Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 1 SC390576 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a large private company. The home provides care for up to four children who have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2022 and holds a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/06/2021 Full Good 12/12/2019 Full Good 10/04/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, no children have moved into or out of the home. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm, welcoming and well decorated. Soft furnishings and photos help to create a homely environment. Children’s bedrooms are comfortably furnished, and children are encouraged to personalise their own space. This supports children to develop a sense of belonging. Once child said to the inspector, ‘I like living in the home, and I like my bedroom.’ During the inspection, some minor maintenance issues were raised; however, these were addressed by the end of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. Children are supported to attend all their routine health appointments. Staff promote children’s fitness and well-being by supporting them to attend activities, such as boxing and trampolining.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All four children attend mainstream education and have made progress. This is a remarkable achievement for some children, who were not attending school before living in the home. Staff have encouraged one child to attend education through transporting them to and from school. Another child has recently finished their GCSE exams. Staff and education providers work together to help children achieve the best education outcomes, which is done through daily conversations and staff attending school meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed positive and trusting relationships with staff. One child told the inspectors, ‘Staff were good.’ During the inspection, inspectors observed warm and friendly interactions between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are sought through regular children’s key-work sessions and in weekly children’s meetings. This helps children to influence the care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills by helping them to budget and encouraging them to help with daily independence tasks, such as washing and drying their own laundry and cleaning their bedrooms. These tasks support children to build independence skills and prepare them for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to spend time with those who are important to them, such as family and friends. Staff have positive relationships with family members, ensuring that safe and meaningful contact takes place when appropriate. One child’s family member told inspectors that the staff who supervise their contact are extremely supportive. This approach helps children to maintain relationships with families. Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 4

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

Staff keep children safe through prioritising their safety and welfare. Children’s risk assessments are detailed and include clear guidance for staff to follow. When concerns have been highlighted, staff and the manager have responded promptly, taking appropriate action to ensure that children are kept safe and concerns are investigated. Children say they feel safe and that staff help them to stay safe.

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

There have been very few safeguarding incidents in the home. When incidents do occur, staff manage them appropriately and follow the correct safeguarding procedures to ensure that children are kept safe.

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

Staff respond quickly when children go missing from the home. They follow missing- from-home procedures, search for children and work with the local police until children are found. When children return to the home, staff spend time with them, giving them the opportunity to share any worries they have and to discuss their reasons for going missing. Staff use their professional curiosity to understand children’s risks so the right support is put into place and to minimise further missing- from-home incidents.

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

There have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection. This is a testament to the positive relationships that staff have developed with the children. Staff have a good understanding of children’s behaviors and can successfully use their de-escalation techniques to calm children down. All staff are trained in physical intervention, and to develop this further, the manager has provided additional behavior support training to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a skilled and experienced registered manager who has high aspirations for the children and the home. The manager has effective monitoring systems in place that support the development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is staffed by a stable and consistent staff team that has the required skills and qualifications to support children’s needs. New staff receive a thorough induction that provides them with a detailed programme of training and guidance in their new role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although staff receive the required training as well as specialist training to meet the needs of children, staff have not had any ‘missing from home’ training. Although the absence of this training has not had an impact on how staff manage incidents of children going missing from home, staff would benefit from this training to develop their practice further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular practice-related supervision and annual appraisals and feel well supported by the manager. One staff member said that the manager ‘is always present, and I know I can access her support as and when I need to. If she is not in the home, she is a phone call away.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 5 The manager and the staff have positive working relationships with professionals. Social workers and education providers were positive about the progress that children have made since living in the home. One professional said, ‘[Name of child] is very settled and has formed positive relationships with the staff. This has helped to develop my own relationship with [name of child].’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and they should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC390576 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspectors

Jas Nahar, Social Care Inspector Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC390576 8 and 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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