Children's Home run by Progress Children’s Services Ltd in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 1 SC437486 Registered provider: Progress Children’s Services 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

This home is operated by a private organisation. The home provides care for up to four children who may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager, who is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. All children were present and spent time with the inspector.

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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: 5 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 for children’s home: SC437486 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2023 Full Good 17/05/2022 Full Good 10/01/2022 Full Inadequate 19/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home have a good experience and are all making progress. There has been an increase in the number of children living at the home. This has been a varied journey, as children who already lived at the home did initially struggle to adjust. However, through reflection and thoughtful planning by the manager and staff, this has been well managed. For example, creative use of the communal spaces. As a result, children do live harmoniously as a group.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children go to school, and this is clearly embedded into their routine. Staff help children access routine and specialist health care. The manager has secured a specialist occupational therapy assessment for one child, overcoming many barriers to achieve this. Therefore, their needs are better understood and met, and suitable aids and equipment are being provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff reflect together and generate ideas to help children. For example, there is concern about one child’s hair care, and they have identified and used creative approaches. As a result, the child is making some progress with tolerating hair care. Furthermore, specialist advice has been sought to further progress this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The development of skills for independence is a focus of the care of children. For example, children all make meaningful contributions to their self-care. Staff understand the targets children are working towards. However, targets are quite broad and not consistently reviewed in order to fully promote continual progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to take part in a range of activities at the home, and to go out to places they enjoy. Recent highlights have been a pamper trip, an awards evening and a dance show. Staff capture the moment in photos of children’s events and activities. They use these photos to produce a report to share children’s experiences with professionals and their families. This forms part of children’s contribution to their review meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home provides a nice environment for children to live in. However, there are some areas that look tired and worn. There was one minor safety concern rectified during the inspection, and no harm was caused to children. The development of a sensory room has been slow to progress, although this is now near completion for children to enjoy.

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

Staff understand the risks for the children and know how to provide care to keep them safe. Staff supervise children in line with their care plans. This is balanced with allowing children space and time in safe independent activity. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 4 Staff have embedded clear routines for children at the home. This includes consistent guidance and boundaries. There is an accessible visual reminder for children about the home’s rules displayed in the lounge. Staff use this effectively in order to reinforce the rules, for example being kind to others. As a result, children understand what is expected of them, and this contributes to a feeling of safety and security.

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

Staff are responsive to children, and they act promptly to meet children’s needs in a nurturing way. Staff help children to manage their emotions effectively. There are few behavioural incidents and use of physical intervention is infrequent, only being used when necessary.

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

The manager always talks to children following incidents, often using alternative communication to support this discussion. As a result, children are helped to learn about appropriate and kind behaviour. Furthermore, the manager actively reviews any use of consequences, to ensure that they are proportionate and appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has continued to be a consistently strong and competent leader. There has been gaps in the leadership team at the home, with two team leaders moving on for progression opportunities. A new leadership team at the home is now being developed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes staff development and walks alongside them, supporting them throughout this journey. For example, the manager has a good understanding of the progression staff are making with their qualifications. As a result, she helps staff to overcome any barriers and make progress. Staff feel very well supported in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a core staff team at the home, despite some staffing changes. In addition, recruitment has been a challenge, and there remains some vacancies. Overall, staffing levels have been sustained with the use of bank and agency staff. Most of the time these are staff who are known to the children. For example, one agency staff member has worked at the home for over three years.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training in a range of topics. The manager has good oversight of this, and the mandatory training is all up to date. However, there are some gaps in terms of child- specific training. For example, not all staff have completed training in autism. This could reduce their understanding of children’s needs. The manager provides learning activities at the home that aid staff development, for example in alternative communication approaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is highly effective partnership working between the staff, professionals and children’s families. Partners feedback that communication with the manager and staff is excellent. This is also clearly reflected in a wealth of compliments recorded about the care of children at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has thorough oversight at the home and welcomes external monitoring and input into making improvements. The manager takes prompt action to address staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 5 practice when this does not meet the expected standard. As part of this, the manager is an effective role model for staff. The manager is aspirational for children and committed to ensuring that they are provided with consistently high-quality care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that they support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential and ensure that staff understand and can meet each child’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)

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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: SC437486 7

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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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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC437486 8 regulates and inspects 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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