Children's Home run by Progressive Care Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 1 Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted on 13 November 2023 and is run by a private provider. It offers care for up to four children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home soon after registration and before the child moved into the home. Another manager and senior managers are overseeing the running of the home until a new manager is in post.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2751408 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child lives in a spacious and well-presented home. She had a quick but positive experience moving into the home. She visited the home and met some staff beforehand.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making gradual progress. She is settling into living at the home and starting to form relationships with the staff. The staff are understanding and empathetic of the child’s individual needs, experiences and feelings. They care for the child in a way that is suitable for the child and at a pace she is comfortable with. Staff understand and are supporting the child to work towards goals such as attending medical appointments, improving sleep routines and getting back into education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has started to do activities with staff, such as going shopping and ice skating, which she enjoys. She allows the staff to care for her, which reflects the relationships being built and consistent boundaries. This helps to provide the child with predictability and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain relationships with the people who are important to her. The child enjoys quality time and outings with her family and is rekindling friendships which have been important to her in the past.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff involve the child in her care. Care plans have colourful sections where the child has written her views and feelings. Staff listen to the child’s views on matters such as meals she would like to eat, decisions about her home and the activities she would like to do, and they plan her care around these. There is also a child-friendly newsletter, which is informative and engaging.

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

The child is comfortable and relaxed at the home. Staff understand risks to the child’s safety and respond quickly. In the more recent weeks, the number of times that the child has gone missing from the home has reduced. When the child is missing from home, staff follow her, try to support her to return home and inform the relevant organisations and agencies. Staff and managers work actively with other professionals and carers of other children who the child is friends with. These actions reduce the child’s risks associated with going missing from home.

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

Staff try to support the child to learn about things that affect her safety. Staff recognise that the child participates better when the discussions are informal. They are adapting their approach to try and make these conversations more effective. These discussions help the child to develop her skills and awareness of dangers. Inspection report children’s home: 2751408 3 Staff support the child to better manage her feelings and emotions. They provide her with space and time and are guided by the child and the pace she is comfortable with. As a result, incidents are rare. There is no use of holds. Staff have not used consequences as they do not consider these would be effective for the child.

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

When new risks emerge or risks change, staff record these but do not review and update the risk assessment. The risk assessment does not include new information from a multi-agency meeting about the risk of child exploitation. The child’s records do not contain any information about an external door alarm system being used.

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

The inspector found cleaning products left in bathrooms and a large amount of broken glass in the garden. Staff cleared these away immediately when they were identified.

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good

The registered manager left the home before it opened. There is no dedicated manager committed to the long-term running of the home or the child who lives there. In the interim, experienced and qualified managers from another children’s home and the senior leadership team oversee and lead the home. They are maintaining visibility and presence in the home. One of these managers is child focused and drives the care of the child by modelling this to staff in practice.

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good

Leaders do not ensure that Ofsted is notified of all serious events. On three occasions, Ofsted has not been notified when the child has gone missing from home and a safeguarding strategy meeting has taken place. When a child protection enquiry was initiated, the notification did not provide sufficient information about all the concerns. This limits the regulator’s ability to provide effective oversight of children’s care.

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good

There has not been any feedback or escalation with relevant people to understand the risks relating to the location of the home. Visits by an independent person have also been delayed. The first visit to the home took place two months after the home registered.

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good

Managers carry out relevant checks to ensure that staff are suitable to care for children. However, in one staff record, there is no reference from the previous employer and a gap in employment has not been explored. Improvements are needed to ensure that reasonable steps are taken to reduce the risk to children.

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good

The home does not have enough dedicated and experienced staff to provide care for the child living at the home. The staff caring for the child also work at another children’s home and are working at this home to temporarily address staffing shortages. Staff working in the home feel supported and valued. They receive regular team meetings, training, including additional workshops responding to emerging needs and concerns, and supervision to enable them to fulfil their roles. Inspection report children’s home: 2751408 4

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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

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

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; and (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should make sure that there are clear risk assessments and plans in place to reduce the risk of harm to children. 15 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

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 satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 15 February 2024 Inspection report children’s home: 2751408 5 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(b) (5)(a)(i)) 15 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1) (7)(a)) 15 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 15 April 2024

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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 children’s home: 2751408 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 51 Attercliffe Common, Sheffield S9 2AE

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Inspector

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2751408 7 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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