Children's Home run by Pathway Children’s Services Ltd in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 1 Registered provider: Pathway 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 located on the edges of a coastal city with easy access to the beach, local towns and other amenities. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with learning disabilities. The home is part of a private organisation that has other registered homes for children and adults. Four children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 3

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improvement to be good

Overall, children are receiving support from a core staff team who know them well. However, since the last inspection, a significant number of different staff have worked in the home. This means that the children are not yet receiving consistent, high-quality care and support.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress since moving to the home. However, the lack of consistency in staff has had an impact in this area. Children’s plans and records, including their behaviour support plans, are not readily available on the home’s computerised system. This means that new staff to the home do not have access to children’s care plans to ensure that they are supporting the children correctly.

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improvement to be good

Children have some excellent relationships with the staff who have worked in the home for a longer time. They are excited to see them and are happy spending time with them. The children appear confident in the home and know that it is their space. Children seek out their preferred staff, particularly the registered manager, in favour of new or unfamiliar staff.

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improvement to be good

All children attend education as planned. Teachers say that communication with staff is good. Core staff liaise with specialist staff at the school to ensure consistency in communication tools and approaches to personal care. Staff support one child to travel to school to help manage what can be a worrying journey for the child.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to understand their health and well-being needs. Those who can, are beginning to learn how to administer their own medication and understand what it is for and how it makes them feel. Children are supported to understand about healthy and varied diets, and staff work closely with the child and adolescent mental health services to look at how best to support children who are on a restricted diet. Children who are able are being supported to travel independently in the community and to school.

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improvement to be good

Children’s views are listened to, and they inform change in the home. Children can choose how they spend their pocket money and the activities they go on. Staff help them to share their views during their statutory meetings and advocate for them at these times. Children have access to advocates to ensure that their opinions are shared with those who make decisions about their lives.

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improvement to be good

The high number of staff working in the home over the last year has impacted on children feeling safe and secure in the home. At times, this has caused issues such as children choosing not to listen to certain staff and being wary of new people coming into Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 4 the home. Children have preferred staff who they are confident in approaching should they be worried or upset. Overall, children are responded to sensitively.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment records of new staff do not show that a full range of safer recruitment and pre-employment checks have been carried out. Reasonable steps have not been taken to verify the reasons why staff have left their previous employment working with children or vulnerable adults.

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improvement to be good

The core team of staff know and understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities. They know how to respond when children are worried or upset and how to report any concerns that they may have about children’s safety and well-being. Joint working with the local authority safeguarding officer is good, and the registered manager is confident in contacting them to share any concerns that they may have.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used as a last resort. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and what they are communicating through their behaviour. There is a high number of physical interventions recorded. The registered manager has full oversight of these, and, overall, they are for guides to safety or another area. However, reports are not clear on how children have been guided, which means that this could be open to interpretation.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager recognises that records need to be clearer and is currently supporting senior staff to ensure that they provide suitable debriefs after a guide or intervention has taken place. Children benefit from the approach of using natural consequences. Again, there is a high number recorded, but most of these are the children willingly helping staff to tidy up any mess they have made after they have been upset or worried.

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improvement to be good

Direct work carried out with the children when they have been unsafe online has not been recorded. Children can explain how they need to be safe online, but there is no record of actions taken by staff to support them with this.

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improvement to be good

The home is not consistently well maintained. Repairs have not been fully addressed or have not been completed to the required standard. The back garden is unkept and has a lot of weeds. A requirement was raised regarding these issues at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The current responsible individual does not have the experience required to support the registered manager when making decisions regarding concerns that may arise for the children who live in the home. In addition, no staff in the home, other than the registered manager, have a suitable residential childcare qualification. This means that children are not being cared for by suitably qualified staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is a true asset to the home. She works tirelessly to ensure that the children have the best possible care and outcomes. The manager has high aspirations for all the children, and staff say that she leads by example. Social workers Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 5 comment positively about the communication and progress children are making in the home, while raising concerns about the high turnover of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff feel incredibly well supported by the registered manager and the recently appointed deputy. They feel they can go to them with any concerns, ideas or requests for training and know that they will be listened to. Staff benefit from regular supervision to continuously monitor their practice. Staff have access to all mandatory training, and specialist courses are commissioned and often delivered by the registered manager. The recent appointment of a training manager, who has significant experience in this area, is hoped to improve the quality of training and support the staff to put their training into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children’s progress and achievements are well monitored, and their successes are celebrated through ‘where I am now’ logs. These are written to the child and show them how far they have come since they have lived in the home. These, alongside the children’s plans, show that they are receiving suitable care despite the other shortfalls noted in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Joint working with partner agencies is a strength in the home. The managers maintain positive links with social workers, education professionals and children’s families to help provide consistency of care in all settings. A headteacher noted this is a strength in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the home. She is determined to make changes where she can and develop practice through her own observations and those by the independent visitor. The six-monthly review and evaluation of the service are clear and feed into decisions around staff development and improving outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 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 repair work in the home is carried out to a suitable standard and that the garden is well maintained. 31 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 31 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there is a consistent team of staff and a suitable number of qualified staff working in the home. It also relates to ensuring that records are fully completed and that plans are clear and available for all staff.

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 31 October 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

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

This specifically relates to ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to verify the reasons why staff have left previous employment with children or vulnerable adults. 31 October 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

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)) 31 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 8 This specifically relates to ensuring that records show how children are guided to other areas in the home.

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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: 2696825 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Afon House, Worthing Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1TL

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tendai Funganjera

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696825 10 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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