Children's home run by Progressive Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home last had a registered manager on 2 August 2025. The interim manager started working at the home in August 2025. The interim manager is yet to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: Due to an inadequate judgement at the full inspection on 12 May 2025 and the shortfalls identified during the inspection, Ofsted issued a notice restricting accommodation to the provider on 14 May 2025. This was reviewed at the monitoring visit on 2 July 2025. The notice restricting accommodation was lifted on 6 August 2025. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 2 On 21 May 2025, Ofsted also issued compliance notices relating to regulations 12 and 13. These were also reviewed during the monitoring visit on 2 July 2025. The compliance notice in relation to regulation 12 was met. The compliance notice in relation to regulation 13 was restated as a requirement, as not all steps in the notice had been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/05/2025 Full Inadequate 30/07/2024 Full Good 14/06/2023 Full Good 06/12/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures in how children are helped and protected, and the home’s leadership and management arrangements are ineffective. This has significantly affected the progress and experiences of the children living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children have continued to live at the home since the last inspection. Their progress and experiences have varied.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

At the time of the last monitoring visit, one child had made some progress, but they have since regressed to the concerning position they were in at the time of the last full inspection. The child’s social worker shared concerns that things had regressed again. The child still does not attend school, college or training, and staff have not been able to support the child in exploring new educational opportunities. Staff are reluctant to establish boundaries with the child, as they do not feel able to manage the child’s response after implementing them. Staff have also failed to encourage the child to attend relevant health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The other child has started attending a new school. Staff provide support so that the child can attend routine and specialist health assessments. The child has also been able to enjoy activities such as horse riding and holidays at the seaside. However, staff continue to fail to respond to the child’s vulnerabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

It is unclear how frequently environment checks are carried out for children’s bedrooms. One child had vomited in their bedroom, and staff were unaware. The vomit had either gone unnoticed or had not been cleaned up. The child believed that they had informed the staff about this matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have discussed plans with children to increase their independent living skills. However, children who are approaching the time to live independently have not acquired any additional skills since the last inspection.

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

Since the last inspection, one child has gone missing from the home on two occasions. On the first occasion, staff did not follow the child’s plan or respond appropriately when concerns were raised during welfare calls to the child. The child sustained a head injury during this incident.

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

On the second occasion, the child travelled a significant distance to another city and remained there overnight. Staff refused to collect the child because they felt it was unsafe for them to do so. The child had to return home alone in a taxi. Since this incident, there has been a lack of curiosity by staff to understand the vulnerabilities for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 5 The children’s missing-from-home protocols have not been updated appropriately. Risk assessments do not make it clear to staff about how they should respond when children go missing. Staff do not demonstrate that they have the skills or knowledge to provide an appropriate safeguarding response in these situations.

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

Vulnerabilities have increased for both children. There has been an increase in the number of incidents where staff have been unable to keep children calm. This results in negative behaviour towards staff. Staff do not have the skills to support children effectively and prevent negative interactions between them. Staff are risk-averse and do not have the skills or confidence to maintain boundaries with children.

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

Although staff have increased the number of focused conversations they have with one child, they have not been effective at improving their safety. This work by staff is not always evaluated by senior management so that more effective strategies can be used to improve safety for this child.

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

Staff’s relationships with children are not always consistent and positive. Staff do not have the skills to understand how to build positive relationships with children. Staff’s responses are frequently inconsistent. This can mean that children do not know how to safely seek adult attention, and staff misunderstand children’s cues for seeking care.

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

When a child made an allegation about a member of staff, it was taken seriously and acted on appropriately. The relevant people were informed, and a thorough investigation took place, leading to swift action to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been further significant changes to staff arrangements in the home since the last inspection. This includes several changes to management as well as staff. Staff have also been redeployed from some of the provider’s other social care settings, sometimes without the relevant skills to work effectively in a children’s home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The current interim manager has been managing the home since August 2025, when she was moved from another of the provider’s homes that was judged as inadequate. The current interim manager’s decision-making does not promote children’s safety. Her oversight is ineffective. The manager failed to notice and address poor practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has only made very limited progress in implementing the improvement plan that was developed following the last full inspection. The changes to management and the poor oversight of the current interim manager have affected staff’s ability to offer consistent care to children. This affects children’s ability to establish positive relationships with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are only two members of staff in the team who have the relevant residential care qualification. Those two members of staff are due to leave imminently. This will leave a Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 6 completely unqualified staff team. The interim manager is also due to change again. This will be the fourth manager in post since the last full inspection in May 2025.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff continue to lack essential skills to safely and effectively care for children. The provider has offered support through training sessions and workshops; however, the management changes have made it difficult to implement and embed the necessary cultural change. The progress that had been achieved at the monitoring visit has mostly regressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Two new staff members have been recruited since the last full inspection. For one, the provider has failed to seek references from their previous employer or for their time in higher education. Employment gaps were not sufficiently verified. Safer recruitment processes are not followed, and induction activities are not sufficient for those who have not worked in children’s homes before.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leadership oversight of the home has improved. Senior leaders are now able to identify poor practice and take relevant action to address it. However, the senior leadership team does not have systems to proactively improve staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and 14 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 8 feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; 14 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 9 are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; and

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(i)(x)(xi))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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) (3)(a)(b)(d)) 14 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare; 14 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 10 treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi))

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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: 2663883 11

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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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Inspectors

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Sam Saxby-Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2663883 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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