Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in St Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 1 SC022442 Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home, which provides care for one child. The home’s statement of purpose states that the child may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 27 September 2022

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

This children’s home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 27 September 2022. Following this monitoring visit, compliance notices were issued under regulation 12 and regulation 13. These have been met. We have made a new full inspection judgement in line with our inspection framework. The children’s home’s new full inspection judgement is: requires improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Inadequate 17/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 3

p.2

improvement to be good

The overall experiences and progress of the child are compromised because of the limited time the child spends in the home. Staff try to engage the child and support him to develop practical skills, such as managing finances, to help him prepare for adulthood and moving on from the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child is currently not in employment or education. The manager and staff have attempted to source an appropriate course that the child may enjoy. The lack of multi-agency working in this area has contributed to the delay of a suitable college placement or apprenticeship being identified. There is no plan in place to support informal learning with the child as an interim measure. This does not help the child to achieve in education or achieve their aspirations.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child’s emotional health and well-being is promoted in the home. The staff team strives to ensure that the child attends their appointments and that their health needs are met. The child has recently disengaged from animal therapy. The manager and team acknowledged the significant impact this may have on the child’s emotional well-being and are identifying different ways in which to support his participation in therapy.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child’s care plan does not contain achievable targets specific to the child, and lacks detail in how the staff can effectively support the child.

p.3

improvement to be good

The staff and manager support the child to spend time with his family as and when he wishes. As a result, the child is sustaining and developing relationships with those who are important to him.

p.3

improvement to be good

Feedback from professionals was positive. One professional commented that, despite the limited time the child spends in the home, there had been progress from his starting point.

p.3

improvement to be good

Individual protocols in place for staff to follow in the event the child is missing have been reviewed and shared with professionals. When the child is missing, staff are proactive in trying to ascertain the child’s whereabouts and work with the child and other agencies to minimise risk. Return home interviews take place with the child following each period of missing, and the staff encourage the child to engage in these.

p.3

improvement to be good

There has been no physical intervention used in the home. Staff do know the individual risks presented by the child and have supported the child to understand Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 4 criminal exploitation in an age-appropriate way. Individual risk management plans have been reviewed and cover a range of risks and behaviours, and include strategies that staff use to support the child. This contributes to staff having a good understanding of the child’s behaviour. However, on one occasion, staff failed to inform the child of a consequence in a timely way, which resulted in an incident in the home and significant damage to the environment.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child’s health plans are not always followed by staff. For example, a review had taken place with the child and it was agreed that medication would be administered at a specific time to ease side effects. It was identified during inspection that, on occasion, there were inconsistencies in the administration times of medication.

p.4

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been improvements in relation to multi-agency working. This has resulted in a number of meetings being held to consider the future plans for the child. However, the manager has failed to discuss the child’s education plan with the virtual head, to ensure that the child received adequate support.

p.4

good

The manager has demonstrated improvements in the home. When there have been concerns about staff practice, the manager has addressed these without delay.

p.4

good

There continue to be some shortfalls in the manager’s oversight of records. For example, room searches had taken place, but the manager had failed to identify that some records had not been completed by staff.

p.4

good

Records of staff supervision are now in place. These are occurring regularly and there has been an improvement in the level of detail and recording. Supervisions are now an effective tool for reflective practice, and when there have been concerns there are clear records of the manager challenging practice and educating staff in a supportive manner.

p.4

good

Since the last inspection, staff have received training to ensure that they have the skills to meet the child’s needs. This includes training in relation to substance misuse, advanced safeguarding and criminal exploitation. The manager has also supported staff to engage in workshops to develop their understanding of professional curiosity and how to take appropriate action to share concerns.

p.4

good

Since the last inspection, the manager has taken action to ensure that health and safety issues have been addressed and repairs undertaken. The home now presents as homely and is a well-maintained environment for the child to live in.

p.4

good

The manager has challenged the effectiveness and diligence of the independent visitor and escalated her concerns to the responsible individual. As a result, the independent visitor for the home has now changed, but the impact of this has not yet been demonstrated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(v)(ix))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the manager ensuring that an appropriate education course or apprenticeship is arranged for the child without delay. That, when a child is not in education, training or employment, there are clear plans in place to support informal learning. That the manager must also ensure that they liaise with the virtual head and access the local offer to ensure that the child is adequately supported by all agencies. 22 January 2023

p.5

Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

develop the child’s interests and hobbies; 22 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 6 participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the manager ensuring that there are opportunities for the child to develop interests and make a positive contribution in the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to the manager ensuring that all room search records are completed and contain the manager’s overview on the effectiveness of the measure. In addition, the manager must ensure that the child’s monthly care plan is specific to the child with realistic personalised targets. 22 January 2023

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the above principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

p.6

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: SC022442 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PIC Children’s Services Limited 2 North Street, Haydock, St Helens WA11 0TW

p.7

Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC022442 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8