Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 1 SC008269 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

This home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022 and holds the required qualification. In addition to this home, the registered manager also manages another home in the organisation.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2023 Full Good 17/11/2021 Full Good 05/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/10/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home and two children have moved out. There are currently two children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-managed, sensitive arrangements to help them move into and out of the home in a supportive way. One child was supported to move into foster care, in line with her wishes and feelings. The staff continue to keep in touch with her and her foster carer and have invited the child to join in activities with staff and children she lived with. This has helped children to maintain links with people who are important to them. It has also helped children to know they are cared for and increases their feelings of acceptance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child, who has a plan to move into semi-independent accommodation, has been supported to learn independent living skills, such as how to use public transport. Staff are providing a period of outreach support to make sure that the child settles in their new accommodation and has familiar people to call on for support if they need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff are a key strength of this home. Staff know children well and enjoy spending time with them. Children trust staff and are relaxed in their company. One child’s social worker said that despite several previous placements, a child has opened up about their past for the first time while living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have been out of formal education are supported to find new education provision. Education work is carried out at the home with a tutor while staff liaise with professionals to identify a suitable placement. Staff proactively challenge professionals when they need to. There is evidence of strong multi-agency work that makes a positive difference for children. For one child, this has meant they have started a new school after being out of education for a while.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have additional health needs are not always supported by plans that detail how their health needs will be met. This means that it is unclear if children are working towards achieving all their health outcomes and what actions staff are taking to support them.

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

Children are safe and feel safe. Staff are clear about their safeguarding responsibilities and have a good understanding of children’s needs. Children benefit from well-written risk management plans that help staff to understand risks to children and how to respond to keep them safe. These plans are kept under regular review. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 4 Children are involved in writing their behaviour management plans and help staff to understand how to care for them when they are angry or upset. Due to the good relationships between staff and children, staff are quick to recognise when children are becoming distressed and use their knowledge of children and relationships to quickly diffuse potential incidents. This means that there are few serious incidents.

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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. Staff are clear about what they need to do if a child goes missing from home and all children have written protocols that detail what staff should do if this happens.

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

Direct work is carried out with children around areas such as cannabis misuse, emotional health and online safety, providing children with advice and guidance to understand risks. Direct work is supported by collaborative work with other agencies, including seeking professional support when needed.

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

Rewards are used regularly to reinforce positive behaviour. However, consequences, although rarely used, are not always applied consistently. Records of consequences given do not clearly reflect whether they are effective in helping children to recognise unwanted behaviour and prevent future occurrence.

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

Restraint is used when necessary to keep children safe and the manager carries out a thorough debrief with staff to reflect on incidents. However, on one occasion, the record of the use of restraint does not detail a clear rationale for why the measure was used.

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

While risks to children are largely well managed, risks relating to medication management for one child were not handled well by managers and staff. This led to two incidents that potentially could have been avoided. Staff took appropriate action to ensure the child’s immediate well-being and liaised with relevant health professionals. However, staff could not continue to meet this child’s needs and they had to move on from the home. This was not a good outcome for this child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably experienced manager. Professionals from other agencies are overwhelmingly positive about his child-focused approach and intuitive, proactive responses to concerns for children. The manager has created a warm, nurturing environment for children. There is a clear management structure. The home’s leadership team has a plan to continue to develop the home and has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are resilient, well trained and motivated about their work. They work well together as a team and feel supported. New staff are recruited safely and benefit from increased supervision, one-to-one time with managers and a thorough induction programme.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good system to ensure that there is always adequate staff cover. There has been no use of agency staff, and managers use staff from other local homes in Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 5 the organisation to provide cover when required. Staff from other homes are introduced to children throughout the year through group activities, joint parties and having additional staff on shift. This means that children are always cared for by people they know.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established good working relationships with external professionals, including the police, health professionals and placing authorities. This partnership approach means that children benefit from access to services, advice and guidance provided by other professionals in the community. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv)) 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to seeking health advice or a medication review when there are ongoing concerns about a child’s health and use of medication. 31 May 2024

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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; 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 7 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; 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)(ii)(v)(vii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there is a clear record of why restraint was required and the effectiveness of any consequences is clearly recorded and reviewed by the manager.

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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: SC008269 8

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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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Inspector

Jessica Forshaw, Ofsted Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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