Children's home run by Platform Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 1 Registered provider: Platform Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home has been registered since July 2021.

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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: 8 November 2021

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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: 2627409 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children currently live at the home. Since the last inspection, five children have moved into the home and three children have left. One child was supported by staff in reunification with their family and returned home. Another child was helped to move to another children’s home so that they could live with their sibling. One child was doing well but became increasingly unsettled and requested to move. Managers reluctantly agreed and made the difficult decision to end the placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff working at the home are committed to providing individualised care. They have developed plans that are based on each child’s needs. Staff assess children’s starting points and develop a programme to support their progress. This programme helps children build resilience and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have formed positive relationships with staff. They say that they like the staff and would go to them if they were worried. The inspector observed kindness and a nurturing approach. This included staff offering advice and support in a way that encouraged children to do things they did not want to do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children living at the home struggle with their mental health. Staff help them to access services such as child and adolescent mental health services and counselling services. When managers feel children are not getting the support they need, they have been proactive in advocating for children so that their health needs are met. This enables children to be supported to come to terms with their past traumas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where possible, children continue with the education they attended previously. For some children, education is going well. They have good attendance and are progressing. All children are aspirational. When children are not in formal education, staff support their learning through other life skills, such as developing independence, applying for work and attending interviews.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given opportunities to engage in a wide variety of activities. Some children are more reluctant to engage. Despite this, staff work hard and encourage participation. Staff take children to try different activities and encourage them to join clubs. Children have been to theme parks, the beach and on holiday. Staff also encourage participation in charity events, such as Race for Life, coffee mornings and donating food to local charities. This helps children feel part of the community, knowing that they make a difference to others through their fundraising.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged by staff to maintain their relationships with family and friends. Where agreed, children are able to have sleepovers at friend’s houses, spend time with friends in the community and see their family. When needed, staff support family visits so that children do not miss out on seeing those who are important to them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 4

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

Some children at the home are at risk of self-harm. Staff are not judgemental or shocked in their response. They respond in a supportive way, acknowledging children are struggling and offering them help and support. Staff are prompt at seeking medical advice if needed. As a result, children do tell staff when they have self-harmed. This enables staff to take action to support and reduce the risks of further incidents.

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

On occasions, children do go missing from the home. Staff follow the missing-from- home protocols and do everything they can to try and locate and return the child as soon as possible. When children return, debriefs are undertaken by staff, and placing authorities complete return home interviews. This helps the manager to identify triggers so he can plan to try and reduce any future missing-from-home incidents.

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

Concerns raised regarding children’s welfare are taken seriously. Managers take prompt action and where necessary suspend staff. Incidents are recorded and reported, then fully investigated. Any learning following these incidents are actioned to prevent further concerns and to increase children’s safety.

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

Staff know children well and have developed plans that identify their risks along with the action that staff need to take. For one child who self-harms, their plans indicate that staff are to undertake a room search if there are self-harm incidents. However, staff do not always do this if the child hands over the item. As a result, it is possible other items are still available in the child’s room.

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

Managers at the home have allowed staff to use fixed door stops to prop open internal fire doors. This is not safe practice, and in the event of a fire, this could pose a risk to those in the home as the doors will not automatically close.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a child-focused practitioner who is passionate about children receiving the best possible care. He has formed positive relationships with children and knows them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing at the home is now much improved. However, last autumn, there were some shortfalls in staffing. The manager did not have a contingency plan in place and, as a result, needed to be on shift. This impacted on the management oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring and oversight have improved. He has made sure children’s progress is monitored. He understands that for some children this is not linear and that children will sometimes regress. With the improved oversight, the manager promptly seeks support from other professionals and reviews plans so that children return to their previous point much more quickly, and further regression is avoided. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 5 Staff are positive about the home. They say they are well supported by the manager, that they receive frequent reflective supervision and that the induction is comprehensive. One worker said, ‘I didn’t realise what training I should have had previously’. As a result, staff feel invested in and valued as team members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with a broad range of training. This training is a combination of online and face-to-face learning. This variety means that staff have the skills and knowledge they need to care for the children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake the relevant childcare qualifications and most complete these within the required timescales. However, one worker has not completed this qualification with the timescale. The manager has put in place an action plan with timescales for the worker to complete. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 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 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that door wedges are not used to prop open fire doors. 23 February 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, this refers to when room searches should take place for a child who self-harms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that there are contingency plans in place in the event of a shortfall in staffing levels. If it is likely that there might only be one member of staff on duty at any time, the manager should make a formal assessment of the implications for children’s care, including any likely risks. This assessment should be recorded and available for inspection by Ofsted and placing

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Recommendations

authorities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.18)  The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in regulation 32 (4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32 (5). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12) Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 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: 2627409 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platform Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 2, First Floor, Millennium Court, First Avenue, Centrum 100, Burton-Upon-Trent DE14 2WH

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2627409 9 inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. 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

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Inspector

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 .

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Inspector

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Inspector

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

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