Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 1 SC410537 Registered provider: Positive Pathways 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 provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional needs and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2021 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 15 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2022 Full Good 05/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/08/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection. Children say they feel happy and safe at this home and, overall, they speak about the good relationships they have with staff. As a result, children have developed a sense of security and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to attend education. As a result, children have completed exams and courses. The manager works with children’s education providers to ensure that children are supported to progress. Education professionals describe having a positive relationship with the staff at the home. This has had a positive impact on children’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. There are regular discussions with children to understand their views. The manager responds to feedback and provides children with praise. As a result, children are reassured their views are important. However, at times, records do not fully reflect the conversations held in response to feedback provided, which hinders external scrutiny of these records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and monitor the children’s health and emotional well-being. They understand the children’s needs and seek additional support when necessary. When children are in difficult situations, staff offer support that is effective in helping children to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not consistently clear on their goals. Children’s care plans do not show children what they need to do to be able to use their tablet. Their views on their plans are not captured. This does not provide children with clarity on what is expected of them and how to progress in certain areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have not ensured that all children’s bedrooms are maintained to an appropriate standard. In one room, walls have been damaged and it is unclear how long this has been the case. This lack of repair does not demonstrate care for children or provide a nurturing environment.

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

The staff team has a good understanding of the children’s strengths and vulnerabilities. They support children in developing their understanding of healthy relationships and potential risks through key-work sessions. This helps children to increase their awareness of risk.

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

There are rarely incidents at the home. Children do not go missing and physical interventions have not been used. When children experience difficulties, they are supported effectively by staff who are attentive to their needs. This provides children with a secure base and keeps them safe. Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 4 Risk assessments provide staff with strategies that will support the needs of children. While these are usually updated after incidents, there are occasions when these lack clarity about why there is a risk to a child. This has not impacted on the safety of children, but could lead to staff being unclear about the risks relating to children at the home.

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

Staff respond when there are relationship challenges between children at the home. When incidents occur, staff take action by exploring this with children and carry out mediation and key-work sessions. Staff talk with children to help them understand the harm behaviours such as name calling can have on one another.

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

Staff help children to become more independent. However, this is not consistent and there are missed opportunities. For example, it is not always clear how children’s use of mobile phones is risk assessed in line with their ages and individual needs. This does not ensure that children are clear on how to work towards having things that are important to them.

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

Managers have not ensured that the use of bedroom door alarms is reviewed effectively. For one child, this has not been reviewed and the child does not understand why this is in place. As a result, it is not clear if the monitoring used is proportionate to the child’s risks and needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads from the front and is an excellent role model for staff. The registered manager has positive relationships with the children and their parents and professionals. Parents appreciate the support their children receive and feel well informed about their children’s time in the home. Parents are confident that they could raise any concerns if they needed to. The home places children at the centre of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has implemented their own monitoring systems to monitor the progress of children. Through this, they are able to make changes to the support and approach provided to children. This ensures that the strategies staff use evolve with the individual needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. Where there are areas for development, changes have been made to improve staff practice. For example, on occasion, the approach taken by staff does not reflect the positive parenting approach of the home and wording used in records is not always child-centred. The registered manager is supporting staff to ensure that these inconsistencies do not continue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision and feel well supported by their managers. When areas for development are identified for staff, supervision is used to support them in developing these skills. Team meetings take place regularly and provide staff with an opportunity to develop their knowledge and to reflect on children’s progress. However, records of supervision were missing for a member of staff who had Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 5 recently started in the organisation. This does not ensure that they understand their induction training or evidence that supervision is provided in line with regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is mostly up to date and all staff have received training in important areas to ensure that children are supported by skilled staff. However, staff do not complete mandatory training in a timely way when they come to work in the home. This includes training in safeguarding and first aid. This lack of timeliness could impact on the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person monitoring the home does not seek the views of the children’s families and the professionals involved in children’s care. This limits the independent person’s ability to reach a comprehensive judgement about the effectiveness of the arrangements for caring for and protecting children. Senior leaders have made a change to the independent visitor to ensure development of practice in the home. However, the impact of this remains untested.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The full names of staff working at the home are not always on the rota. This is not good practice and means that information is not readily available to review now or if needed in the future. Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them 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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that targets set for children give clear advice about how staff are to help children meet those targets and that this progress is reviewed. The registered person should ensure that children understand their targets and are supported to work towards independence. 6 October 2022

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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

promotes their welfare 6 October 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff support children in line with the home’s statement of purpose This also includes ensuring that records are written in a child-centred way that recognises the needs of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that all staff complete induction training in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that monitoring systems identify when there are concerns with the condition of children’s bedrooms. The registered person should also ensure that when there are concerns about the use of language that these are identified and responded to.

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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).

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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; 1 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 8 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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b)(5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having completed the relevant qualification within timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the use of bedroom door alarms is reviewed and children are aware of why alarms are being used. This should also include consultation with the local authority about the ongoing use of door alarms. 6 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. 6 October 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 9 The registered person must—

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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

The registered person should ensure that the roster of persons working at the home includes full names.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must use reasonable endeavours to ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b) (5) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that the independent visitor has the capability to identify the shortfalls in the care children receive and to make recommendations for improvement. Also, ensure that they consult with children, staff and professionals. 6 October 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 10

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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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: SC410537 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park Business Centre, Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands B24 9QR

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Inspectors

Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Rebecca Quested, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC410537 12 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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