Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people receive individualised care from a small and committed staff team.  Young people make progress from their starting points.  Young people are well protected and staff promptly address any potential risks.  Staff work well together to support young people’s behaviour.  Young people’s views and opinions are valued.  Positive relationships between staff and young people are evident.  Young people are involved in the day-to-day life of the home and learn age appropriate independence skills.  Young people enjoy a range of activities at the home and in the local community.  The registered manager ensures that practice remains focussed on the welfare of young people.  There are a few shortfalls identified in areas of practice. These include, the environment, ensuring young people arrive at school on time, staff completing young people’s records thoroughly and the home employing a balanced staff gender.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets 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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(c) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to –

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Requirement Due date

(i) meet the needs of each child. 30/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard, the registered person must ensure -

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Requirement Due date

(1) children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 14/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff in day to day contact with children should include staff from the different gender groups. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 54, paragraph 10.22).

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Recommendations

 ensure staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 62 paragraph 14.4).

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children’s home can accommodate up to four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

07/05/2014 CH - Interim Declined in effectiveness

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good

Young people develop warm relationships with staff that enhance their development. They know that staff enjoy spending time with them and care. Staff focus on providing a homely, supportive atmosphere where young people have opportunities to thrive. A professional said, ‘I have been impressed by the level of care he has received’.

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good

Young people make good progress in all areas of their development as a result of living at the home. They develop secure relationships with staff and learn to trust adults caring for them. Young people’s voices are heard and their opinions valued. They are able to approach and talk to staff and know that their requests are taken seriously. For example, they tell staff how they want to spend their leisure time, or activities they would like to undertake in the home. Young people say that they are confident that staff listen to them. One young person sometimes chairs the young people’s meetings and will write up his key work sessions. His self-confidence and self-esteem have grown and he is able to articulate his views.

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good

Regular young people’s meetings discuss all aspects of the home’s running and encourage young people to share their views. The usual topics of menu planning, and activities are discussed as well as discussion about grumbles or complaints and bullying. Young people learn to respect each other and learn valuable negotiation and compromise skills essential in their development towards becoming independent young adults.

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good

Young people’s diverse needs are met. This includes being able to practice their faith including attending church. National and international festivals are celebrated in the home enhancing young people’s knowledge and understanding of diverse communities.

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good

Young people all have educational plans and they are either at school or due to start college. Staff help them with homework and attend parent evenings at school. Young people know that adults keep each other informed about their progress and areas for development. Reports from schools say that young people are meeting their targets and making progress. However, one young person has been late for school a few times which has been noted by school and his social worker. Consequently, the young person may feel different from his peers, as he does not always start his school day promptly like others.

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good

All young people have access to primary health services and are supported to keep appointments. Where young people have specialist health needs, staff support appointments and liaise closely with therapists to ensure that they work together to meet young people’s needs. The registered manager has developed a tool to work with young people promoting healthy eating. The information is presented pictorially with a range of healthy choices and young people have responded favourably and are moving towards a healthier lifestyle.

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good

Professionals say that young people’s emotional health has improved since living at the home. One professional said that her young person has now agreed that he will see therapeutic services whereas previously he had refused to do so. He has also engaged with staff and peers whereas previously he avoided this.

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good

Young people make considerable progress towards achieving independence. They assist with chores, learn to cook and maintain their rooms. Staff and young people work together and complete stages of their independence plan from basic cleaning jobs – such as cleaning a cooker to learning more complex budgetary skills and completing a CV. The registered manager reviews progress and ensures that young people continue to develop and enhance their skills.

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good

Young people’s quality of day to day life is good and they enjoy a range of activities in the home and in the community. The young people went on holiday with staff providing them with new experiences and environments. Where appropriate, friends are made welcome and young people experience ordinary life entertaining their peers in their home.

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good

Staff support young people’s contact with their family and friends. Staff recognise and reinforce the importance of family relationships. This in turn, helps young people understand their background and to have their identity positively reinforced.

