Children's home run by PCF Residential Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 1 Registered provider: PCF Residential Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted imposed a three-month condition on this home on 21 June 2022. The three- month condition was removed on 11 October 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Since this time, the manager and responsible individual left the home. An interim responsible individual and manager have been appointed. The interim manager has been in post since 5 December 2023 and has not yet submitted a complete application to Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, two children lived at the home.

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improvement to be good

One child has had a positive and well-planned experience of moving into the home. This has helped her to settle into the home well.

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improvement to be good

In contrast, one child’s admission to the home has not been managed well. There was a failure to comprehensively assess how the staff can meet the child’s complex needs. Important information about the risks for the child were not robustly considered. The manager has recently made the decision that the child can no longer live at the home because staff cannot keep him safe. Subsequently, the child will experience further change and rejection as a result of poor care planning.

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improvement to be good

Staff are working hard to create positive relationships with children and help them to invest in the home. However, staff are not always successful in engaging with one child, and he frequently leaves the home without permission, does not return home at agreed times and goes missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

Children attend statutory health appointments with staff support. However, staff are not always effective in helping children to understand their health needs. For example, staff have not supported one child in relation to following a healthy diet, and another child has not received sufficient education about the importance of wearing glasses to support his sight.

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improvement to be good

Staff prioritise the children’s education. Children either attend school or have tuition in the home. The manager actively engages with educational professionals to advocate for children so they can progress with their learning. This ensures that the children’s educational needs are met and, because of this, both children are making educational progress.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a range of social and community-based activities. One child spoke of her love of horse riding and how staff support her with this. Children also benefit from other positive experiences, such as day trips and movie nights, and one child enjoys going to the local gym with staff. These opportunities enhance children’s experiences and help to develop their self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Staff talk to children about their views, wishes and feelings. This has helped children to keep in touch with people who are important to them. As a result, one child has been able to re-connect with a family member he has not seen for a long time. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 4

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improvement to be good

Staff responses to children during challenging incidents are variable. While there are pockets of good practice when staff implement safety plans, there are occasions when staff have not followed a child’s risk assessment. These resulted in missed opportunities to protect the child when they were missing from home. However, overall, managers and staff work collaboratively with other agencies including the police, the youth offending team and the local authority. This means that decision- making is not made in isolation and matters relating to children who go missing from home are reviewed well with the team around the child.

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improvement to be good

There are a variety of risk assessments in place for children. These are developed in the context of historical and current risks. However, some risk assessments are confusing. For example, it is not always clear which risk management strategies are current, and the language used is sometimes vague and open to interpretation. This can cause confusion about what is expected from staff, especially when there are lots of different staff coming in and out of the home.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is not currently used in the home. Some staff are not yet trained in physical intervention. However, the manager has plans in place to address this.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is encouraged through the use of reward systems, and children are set age-appropriate targets in line with their needs. However, there have been occasions when staff have used consequences that are not proportionate or logical to the behaviour displayed by children. The manager has not recognised that in doing so staff are not responding to children in line with the home’s ethos and therapeutic approach. This does not help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others.

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improvement to be good

Alarms are used on children’s bedrooms doors. However, children are not consulted regularly about the reasons for this. In addition, managers and staff do not always review the need for this type of surveillance in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since it resumed operation in October 2022. One of the directors became the interim manager while a replacement manager was sought. An application has been submitted on two occasions, but this has had to be returned because the application had not been completed correctly. As a result, Ofsted has not been able to assess the manager’s suitability for the role of registered manager and cannot be assured that they have the required skills and experience to undertake the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive training that enables them to care for the child. However, only three of seven staff have the relevant qualification. Two staff have not achieved their Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 5 qualification within the required timescales. This means that children are not yet receiving care from a suitably experienced and qualified staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has experienced a number of staffing changes since the last inspection. There are currently four vacancies which have been recruited for. While this is a positive development, at the moment there is a reliance on agency staff to fill gaps in the rota. As a result, children are cared for by a number of different staff. This means that children do not always receive care from consistent, experienced staff who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose states that staff will receive monthly consultations with a psychologist to help them work therapeutically with children. This is not in place. This means that children are not receiving care as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. The statement of purpose was amended during the inspection visit.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and oversight of the quality of care requires improvements. Managers do not identify shortfalls and address these promptly. This limits the development of the service provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records do not give a clear narrative of actions taken to support children and keep them safe. The manager is working with staff to improve this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager advocates well for children and challenges other professionals when she feels that the services children receive are not good enough. This has been instrumental in ensuring that children get the support they need to make progress in education and that their care planning is reviewed in line with changing needs and risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has positive relationships with partner agencies. The manager and staff regularly attend risk management meetings to share information about a child living in the home. One professional told the inspector that the staff in the home have built good relationships with children. Another professional stated that the manager genuinely cares about what is best for the children living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that staff follow children’s missing- from-care protocols. In addition, ensure that each child has a risk assessment that provides staff with clear strategies to follow to keep children safe and that strategies are relevant and up to date. 30 May 2023

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 7 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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;

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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)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that all staff have received the training necessary to carry out their role and that care is delivered in line with the statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The provider must make every effort to ensure that children receive continuity of care from a consistent staff team.

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that they review, implement and make use of monitoring and review systems to ensure that shortfalls are identified and rectified quickly. The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 30 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 31 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 8 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 satisfied 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.

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Requirement Due date

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 (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff complete the appropriate qualification in a timely way.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance and supplement that provided by their school through personal, social and health education. Specifically, ensure that children Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 9 understand their health needs and that their health needs are reviewed with them regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. In particular, keep the use of alarms on children’s bedroom doors under review and only use them when necessary to protect children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2503031 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PCF Residential Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Brook House, Moss Grove, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 9HS

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2503031 11 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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