Children's Home run by Positive Outcomes Childcare Ltd in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 1 Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates this home. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This home was registered on 30 July 2021. The registered manager recently resigned from her post. An interim manager supported the home for a short period. A new manager is now in place and intends to apply to Ofsted to become registered.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and one child has moved in. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. Managers carefully consider the needs of children when making decisions about who lives in the home and staff help children to prepare for moving in. For example, staff provide children with information about the home and they can visit before they move. They meet staff who will be caring for them. As a result, children receive a warm welcome that helps them to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The new manager ensures that children register with health services and attend routine appointments. One child who has never previously visited a dentist has attended a dental appointment and received treatment. On one occasion, staff supported a child to access emergency healthcare. This good support means that children receive help and advice about their health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The new manager has put in place a reward system to help to motivate children to make good choices. This is having a positive effect. One child is attending school most days and making progress with their learning. The new manager has high expectations for children. She raises concerns with relevant people when children’s plans do not provide the child with the opportunity to reach their potential in their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to be involved in making decisions about their care. Children’s views on who they would like to keep in touch with are understood by managers and staff. As a result, children receive support from staff to maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On one occasion, a child made a complaint. The operations manager reviewed the child’s concerns and helped the child to understand what actions had been taken and the outcome of the investigation. This practice helps children to feel listened to and that their opinions are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have experienced unplanned moves from the home. Previous managers in charge of the home at the time did not support the children to say goodbye to staff. This practice has the potential to affect children’s emotional well- being and deter them from building relationships with people who care for them in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Work is under way to improve the home environment, with some areas of the home being decorated. However, there are heavily stained carpets that need replacing and the overgrown garden requires regular maintenance. The child currently living in the home inherited some bedroom furniture that is marked or stained. This does not provide children with an environment they feel proud of. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 4

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

It is rare for children to go missing from the home. One child who has a history of going missing from care has not done so since living at the home. When children do go missing from the home, staff respond well. They search for children who are not where they should be. When there are concerns about a child’s whereabouts, staff work well with police to find the child. As a result, children return home safely. Managers ensure that children can speak to someone independent of the home about their time away. Information gathered as a result of these conversations is used to reduce the risk of children going missing from home in the future.

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

Safe recruitment systems are in place. This reduces the risk of children being cared for by unsuitable people.

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

Managers take action when a child makes an allegation against a person who works in the home. Information is shared with external professionals and there is oversight of any investigation from the local authority designated officer. This practice helps to keep children safe.

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

Children’s behaviours are known and understood by staff. The new manager ensures that children’s plans to manage behaviours and risks are clear and up to date. This means that staff have useful guidance on how to recognise, prevent and manage complex situations.

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

Staff encourage children to understand and manage their own behaviours. For one child, this support has led to a reduction in missing-from-home incidents. In addition, staff help children to value their home and, as a result, there has been a reduction in damage. However, the effectiveness of support provided to children is inconsistent. For example, staff struggled to manage a child’s aggressive behaviours when these increased and ultimately could not keep the child and others safe.

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

The new manager ensures that all staff now receive training in using physical intervention. On occasions, it has been necessary for staff to restrain children to keep them safe. Although the quality of restraint incident records is improving and contains more detailed information overall, this work is ongoing. Currently, the description of the restraint technique used is sometimes unclear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager and two experienced staff have joined the team. As a result, there has been a reduction in the use of agency staff and children are receiving support from a consistent staff team. This helps children to develop positive relationships with the adults caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager is child-focused. She has a good understanding of children’s experiences and care planning arrangements. Her vision for the home is clear and understood by staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 5 Effective monitoring systems mean that quality of care review reports describe the home’s strengths and areas for development. To ensure that children receive good care, the new manager reviews children’s records and keeps good oversight of the day-to-day arrangements for care at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication with parents and professionals has improved. A child’s independent reviewing officer reported being kept well informed of changes to the child’s care planning arrangements. Good working relationships mean that children receive coordinated care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager ensures that staff now receive regular supervision. She adapted the supervision record to include reflective time to discuss the care plans of children as well as any safeguarding issues or concerns. Staff value this time and feel supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers do not ensure that staff performance is reviewed on an annual basis. This means that staff are not helped to reflect on their performance, review their objectives and reflect on the impact they have had on children and the contribution they have made to the home and organisation’s development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers inform Ofsted within acceptable timescales of serious incidents involving children. This practice enables oversight from the regulator.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff hold a relevant qualification. A new induction programme ensures that staff receive general training in subjects specific to caring for children. On one occasion, when a child who has now moved on presented new and potentially life- threatening behaviours involving the use of ligatures, the previous manager did not arrange for staff to be trained quickly in managing this specific behaviour. This shortfall did not equip staff with the necessary skills to respond to this child’s needs and this had the potential to compromise this child’s safety and welfare. The new manager has reflected on this and has reviewed the training needs for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(c)

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the managers ensuring that staff have the training and skills to meet the changing needs of children who live in the home. 29 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that staff help children to experience positive endings when they have unplanned moves from the home. 29 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

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 29 June 2022

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Recommendation

 Children in residential care may be worried about being stigmatised or bullied by their peers for being ‘different’ because of where they live. The registered person Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 7 should ensure that the home’s environment is designed to take account of this. This relates to the manager ensuring that children have furniture in their bedroom that they like, and that the home is maintained to a good standard throughout. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.13)

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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: 2633398 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited, 16 Queen Street, Wellington, Telford TF1 1EH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Laurence O’Dwyer

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Inspector

Helen Malanaphy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2633398 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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