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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 1 SC038526 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

The home provides care for up to nine children with a learning disability, a physical disability, sensory impairment or any combination of the three. The home is operated by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2020. She is working towards her 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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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: SC038526 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/07/2019 Full Good 05/02/2019 Full Outstanding 13/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is made up of two bungalows situated on the same site. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in one and three children in the other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When possible, children benefit from a well-planned move into the home. For example, one child was supported to visit the home on three occasions before enjoying an overnight stay. This thoughtful care planning allowed for good information-sharing between professionals. This means that staff have all the necessary information to support the child from day one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making excellent progress as a result of the stimulating care they receive. For example, children improve their independence skills in being able to walk, feed themselves and increase their vocabulary skills, and are able to overcome anxieties about going out into the community. As a result of this progress, children’s life experiences are improved. A social worker said, ‘[Name of child] has blossomed since being at the home. She is happy and benefits from being able to exercise choice, for example with fashion, thereby developing her identity.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents spoken to confirmed that they are happy with the care that their child receives. They feel part of the decision-making for their child and say that communication is good. One parent stated that he feels that the home has become part of his family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s needs well. They are skilled and are able to quickly understand children’s unique methods of communication. Children happily go to staff for hugs and staff are attentive to each child’s needs and respond in a child-focused way. As a result, children’s needs are promptly met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities, including watching puppet shows, going for walks, shopping and bowling. When it is a child’s birthday, celebrations are held. One child had a lovely selection of balloons from their recent birthday in their room.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have their own bedrooms that are personalised to reflect their interests and hobbies. The home has undergone decoration and maintenance work has taken place. There are plans for further decoration and the home’s gardens are receiving a makeover. However, some areas of the home would benefit from further redecoration. Furthermore, a kitchen in one of the homes required cleaning and the cleaning cupboard was unlocked.

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

The registered manager and staff ensure that the environment is safe. Children require specialised equipment such as hoists to help them in their day-to-day life. All equipment is maintained by external professionals to ensure it is safe to use. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 4 Furthermore, each child has an individualised plan to carefully consider their needs should there be a fire or other emergency in the home. This helps to ensure the child’s safety.

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

Some children rely on a high level of medication to help them to stay fit and healthy. There are clear procedures in place to ensure that medication is given on time and correctly. As a result, there have been no medication errors. Staff are quick to respond if there is a concern in relation to medication and seek appropriate advice from medical professionals.

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

Staff work closely with medical professionals to ensure staff are skilled to meet the complex health needs of children. A nurse told the inspector, ‘I am always able to contact staff and the manager when I need to. They provide me with the information I need to do the training and good documentation is in place when I carry out competency assessments. It is a pleasure to visit the home and see the positive interaction between the young people and the staff.’

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

Children have not made any allegations or complaints against staff. They do not go missing and there are no concerns in regard to children being at risk from child sexual exploitation. Staff are trained to understand these risks should they arise. The registered manager holds discussions with the staff on an individual basis to help ensure staff’s understanding of these issues. This means that in the event of a concern that staff know how to respond quickly.

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

When practice concerns are raised, the registered manager ensures that prompt action is taken. Information is shared and reflective practice identifies any areas for improvement.

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good

Despite the many positive aspects of the home, there are a number of areas that still require development. The registered manager is aware of some of these and has a plan to improve. However, many of these plans are still in their infancy and therefore, these will take time to have a positive impact on the home.

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good

A number of new staff have joined the home since the last inspection. These new staff have benefited from a good induction. Staff told the inspector that they were happy working in the home. Staff feel supported by the registered manager and state that she is available should they need her. However, staff supervision is still not taking place as often as it should, to be in line with the company’s policy. This was raised at the last inspection and is restated. Despite this, the registered manager is quick to challenge staff practice if a concern arises, and team meetings are used as a forum for wider learning.

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good

New staff have been recruited and more staff are in the process of going through safer recruitment checks. Although it is an improving picture, there have been times when children have not received their one-to-one care as set out in their care plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 5 Careful planning of the day has kept any impact of staffing issues on children to a minimum.

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good

The registered manager has not sent a copy of her quality of care review report to Ofsted as required. This shortfall was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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good

Staff rely on an electronic system that holds information about children and the home. However, staff find this system difficult to navigate and documents are incorrectly stored, and some documents lack detail. The registered manager has started work to help address this, but the shortfall remains.

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good

Staff training equips them with the knowledge and skills they require to care for children. However, one member of staff has not obtained her level 3 qualification in residential childcare within the necessary timescales.

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good

The registered manager challenges other professionals if she does not feel that decisions are being made in the best interests of the child. For example, when a child arrived at the home, it was his routine to be woken to be fed. The registered manager challenged this and worked with other professionals to devise a new routine. This now means that the child can enjoy an uninterrupted sleep while ensuring that his basic care needs are still met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 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; and promotes their welfare.

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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)(d)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to the registered provider ensuring that sufficient staff work at the home to meet each child’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to them using monitoring tools to ensure the registered manager is aware of all the shortfalls of the service and to maintain the quality of all records. 29 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). 29 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 7 The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma;

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 29 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 29 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 8 supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Recommendation

 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: SC038526 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, Staffordshire WV4 6JG

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Inspectors

Louise Battersby, Social Care Inspector Alison Smale, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC038526 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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