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good

Young people are protected as staff understand their individual needs and have strategies in place to support them. A Social Worker said,’ Staff keep a close eye on him to ensure that he is safe and there is no repeat of previous incidents’. Young people say that they feel safe and well looked after. They live in a home where staff prioritise their welfare and safety and ensure the environment is nurturing. Young people benefit as staff are committed to keeping them safe and staff work well together to achieve this. Staff use their skills to manage behaviour positively. There have been no incidents of physical intervention since the last inspection. Young people learn to self- regulate their behaviour with the support of staff. They learn valuable skills and abilities which will assist them in adult life. This includes developing reflective skills and having the ability to compromise or apologise if they recognise that their

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good

response to an event was not helpful. A professional commented, ‘He has made so much progress since being at the home. He is so much calmer now’. Staff successfully use a range of rewards and incentives to reinforce positive behaviour such as earning some additional pocket money for doing chores in the home. Young people learn valuable skills such as budgeting and they save their money for extra spending on holidays or new items for their room. Themes in respect of young people missing from care are carefully monitored. There have been incidents of young people missing from the home, but mainly in relation to one young person who has since left. Staff promptly complete records but there are gaps and some forms are not fully completed in line with the organisation policy. For example, some forms do not comment on whether young people have been offered medical assistance. These gaps hinder young people’s

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good

understanding of the support offered by adults at the time. Where there have been a number of missing from care incidents relating to young people, the registered manager and staff have liaised closely with professionals. This includes police and social workers. This enables a multi-professional approach to be sustained and strategies put in place to kept young people safe. Staff complete regular health and safety checks. This means that any identified hazard is rectified promoting a safe environment for all. Young people participate in fire evacuations further enhancing their safety.

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good

Safe recruitment practice is in place. Staff recruitment files include all the necessary checks to assess the suitability of staff to work with young people. Judgement grade

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good

The registered manager has been in post since May 2014. He has a national vocational qualification level three in caring for children and young people and is undertaking a Diploma level five in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services. The registered manager is a strong leader who ensures the focus of the home is on the welfare and progress of young people. The registered manager has effective systems in place to monitor the running of the home. This ensures the quality of care it delivers to young people is good. This is supported by regular independent monitoring visits which help the registered manager to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and take action where necessary. The registered manager has a thorough and ambitious development plan for the next few months. This includes improving aspects of the internal and external areas of the home, staff development and recruitment.

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good

The registered manager is committed to gaining regular feedback from young people, their families and professionals to further improve the service provided to young people. Young people’s voices are heard and they say that adults value their views. If the registered manager is unable to agree to a young person’s request, he ensures that young person is informed, and discusses the outcome with them. Young people say that they have trust in staff and know that they do their best for them. The registered manager works within the principles of the home’s statement of purpose. This extends to promoting a stable and consistent environment in which young people progress and achieve. The registered manager completes three monthly reports for each young person reviewing progress made and areas to work on.

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good

Staff feel supported by the leadership team. Regular team meetings are held where varied discussions promote the welfare of young people. Regular supervision is undertaken. This helps to ensure young people are cared for by staff who have the skills and knowledge necessary to meet their needs. The registered manager ensures that staff undertake refresher training so that their skills are maintained. The staff team are relatively new and are all enrolled on level three Children and Young People’s Workforce Diploma. All the staff working at the home are male. The registered manager is aware that young people will benefit from a mixed gender staff team, allowing young people to form relationships with men and women caring for them, and this forms part of his development plan for the home. Young people have positive relationships with neighbours. The home is situated in a quiet, comfortable residential area. Complaints are rare. Young people learn

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good

about community responsibility and respecting other people.

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good

The home is, overall, a pleasant environment for young people. Some parts of the home, for example the stairway, upstairs bathroom, one of the young people’s bedrooms, and the chill out room have chipped paint and scuffed walls. Insufficient attention has been paid to one young person’s room resulting in some areas not being suitably clean. These deficits limit young people’s experience and enjoyment of their home.

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good

Three requirements and two recommendations made at the last inspection are met. Staff now receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisals. This has helped to ensure competent and knowledgeable staff care for young people. The recruitment files are now complete and all staff in charge of shifts have completed their induction.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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