Children's home run by Paramount Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 1 Registered provider: Paramount 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 privately owned and run. It is registered to care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered by Ofsted in October 2021. The registered manager has been in post since the home was registered. She is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. No children have left the home since it was 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are making progress from the time they came to live at the home. Children with varying experiences of care are supported to settle in and develop a sense of security and belonging living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good practice around matching and pre-admission planning has led to stability for children. Children get on well and live together in a positive atmosphere. However, the forms used for pre-admission assessments and matching of children do not demonstrate the comprehensive range of factors considered by the registered manager when planning a new admission to the home. This has not adversely impacted the quality of matching and the high standards of care children experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are engaging with education. Two children who have recently left high school have plans to start college courses in September 2022. A third child told the inspector he enjoys his school and is supported by staff to attend and pursue his interests. This commitment to their own education gives children a good platform to achieve in further education, training and employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care is underpinned by good multi-agency working with relevant local services such as complex safeguarding teams and missing from home workers. All children are able to access primary care services in a timely manner and referrals are made to specialist provision where this is needed. As a result, children have the services in place to meet their needs and support their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Children who have family some distance from the home are taken by staff to spend time in their home communities in line with their care plans. This ensures that children retain their sense of identity and belonging, and demonstrates to children that their families continue to be a valued part of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A key strength of the home is the way staff encourage children to be active and try new experiences and activities. Children are kept busy and their interests are supported. One child has become involved in a local police initiative to restore bikes, and the child has a number of bikes at the home to help him develop his skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s birthdays and other key events, such as religious holidays, are celebrated. Each child has a photo album made for them every six months, which provides them with lasting positive memories of their lives and their achievements while living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 3

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

Children’s safety is supported through a good awareness and understanding from staff of the risks children may face. For all children, the risks they may encounter in the community or within the home have reduced over time as they have settled into the home and developed their relationships with staff and with each other.

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

Risk assessments are regularly updated. However, risk management plans often contain generic actions for staff to follow rather than providing them with more specific instructions about how to respond to children when incidents occur.

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

Safeguarding concerns are responded to appropriately and information is shared with placing authorities and the police in a timely manner. These incidents have not always been shared with Ofsted. This limits the regulator’s oversight of practice.

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

Staff have the information they need from children’s placing authorities to inform their care of each child. It is not always clear if local authority forms delegating responsibility for decision-making about children’s care to staff are signed by people within the local authority with the level of seniority to do so. This potentially puts staff in a vulnerable situation when making decisions on behalf of the local authority.

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

Children’s placement plans are comprehensive and reviewed on a regular basis. The plans provide staff with the information they need to support children and understand the progress they are making. These plans are lengthy and, as a result, not very child-friendly documents. To address this, each child has a monthly meeting with their key worker to talk about their plans. This helps children to be involved in their care planning and understand what is being written about them.

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

Some handwritten records, particularly those in children’s daily journals, are illegible. Additionally, some records signed by staff are not accompanied by a printed name. This means that there is a lack of accountability for some written records.

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

Since the home opened, there have been no physical interventions and no police call-outs to manage behaviour. Restorative approaches are used to help children reflect on incidents and repair relationships. As a result, children live in a positive environment which helps them build trusting relationships with each other and with the adults caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home opened. This is her first registered manager role. The registered manager has demonstrated skills and knowledge in developing and managing the home to this point. This puts the home in a strong position to continue to provide a high level of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has established systems in place to monitor and evaluate all aspects of the home. She regularly audits children’s care records. With the support of her senior staff, weekly checks are in place to oversee the practice of staff. In Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 4 addition, the responsible individual is visible to staff and children and has a good understanding of the quality of care being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff work well together as a team. The diversity within the staff team provides children with a range of role models and encourages inclusion and acceptance of difference. When additional staff are needed, they are usually drawn from a small number of staff who work in the provider’s other home. These staff know the children well, and this minimises disruption and maintains the quality of care that children experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported through regular supervision and team meetings. Through individual and group discussions, staff have opportunities to reflect on their practice and the progress of children. Staff within their probationary period, most of whom are new to working with children, receive additional one-to-one support. This provides them with the support and challenge to develop their skills and knowledge and care for children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior staff with supervisory responsibilities for others do not have an opportunity to discuss this role and their line management responsibilities within their supervision meetings with the registered manager. This is a missed opportunity to formally share information about practice and support staff with this area of their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The physical environment of the home is maintained to a high standard. The home provides space for children to spend time together, as well as have time on their own. Children’s bedrooms are spacious and personalised. Children have a home they can take pride in and which makes them feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 5

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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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii) (e)) 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that pre-admission matching assessments provide a clear rationale for the matching of children new to the home, with children already living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, handwritten records should be legible and staff signatures should be accompanied by a printed name to ensure accountability for practice and decisions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 6  The registered person should ensure that risk assessments include clear strategies and actions for staff to follow to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that statutory documents provided by the local authority are signed by the person with the authority to do so on behalf of the local authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should ensure that all staff with supervisory responsibility for other staff have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on these responsibilities in their own practice supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2646248 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Kinburn Road, Manchester M19 1RH

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 8 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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