Children's Home run by Positive Outcomes Childcare Ltd in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 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

This home is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager has been in post since August 2022 and is yet to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2652918 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This was the home’s first inspection since it was registered in May 2022. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home. Since registration, there has been a change of manager. However, this has not had a detrimental effect on the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have formed positive relationships with children and developed individualised plans for them. These plans are detailed with achievable targets, which staff implement and keep under review. Despite the short time children have lived at the home, they are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a very positive experience of moving into the home. Well-thought-out plans, which include children’s wishes and feelings, mean that children have settled quickly into the home. Good matching and transition planning are clear strengths of this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education. For children who are struggling at school, staff work with their teachers to develop plans that support their attendance. For children with no education placement, staff have developed programmes of learning which the children follow while plans for them to return to school are formalised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good access to health services. Staff took prompt action in making referrals to, and getting advice from, health professionals. For example, one child was becoming more anxious and unsettled due to a lack of sleep. Now this child is sleeping well and is less anxious and engaging much better in their education and with the adults around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff involve children in decisions about their care. When children change their minds, staff talk this through and do not insist they go with their first choice. For example, a child wanted to redecorate their room, choosing colours and items, but then changed their mind. Staff listened and supported the changes. As a result, children feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to try different activities to see what they like. As a result, children enjoy a range of social activities, which have included an overnight camping trip. This helps to develop children’s confidence and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Staff know children well and are responsive to their needs. Both children said they feel safe at the home. Managers and staff have developed behaviour plans which provide staff with the information they need to help children in crisis. However, Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 3 managers and staff have not kept these under review and so children’s behaviour plans and risk assessments do not contain all relevant information to promote children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Children can display behaviours which challenge staff. Staff manage these well. Children have not gone missing from home and staff have only had to use physical intervention once to keep a child safe. On that occasion, however, managers have not recorded staff debriefs. This omission means staff may not have had an opportunity to raise concerns about the use of physical intervention.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not ensured that medication is always kept safe from children. On one occasion, staff left a child unaccompanied in the car, leaving the child’s nasal spray with them. This resulted in the child using the medication. Although there was no harm to the child, not storing medication appropriately has the potential to compromise a child’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The home is well maintained and managers are proactive in making sure repairs are reported and carried out. However, both bathrooms at the home do not have window coverings. This poses a risk to children’s privacy and dignity as others could see them from the outside. The manager took action to address this during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

New staff to the home are recruited following safer recruitment practices. As a result, those who should not work with children are unlikely to do so.

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improvement to be good

Children engage in key-work sessions with staff about a variety of issues related to their safety and well-being, including their emotional health, behaviours and safe relationships. Although some work is undertaken regarding e-safety, this does not go far enough, given children’s vulnerabilities when accessing the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recruited a new manager, due to the previous manager leaving the organisation. The new manager is child-focused and has spent time getting to know the children and staff. She has begun to form positive relationships with children and the change in leadership has not unsettled the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers’ monitoring systems are in place, however, they are in their infancy and not yet consistently good. Some shortfalls in oversight mean that children’s behaviour plans have not been updated. Staff lack guidance on what they should do when carrying out mobile phone checks, when they are collecting medication from the pharmacist and when it may be acceptable to leave a child in the car. While this has not caused harm to a child, shortfalls in management oversight have the potential to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is good multi-agency working with professionals and the home’s clinical lead. Professionals are positive about the change of manager and her proactive approach to children’s care. Support from the clinical lead has helped staff to develop their Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 4 knowledge and understanding of childhood trauma. Overall, this is helping staff to care for children well and is supporting the children to make progress from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by managers and told the inspector that things have improved since the new manager has been in post. Staff receive regular supervision and a wide variety of training, both face to face and online. As a result, staff are motivated and have the skills and knowledge to care for children at the home. When practice issues arise, these are responded to promptly and appropriately by the manager. This helps staff to reflect and learn from things that happen.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When a child struggled to settle at night, managers put in place waking night staff for several weeks to support him while his sleeping patterns improved. This shows that managers are responsive and arrange the day-to-day care of the children in line with their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having clear guidance which tells them how to respond to concerns when carrying out phone checks, that new risks are promptly included in children’s plans and that staff have guidance on when it may or may not be acceptable to leave a child unaccompanied in the car. 11 November

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to bathroom windows having window coverings, so that children’s privacy and dignity can be maintained. 7 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 6 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers’ oversight of children’s plans and the home environment and that staff have the information they need to care for children. 11 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to medication not being left where children can access it, and guidelines for staff when transporting medication. 7 October 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure records of restraint are kept that enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child, specifically in relation to debrief discussions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 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: 2652918 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: Ann-Cheri Callow

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2652918 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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