 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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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 and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 8 December 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 8 and 9 December 2021, Ofsted undertook a full inspection of the home. Serious failings were found in the safeguarding of children and the leadership and management of the home. The home was judged inadequate and compliance notices were issued under regulations 6, 12 and 13 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 2 A monitoring visit was undertaken on 18 January 2022, to review the compliance notices. The inspector found that the provider had failed to meet the actions set out in all three compliance notices and these notices were reissued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/12/2021 Full Inadequate 12/11/2019 Full Good 13/11/2018 Full Good 13/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 4

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inadequate

Children are making limited progress in the home. Staff do not provide structure and routine for children. Children spend a significant amount of their time in their bedrooms either online gaming or sleeping. They receive little input from staff and this poor-quality care affects their welfare and progress.

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inadequate

One child who is of school age does not attend education. Staff do not provide care that helps him develop a routine to support him back into school. For example, he spends long periods of time in his room, without any structured activity.

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inadequate

One child has been unable to sit exams due to poor attendance at school and there is no plan in place to support him back into education. This limits the opportunity for children to obtain formal qualifications and may affect their future life chances. The manager does not sufficiently challenge placing authorities when their response to children’s education is poor. This shows that the registered manager does not fully understand his responsibilities in running a children’s home, and this has the potential to compromise children’s progress and welfare.

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inadequate

Staff do not follow plans to manage children’s access to the internet and the time they spend on gaming devices. As a result, a child spends time during the night gaming. Not only does this compromise the child’s health and well-being, it also has the potential to compromise their safety.

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inadequate

Staff have made improvements to how they support children to develop independence skills. Staff have supported one child to obtain employment and he now has the skills to do this independently.

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inadequate

Staff support children with their health needs. Staff ensure that children attend health appointments and that referrals are made for therapeutic support for children when this is required.

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inadequate

There have been improvements to the home environment since the last inspection. The home environment is nicely decorated and children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual interests.

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inadequate

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are inadequate. Staff do not follow actions set out in children’s risk assessments to keep children safe. On one occasion, a child left the home without staff noticing. His plans state that staff must report him missing immediately. Staff did not follow this plan once they realised the child was missing and, as a result, there was a significant delay in Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 5 them reporting him missing from home. This approach to risk management does not keep children safe.

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inadequate

Staff acknowledged during the inspection that they do not read children’s risk assessments. This includes staff working in the home from other homes in the company. This means that staff do not always understand the actions that they need to take to ensure that children are kept safe, and this places children at risk.

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inadequate

Managers do not update children’s risk assessments in response to emerging risks. There have been two incidents of a child taking an object from the home’s car and throwing it at staff, which has the potential to cause injury. Risk assessments had been updated to reflect that the incidents occurred, but they had not been updated to include guidance for staff to follow to ensure that further incidents of this nature did not occur.

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inadequate

There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. The manager has put in place systems to ensure that when physical interventions are carried out, they are recorded in line with regulation. These systems have yet to be tested out.

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inadequate

The manager’s oversight of risk management is poor. He has not put in place efficient systems which help him to oversee staff practice effectively. For example, although the manager had signed a missing from care incident report, he had not evaluated this thoroughly and did not identify shortfalls in staff practice. This lack of monitoring means that shortfalls in staff practice are not identified or addressed and leaves children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home is inadequate. The registered manager and responsible individual have failed to take action to improve the quality of care in the home. While they have taken action to address the steps in the regulation 6 compliance notice issued following the monitoring visit in January 2022, they had not taken sufficient action to meet the required steps in the regulation 12 and 13 notices. This is the second time that they have failed to take action to meet these notices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Furthermore, this is the second time that the home has been graded inadequate. Insufficient management arrangements are hindering improvement in the home. Regulations 26 and 28 of Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 have been made to address the concerns about the registered manager’s and responsible individual’s capacity to manage and oversee the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to take steps to ensure that staff have the knowledge, skills and experience to meet children’s needs. They have not reviewed staff training to understand what they require. Nor have they set out a plan about how and when to deliver relevant training to staff. This means that children receive care from Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 6 staff who are not fully equipped to meet their needs or manage risk. For example, some staff have still not completed missing from home training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In addition, a member of staff had completed 10 online courses in one day. The manager had not identified this and, as a result, had not done any follow-up work with the member of staff to establish what they had learned from this training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s case files do not contain all the information required. The manager has not always ensured that children’s case records contain up-to-date and accurate information. There is evidence of the manager escalating concerns to the local authority about missing documentation. However, requested information is still not available. As a result, staff do not always have the information they need to co-ordinate children’s care and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not keep an accurate record of who has worked, and is working, in the home. Staff could not tell inspectors who was coming to look after the children when they had finished. This means that children do not know who will be working with them in advance, and this limits the opportunity to plan activities with, or support for, children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 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

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 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that he challenges the placing authority when their response is not in a child’s interests or in accordance with child’s plans. This requirement is repeated. 10 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(iii)(v)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there is structure and routine to a child’s day when they are not attending school, and staff promote opportunities for children’s learning when children are not attending formal education. 10 May 2022

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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. 10 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 8 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff read, understand and follow actions set out in children’s risk assessment to reduce known risks. This requirement is repeated.

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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; 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

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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff have the required training to meet the needs of the children in the home, and ensuring that effective monitoring systems are in place to ensure that children are kept safe and receive good care. This requirement is repeated. 10 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must— 10 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 9 have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs a rising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)) 10 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for a child’s up-to-date care plan and education plan to be in place. This requirement is repeated. 10 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the home having an up-to-date rota. This requirement is repeated. 10 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC378181 10

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Union House, 111 New Union Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 2NT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Sarah Billett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC378181 11 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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