Children's Home run by Care and Management Services Ltd 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 enjoy being at the home and develop in their confidence, as well as make improvements in their health with decreasing levels of self harm. Educational placements that are best suited to their needs are organised. This is due to the diligence of the management team and led to individual successes.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Care planning is clear and concise, so that young people understand the possible routes for the future. They are fully involved with reviews and their opinions consistently sought to develop care plans. Staff listen to young people, although some key working records are confusing.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are made aware of the risks relating to going missing from the home and subsequently feel cared for by the staff. Good child protection referral arrangements are in place, although have not been necessary since the last inspection.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 A strong management structure helps to develop the staff team and the care provided. Monitoring systems are effective and communication with social care professionals helps to provide a consistent level of care and guidance.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff work well with the young people although some areas of recording need development. Placement plans are not all dated and signed. Recruitment checks were not all completed in line with regulations although these have been updated as part of the inspection. Records of key working sessions do not consistently show the level of discussions that staff have had with young people. Independence training is completed, but evidence of the work completed is not clear.

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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

The registered person must co-operate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan. (Regulation 17.2) 31/10/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 22 paragraph 4.11).

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Recommendations

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home's support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 17 paragraph 3.27).

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of three children’s home within a privately run organisation. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/02/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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people living in the home are

Young people develop and progress while they are at the home. They have improved significantly in their health, confidence, education, and relationships with their families.

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people living in the home are

Young people enjoy positive relationships with the staff team. They have staff that they get on well with and would go to if they had concerns or worries. Staff are positive about their relationships with young people and they enjoy each other’s company. Young people state that they enjoy spending time with staff: ‘especially the younger ones who bring a bit of oomph to the home!’

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people living in the home are

Placement plans are clear and young people have a high awareness of what is within them. They are strongly involved with the review process and development of the plans. The home’s plans link well to the statutory care and placement plans, although the registered manager as not signed or dated these in all cases.

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people living in the home are

Young people enjoy being at the home. They are involved with a good range of activities, both in the home and the community, and enjoy trips and planning for possible future days out. They are encouraged to form positive relationships with their peers at school and they enjoy sleepovers at the home, with appropriate safeguards. This promotion of a typical family activity is positive for the development of young people’s confidence.

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people living in the home are

Contact arrangements are within all placement plans. Young people are involved with developing their own contact and families report that: ‘the staff have been amazing at keeping in touch with us and making sure all the contact happens.’

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people living in the home are

Staff listen to and respond to the young people’s opinions. Young people have regular meetings, either as a group or on an individual basis. A new system for key work sessions is well structured, but recording does not clearly show the range of discussions. Young people state that they feel well supported by their key workers.

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people living in the home are

Young people have health plans that are up to date. Staff ensure that health appointments are completed and they promote a healthy lifestyle. Good links between the home and mental health services further support the welfare of young people. This support, and the close working of the staff team, has resulted in decreasing self-harm and an increasing awareness about how to meet young people’s individualised and complex health needs. All young people have educational placements. Staff have overcome challenges to ensure that each placement is appropriate to meet young people’s differing needs. Education planning is clear and detailed. Information shared between the home and schools ensures that young people are supported. The home is a pleasant and comfortable environment that is well looked after by both staff and young people. They are positive about their home, especially their rooms which they enjoy

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people living in the home are

personalising. The manager has assessed the possible risks related to the home and the local community, and how young people could be affected by these.

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people living in the home are

Staff consistently promote the development of young people’s skills for independence. Good skills handbooks are in place, although records of practice are patchy. Young people are positive about how much they have learnt to look after themselves. A social worker stated that the staff have ‘worked hard’ with their young person: ‘to take responsibility for improving and learning about how they will cope after leaving.’

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people are helped and protected

Strong systems are in place to support the safety of young people at all times. Detailed individualised risk assessments show a decreasing level of risks for young people while they have been at the home, including self-harm, medication and education. Young people state that the staff make them feel safe: ‘just by looking after us and making sure we are OK. Even though it’s annoying that they phone me up when I’m out.’

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people are helped and protected

The staff team complete training in child protection, including how to respond to concerns regarding young people’s safety. There have been no safeguarding concerns since the last inspection. Staff are clear about the different ways they protect young people, such as through careful monitoring of contact, links to mental health services and raising awareness of the dangers of going missing from the home.

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people are helped and protected

Room searches are completed following concerns about young people putting themselves at risk. When they are completed, they are well recorded including the reasoning behind them, items found and a response from the young people. Staff meet sensitively with young people if items are found and help to support their safety. No young people have gone missing from the home since the last inspection.

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people are helped and protected

Good reward structures help to promote young people’s development, targeting chores and their self-help skills. They are very aware of how to increase their pocket money by meeting their targets. Appropriate sanctions respond to challenging behaviours effectively, with records including detailed information and responses from young people. A recent increase in destructive behaviour has led to more restraints. Incident records are detailed and the management team monitors these well.

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people are helped and protected

Recruitment practice supports young people being safe in the home. The management team use a range of information to assess the suitability of staff. The examination of recruitment records highlighted one failure in checking gaps in staff’s history although this was rectified by the end of the inspection.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager is a qualified social worker and is currently completing the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare. They have been registered since October 2014 at this home and have a strong history of previous home management. She has a very high awareness of both the development of the young people and the running of the home. She achieves this through effective monitoring systems and strong communication with the staff team. The management team effectively challenge poor practice. A social worker stated that: ‘staff were tenacious in their advocacy for (the young person’s) right to education and receive a service from CAMHS.’

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leaders and managers

The home’s workforce development plan and overall development plan give a good picture of improvements made at the home. Monthly monitoring includes discussions with the young people and their families where appropriate, highlighting areas in need of improvement. The management team use the monitoring and development plans to improve the care provided. Evidence of positive outcomes are now clearer for young people as staff develop their ways of recording achievements. Specific outcome folders include activities and celebrations that they are involved with such as meals out for successful educational achievements.

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leaders and managers

Care planning is clear and concise, with key workers and managers having a good oversight of the necessary steps to support young people. Regular consultation between differing professionals involved with the young people ensures a consistent approach to their care. Young people are involved with reviews and reports prepared by the home give a strong representation of their development.

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leaders and managers

The home’s statement of purpose and young people’s guide give a good picture of how the home works and the staff involved. Young people admitted to the home are in line with the statement of purpose and good assessments are in place to examine the best mix of young people in the home. This ensures that staff are sufficiently skilled to meet the needs of the young people.

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leaders and managers

Supervision supports staff, and they state that the management are always available to listen to their views. Annual appraisals add to the ability of the staff team to develop their skills further. Staff state that training is good and a wide range of courses are completed as part of their induction and probationary period. All staff have either gained or are in the process of completing the required level three training. Staff work well together and enjoy working with the young people.

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leaders and managers

Staff are aware of the need to notify differing organisations in the event of a significant event, although no such incident has occurred since the last inspection.

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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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