Children's home run by Progress Children’s Services Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 1 SC020859 Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to six children with learning disabilities and associated emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager at the home who is suitably experienced.

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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: 29 November 2022

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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: SC020859 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/09/2021 Full Inadequate 12/06/2019 Full Good 14/12/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a good experience living at this home. There are four children currently living at the home. One child has moved in since the last inspection. The child’s move to the home was well planned and staff completed bespoke training to meet their needs. As a result, the child’s move to the home was positive and they are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming. Children’s bedrooms have been decorated with consideration of their sensory needs. There is ample space in communal areas for all children to relax and enjoy activities. There is space outside for children to play on their go-karts and to use the home’s playground.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised sensitively to their individual preferences and needs. One child’s room has wall stickers of superheroes, and all children are supported to select a colour for a feature wall. This supports children to feel a sense of belonging at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s methods of communication. They consistently support children to use their communication aids and this helps children to understand and make choices. One staff member was proud to show how they have developed picture representations of meal choices each day. A child was seen using the symbols to select and discuss their evening meal.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has strongly advocated for children to secure suitable school placements. As a result, all children now attend a school. Staff have good communication with school staff and ensure that information about children is shared. This enables consistent care between home and school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities in the home and they enjoy trips out. One child goes to a youth club, where they have made friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to spend time with their families. One parent commented that communication with staff is ‘exceptional’ and highlighted how well staff record important memories for their child.

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

Staff manage children’s medication well. Competency assessments ensure that staff have the relevant skills to administer medication appropriately. Children’s personalised medication protocols give clear guidance for staff to follow.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home. Children’s plans consider this risk and outline actions staff must take to prevent and respond in the event of children going missing. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 4 Staff are suitably trained in a range of safeguarding topics and workshops. Team meetings are used to review training to help to refresh staff skills and knowledge. This equips staff well to provide safe care.

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

Staff know how to respond to allegations. These are taken seriously at the home. When an allegation was made, appropriate safeguarding action was taken. The manager also considered the impact on relationships between the child and member of staff, taking action to support reparation. This has ensured that the child felt safe and experienced a positive outcome.

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

Staff provide clear guidance and boundaries to children. As a result, children know what is expected of them. Despite this, there has been a significant number of behavioural incidents at the home. Staff physically intervene when necessary. Managers seek specialist advice to ensure that any physical intervention is the least restrictive and most effective.

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

The records of incidents are inconsistent in terms of quality and clarity. Lack of detail in reports, and delays in completing discussions with staff and children, means that opportunities for accurate reflection and learning have been lost.

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

There is frequent damage in the home and prompt action is taken to address it. The environment is generally well kept. However, there have been some hazards which have not been appropriately identified or made safe. For example, a fire risk assessment highlighted that a hole in the ceiling needs repair and assessment. Some action was taken to make this safe but this left a further potential hazard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the children’s needs and is enthusiastic about helping them achieve positive outcomes. She has strong values and promotes a child- centred approach. This is reflected in the care planning for children and is evident in the staff practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s evaluation of the home is well balanced. She understands the areas for development and can recognise strengths. The manager also has a strong system for reviewing and monitoring the home. The manager’s quality of care review has been completed, although this has not been sent to the regulator in line with timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a competent workforce. Staff have completed a wide range of training. Staff demonstrated good understanding of how to care for the children and were able to speak confidently about the needs of the children. This shows that training is effective and has a positive impact on the care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong staff team. There are some vacancies. However, this is well managed with use of consistent agency staff and ongoing recruitment. There has been suitable consideration of relevant information to ensure that safer recruitment takes place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 5 Supervision of the permanent staff takes place regularly. This promotes staff development well. There has been a shortfall in supervision of agency staff. Some agency staff have completed a lot of shifts over a period of months and received no formal supervision. This means that opportunity to reflect on practice and staff development has been missed. This is somewhat mitigated by agency staff working under direct guidance of permanent staff. The organisation is reviewing how it coordinates agency staff supervision and has plans to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership and management at the home are enhanced by a deputy manager and team leaders. Managers ensure that children have good experiences and that their progress is celebrated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 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, The 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

This specifically relates to ensuring that hazards in the home environment are swiftly and suitably addressed. 28 December

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 28 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 7 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii) (c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that records are sufficiently detailed and accurate and that the user of the measure and the child are spoken to without delay.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months. In particular, this should be completed and submitted to the regulator in a timely way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. This includes agency members of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC020859 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Progress House, 127 Millfields Road, Wolverhampton WV4 6JG

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Inspectors

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Laura Norcop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC020859 9 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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