Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children's home: 1222089 1 Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (Residential Care) Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and operated by a small private company. It provides care for up to four children, aged from eight to 17 years old, who experience social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties with associated complex needs.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced. They registered with Ofsted when the home opened in October 2015.

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Information about this children's home

Four children live in the home. All children were present for some of the inspection. Inspectors were able to speak with all children and gather their views.

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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: 18 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1222089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/09/2023 Full Good 02/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 1222089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home. Managers worked with the child’s social worker to ensure the child had a well-planned move. One child has moved into the home. Managers consulted widely and considered how staff can meet this child’s needs. Of the remaining three children, one child has lived at the home for two years and two children for 18 months. All children have made progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the home is the relationships between staff and children which are warm, affectionate, and loving. Staff spend time with children in the home and in the commu- nity. They play pool, board games and football with children, and they take children on camping holidays. Staff spend individual time with children and they welcome children’s friends into the home. Children say they like living in the home. One child said, ‘You can do everything almost…staff will do their best to get us to do stuff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff understand and promote the value of education. They go above and beyond in supporting children to attend school. Managers strongly advocate for children who are at risk of exclusion, to maintain their school place. They ensure that staff are available at the children’s school to help education staff when children are struggling to attend their lessons or need help. A teacher said, ‘Their responsiveness is excellent…they work really hard to include us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with a range of organisations to ensure that children’s health needs are responded to quickly. Children are registered with health services and staff actively promote positive health outcomes for children. This has enabled one child, who was noticeably underweight, to increase the amount of food they eat and put on weight. Staff work with the company therapist to support children’s emotional well-being. Children also receive personalised one-to-one support with the therapist, tailored to their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to keep in touch with family and other people who are important to them. This supports children’s identity and promotes lifelong relationships. Communi- cation with parents and carers is good. One child’s parent said, ‘I am thankful that they have taken such good care of (name of child). If there is anything I am worried about I can pick up the phone.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming and has a family atmosphere. The children’s bed- rooms are highly personalised, and communal areas have photographs, certificates and posters that reflect the individual hobbies, interests, and achievements of each child. However, bathrooms are tired and worn looking and in need of cleaning. Showers have black mould, and a bathroom sink is without a plug. The wall in one child’s bedroom is damaged and in need of repair. This compromises children’s pride in their home and negatively affects their self-esteem. Inspection report children's home: 1222089 4

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

Staff know children well and are skilled in diversion and de- escalation techniques when children are upset or angry, using the home’s therapeutic approach. Children’s risk man- agement plans, written with the company therapist give staff the guidance they need to understand and support the complex behaviours for each child. Incidents are rare and children have been restrained or had their liberty restricted on two occasions since the last inspection. This demonstrates that the strategies identified are being used and are effective.

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

Staff understand the importance of good routines and strong boundaries, individualised for each child, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Children say that staff keep them safe and that they feel safe.

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

The staff team’s approach to supporting children who harm themselves is highly nurtur- ing. Staff talk openly with children and listen to them effectively about their views. Staff help children to work through their emotions and to talk more openly about their wor- ries. However, on one occasion staff failed to recognise the risk to a child from ligatures. The child’s risk management plans were not updated with strategies to manage this emerging risk which compromises staff’s ability to keep the child safe.

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

Staff focus on the use of rewards and incentives to encourage and recognise positive be- haviour. Bullying is not tolerated, and staff use resources to educate children about be- ing kind and tolerant towards others. There has been one incident of physical aggression by a child against another child. Managers and staff took this extremely seriously and worked sensitively with children, and children’s social workers, to repair relationships and ensure that children are safe.

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

Staff keep children safe online. They talk with children and educate them about the dangers presented online using resources which are educational and informative. Staff are vigilant when children are gaming or using other online devices. Additionally, managers have ensured that there are the necessary age-related restrictions on all devices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic, child focused, and children are at the centre of everything they do. They have high standards and challenge other professionals appropriately to ensure that children have what they need. A deputy manager ably supports the man- ager, and both have a consistent presence in the home. Staff are extremely positive about the support they receive. Inspection report children's home: 1222089 5 The manager has high expectations and aspirations for children. They work tirelessly, with the company therapist, to embed therapeutic practice in the home. The staff share the manager’s vision, which is demonstrated through the culture and ethos of the home. The manager is well regarded and is nurturing towards the team. This means that staff work in an environment where they feel well supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established strong connections with partner agencies. Professionals are unanimously positive about the communication with the staff team and about the care provided for children. One social worker said, ‘They are amazing. They genuinely care, they are really flexible around the child.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children receive consistent care that has enabled them to develop relationships with adults who know them well. This is because the home is fully staffed and cover staff from the sister home are rarely used. The staff are experienced and well qualified. Ten staff have a relevant qualification and three are enrolled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is warm and approachable, and they support staff to be available to chil- dren. Supervision includes opportunities for staff to talk about their wellbeing and to re- flect on practice. The manager promotes a learning culture among staff by using re- sources such as videos and research on best practice in children’s homes in staff supervi- sions and in team meetings. This supports staff to be aspirational for children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff have access to a range of training opportunities to meet the child’s needs. Staff receive good quality training which includes online training and face- to-face training which includes training in trauma-informed practice with the company clinician. Additionally, the therapist delivers regular workshops on the individual needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers effectively monitor the quality of care using a range of systems. The six-month review of care is focussed on the children’s progress. Reports by the independent visitor are detailed and include in-depth discussions with children. However, recording systems are unclear which affects the manager’s ability to monitor incidents effectively and en- sure that staff complete all agreed actions. Inspection report children's home: 1222089 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, 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 pro- tected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the regis- tered person to ensure— that staff—

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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

The registered person must ensure that children's plans are up- dated with all new risks and that children are supported to un- derstand how to keep safe following any safeguarding incidents. 3 November 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 regis- tered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous im- provements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regu- lation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they have effective oversight of incidents including monitoring outcomes and ac- tions. 3 November 2024 Inspection report children's home: 1222089 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children's home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children. Specifically, that bathrooms are clean and well maintained ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards' page 15, paragraph 13.9)

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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: 1222089 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (Residential Care) Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Union House, 111 New Union Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 2NT

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1222089 9 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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