Children's Home run by Progress Children’s Services Ltd in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 1 SC437486 Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who may have physical disabilities or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019 and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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: 10 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the last full inspection in January 2022, the home was judged to be inadequate. Three compliance notices were issued, in relation to regulation 12, regulation 13 and regulation 32 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place in February 2022. The compliance notices were found to be met. As a result, a new inspection judgement was given: requires improvement to be good. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Full Requires improvement to be good Inadequate 19/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/01/2019 Full Good 13/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children live in this home and have done so for at least 18 months. Children are happy and make good progress at this home. For example, one child is better able to verbally communicate with others, another child is better able to regulate their emotions and the third child is better able to eat larger pieces of food.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children enjoy attending school and are making good progress. Professionals at the children’s schools have all commented on the positive levels of communication between the home and school staff in their feedback. One professional told the inspector that staff are good at ‘supporting targets that are set by school (e.g. increasing independence and developing emotional intelligence)’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities, both inside and outside the home. This includes visiting zoos, museums and water parks. Activities in the home have included baking and celebrating Easter by taking part in Easter egg hunts. Staff have captured these fun times for the children to remember by taking photos and adding them to a memory book for the children to cherish as they grow older.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supportive of each other and enjoy going on activities together. For example, a child told the inspector that she has recently been to the fairground with her friend. She supported her friend on some of the rides by holding her hand. This gave her friend the reassurance she needed to be able to enjoy their time at the fairground .

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are ready, staff support them to develop the skills they will need for adulthood. For example, one child is now able to make her own lunch for school and make her bed and has developed her understanding of good personal hygiene. When appropriate, staff support children to understand the changes in their bodies and to manage changes that come with puberty.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings are a forum that is used to help children to understand more about the world around them, such as the war in Ukraine. Children are also helped to understand different cultures. For example, a child told the inspector about attending an event to celebrate Eid. She was able to try new foods and to learn a new dance, which she demonstrated to the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has complex health needs. There has been a delay in this child receiving the required services. The registered manager has worked proactively with other professionals and as a result, services are starting to be put in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want the best for children and understand each child’s unique communication skills and health needs. However, this knowledge is not always captured in the plans for children. Furthermore, some important documents that capture the child’s care plans are not available for staff to access. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 4 Improvements have been made to the home environment. However, there are still some minor areas for improvement. A recommendation has been made as a result.

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

All professionals spoken to told the inspector that they feel that their child is safe living at this home. A parent told the inspector: ‘I feel my son is very well looked after at [the home] with his complex needs. Everything is done so he is kept in a safe and secure environment.’

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

Staff hold the necessary level 3 qualification in residential childcare or achieve this within the necessary timescales. They take part in a range of training to ensure that they can support the individual needs of the children that they care for.

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

Children do not go missing from this home. There have been no safeguarding allegations and there are no concerns about exploitation or radicalisation. Staff are aware of how to keep children safe and the safety measures they would need to put in place should these concerns occur. Children use electrical devices to help to entertain and soothe them. Safety measures are in place to ensure that children can only access age-appropriate materials online.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the necessary checks. This helps to ensure that staff who work at the home are safe to do so.

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

On the whole, staff de-escalate children’s behaviours well. They are aware of particular factors that children may struggle with and the actions they need to take to keep them safe. However, on occasions records may not fully reflect the level of care and support given. Furthermore, one child requires a specialised bed to help keep him safe. The registered manager is working hard to have the use of the bed reviewed by a professional. However, it is unclear if staff always follow the plan around how the bed is used and that this is accurately recorded. This affects the manager’s ability to ensure that the child is receiving care that has been agreed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the home has benefited from new staff being recruited. There are now enough staff to ensure that the children’s individualised needs are met. New staff are currently being supported and are working through their induction. All staff spoken to are complimentary about the registered manager and the level of support that she and the rest of the team offer to each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals spoken to have provided positive feedback about the care and communication that staff offer to the children. One professional stated: ‘[The home] values and celebrates [the child’s] uniqueness and acknowledges the progress that he makes and are strength-focused. [The home] creates pictorial reports that Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 5 capture [the child’s] day-to-day experiences and when staff write or talk about [the child] they bring him to life.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about developing the service and her own skills. She is currently mentoring other managers to help share her skills to help improve standards for other children who are cared for by the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported during supervisions and annual appraisals. They are helped to reflect on and improve their practice. The registered manager is not afraid to support and challenge her staff team to ensure that she is getting the best possible care for the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements made at the last inspection have been met. The registered manager now ensures that the children’s guide contains information about how to access advocacy services and that the information about the sensory room has been removed. Furthermore, it is now clear what qualifications staff hold. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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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—

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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; and 21 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 7 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

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”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the safe space bed is used in accordance with the child’s plans and any restriction of a liberty is recorded.

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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 signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that children’s plans are up to date and that staff have access to the local authority’s statutory documents for the child. 21 July 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 8  The registered person should ensure that staff seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: SC437486 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Progress House, 127 Millfields Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV4 6JG

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Inspector

Louise Battersby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 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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