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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 1 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns and manages this home. It provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. There are currently three children living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been on maternity leave since 30 June 2023. The assistant manager of the home has made an application to Ofsted to be registered.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 13 September 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2022 Full Good 02/02/2022 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Good 12/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live here experience stability and consistency. Two children have lived here for two years, and the third child has lived in the home for a year. No members of staff have left, and no additional staff have been recruited. This stability supports children to build positive relationships inside and outside of the home, including with family and friendship groups.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live here are happy and feel safe and cared for. Professionals who work with the children agree and feel that children make good progress across all areas of their lives. One child continues to take care of her rabbit, which lives in the child’s bedroom.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in education. Children are supported to attend regularly, even when this is difficult for them. Children have made good progress in education. When progress in education is impacted, staff advocate for children’s needs and liaise with professionals to address the issues.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported with their health and emotional well-being needs. They visit the GP when required and access additional, specialist support when this will benefit them. One child has been empowered to seek support around enhancing their emotional well-being. Appropriate liaison has taken place with those involved in the child’s care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good routines, and this helps them understand what is expected of them. Staff have supported one child to develop better personal hygiene in line with their age. The child proudly shared their skincare routine that staff encourage and support. This helps the child to feel confident.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences are recorded, alongside photographs, to ensure that children have memories to take with them when they move on. These detail various activities, both inside and outside of the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is not being appropriately maintained. The outside of the home is overgrown with weeds, despite this being identified in the independent person’s report. Inside the home, some communal areas are not appropriately maintained and cleaned. Children’s bedrooms have significant outstanding repairs, which have not been completed in a timely manner, or not noticed by staff. Staff do not always check and tidy children’s rooms.

p.3

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

Risks for children reduce while they live here. Risks are identified and there are clear strategies and actions staff should take, including proactive ways to manage risks to children. When risks are present, staff respond to these appropriately. Staff work Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 4 proactively with children around a range of subjects to increase children’s ability to manage risks.

p.3

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

There has been one instance of a child being absent from the home. Staff responded swifty to this, as it was out of character for the child. Staff searched the local area and liaised with other agencies to ensure that the child was as safe as possible. Staff spent time afterwards with the child to understand the reasons for the child leaving the home and to prevent it from happening again.

p.4

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

Children feel trusted and respected by staff. Children are supported to take age and developmentally appropriate risks. One child has an independence plan, in line with their wishes and ambitions for the future.

p.4

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

Children feel that they have positive relationships with staff. These relationships are used to support children to feel safe when they are experiencing crisis. At times, physical intervention has been used to ensure that children are safe. When this happens, the manager spends time with staff and children separately, ensuring that staff have space to reflect and consider alternative ways to support children. The manager has introduced specific plans to support children to make choices around how staff support them if physical interventions are needed.

p.4

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged with rewards. Children can earn rewards for daily tasks as well as additional rewards in line with their interests. When consequences are used, they are non-punitive and are recorded appropriately. However, the manager does not always evaluate the effectiveness of consequences.

p.4

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

There is no system in place to check the efficacy or wear and tear of the fire doors outside of annual services. Two of the three self-closing fire doors in the home were ineffective at the time of the inspection, although this was rectified on day two.

p.4

good

The manager does not yet have effective oversight of children’s documents or monitoring systems relating to the home. At the time of the inspection, none of the children in the home had an up-to-date statutory care plan available on file. The manager has made efforts to gain these from the local authorities. However, he has not appropriately escalated his concerns in a timely way. This has prevented the home from ensuring that the care being provided aligns with the needs set out in the statutory care plans.

p.4

good

The lack of monitoring systems contributed to the manager not being aware of the issue with the fire doors and the maintenance issues. The manager also failed to evidence having oversight of details relating to the induction and probation for staff, how poor performance will be managed and processes around supervision. There is no workforce development plan that would contain this information. The manager’s oversight is impacted by the number of shifts that he works on top of his role as a manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 5 Regular reviews of the quality of care provided to the children take place by the manager and the independent person. However, the manager’s review did not contain the views of parents and staff, and the independent person’s reports contained language that was not child friendly.

p.4

good

The registered manager is currently on maternity leave. In her absence, the assistant manager has been managing the home. He has made an application to register alongside the current manager and has enrolled on to the level 5 qualification to support his progression.

p.5

good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. They receive regular supervision, which offers them opportunities to reflect on the children’s needs as well as their own development. This is further supported by regular team meetings, where children are discussed in detail.

p.5

good

Mandatory training is up to date for all staff. Additional training is available and can be accessed where this supports development or meets the needs of the children. Progression of staff is supported and encouraged by management where appropriate. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that the statutory care plans for children held on file are up to date. 1 December 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the garden and outside areas of the premises are well maintained.

p.6

Requirement Due date

That children’s bedrooms are appropriately maintained, including timely repairs and regular cleaning.

p.6

Requirement Due date

That communal areas are regularly cleaned and maintained. 1 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

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)(f)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that they have systems in place so that all children’s statutory documents are on file, or appropriate and timely escalation processes are used.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The manager must also ensure that when children are given a consequence, the effectiveness of this is appropriately evaluated.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The manager must also ensure that the language used within reports relating to children are child friendly, and that records of children’s meetings enable those who were not present at these meetings to understand what has been discussed. 10 January 2024

p.7

Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

p.7

Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that a monitoring system is in place so that fire doors are checked and maintained regularly. 1 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 8 The registered person must ensure—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 31 March 2024

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. The plan should include information about induction and probation for staff, how poor performance will be managed and processes around supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.8

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: 1270568 9

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered manager: Monique Bristol-Colbridge

p.9

Inspector

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 10 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.

p.9

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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10