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 living at the home.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are encouraged by staff to stay healthy and physically active.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff make sure that the home is comfortable. Young people are proud of their individually decorated bedrooms.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff are knowledgeable in responding to safeguarding concerns.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff use different behaviour-management techniques to help young people to manage their emotions safely.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff positively encourage young people to make meaningful progress in their education, including recognising its importance for future options

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Interim management arrangements have successfully enabled young people to receive continuity of care while the manager is on maternity leave.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Individual staff members are suitably qualified, skilled and trained in their responsibilities to meet the needs of young people in their care.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 There are a few shortfalls in practice. These relate to planning for independence; the statement of purpose and the workforce plan, which both require updating; and young people’s meetings not showing the management response to issues raised.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)) 31/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child's cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff 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. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the workforce plan details the process for managing and improving poor performance. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children's home

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

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/12/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness 08/07/2015 Full Good 02/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/11/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people enjoy a good level of care and are looked after by staff who know them well. Relationships between staff and young people are positive, with staff offering constant encouragement to develop and improve. This has resulted in young people making improvements in many areas of their lives since their admission. Young people know that they can approach staff at any time and talk through problems, knowing that someone is listening and cares about them.

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Good

Staff use their positive relationships with young people to encourage participation in a range of diverse activities. This encouragement means that young people get involved in various sports, such as football. This enables them to improve their physical fitness and, at the same time, form new friendships. Staff also enable young people to keep pets, ensuring that young people take on all the required responsibilities to oversee their pet’s welfare.

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Good

Young people are able to keep in touch with their families and significant others where appropriate. Contact arrangements are constantly developing through the reviewing process and discussions with social workers. This helps to make sure that links between young people and their families are stable.

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Good

Staff are alert to the emotional and physical health needs of each young person and are proactive in making sure that appropriate healthcare services are accessible. This means that young people’s health is constantly supported by the right services.

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Good

Staff communicate well with schools so that they get to know about young people’s educational progress. Through support and encouragement, young people are able to attend full-time education. Their increased attendance has helped young people to make progress across different aspects of the curriculum.

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Good

The staff work hard to make the home a pleasant and homely environment. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised well, increasing their awareness of the need to look after their own environment and belongings.

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Good

Young people are consistently listened to through different forums. Key-working meetings are used well to discuss ongoing issues that young people are experiencing. Regular house meetings take place, and good records are made. However, these records do not always show how the management has responded to issues raised at the previous meeting. This leaves a missed opportunity to show how the manager acknowledges the voice of the child. Young people are encouraged to develop skills that will help them when they move to live independently. A good assessment tool highlights the skills that they are competent in and others that require additional support from staff. However, some objectives set do not cross-reference with the reward charts completed by staff. This means that it is not always clear if young people have completed the expected task well. For example, in one case the records suggested that a young person had

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Good

not made any of their own meals for three months, when in fact they had

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Good

Young people are safe in the home. This is achieved, in part, through staff having a good knowledge of child protection procedures and undertaking regular health and safety checks. Historical safeguarding disclosures made by young people are responded to well, and all necessary professionals are informed. Despite a significant difference in young people’s ages, staff work well with both young people to ensure that their individual needs are fully met.

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Good

Young people have occasionally gone missing. The staff use well-informed procedures to secure young people’s safe returns. This includes reviewing risk assessments after each event. This helps staff to be aware of young people’s behaviours and helps staff to understand individuals’ reasons for going missing.

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Good

Staff use behaviour-management systems well to encourage young people to take responsibility for their own behaviours. Sanctions are appropriately applied and are often linked to restorative justice. Restraints are rare but when used are in line with regulations, including full records and monitoring by the registered manager. This ensures that young people are kept safe.

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Good

Recruitment records show that the checks required by regulations are completed prior to any individuals starting work at the home. This ensures, as far as possible, that the right people get to work with young people.

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Good

The registered manager is currently on maternity leave. Interim management arrangements have successfully secured continuity of care for young people. This has involved the temporary registration of an experienced and qualified registered manager from another home close by. She is a qualified social worker and is currently completing the level 5 diploma in leadership for health and social care in children and young people’s services. An experienced deputy manager provides further leadership to the home. Consequently, the staff feel well supported and young people continue to thrive.

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Good

Senior staff show a strong awareness of the young people’s needs and how these are responded to within care plans. They also are aware of strengths and weaknesses of the service provided. This includes having a development plan that highlights areas that require improvement.

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Good

The interim manager has taken up opportunities to improve practice. This includes acting swiftly on external monitoring recommendations and addressing requirements made at the last inspection. These relate to clarity of the management of the home and restraint records.

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Good

Relationships between the home’s staff and professionals involved with the young people are good. Reports highlighting young people’s development are sent to social workers, who are encouraged to spend time at the home. The local police service regularly visits to meet the young people, occasionally sharing information about the local area and possible training that young people may benefit from.

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Good

The home’s statement of purpose clearly shows the service offered, and all young people admitted are in line with this. Changes in staffing mean that the statement of purpose requires updating. Similarly, the home’s workforce plan needs additional information relating to how the home manages poor performance. Neither of these points affect the level of care provided to the young people.

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Good

Staff receive regular supervision. These sessions are well recorded and allow staff to examine and develop their practice, linking up well with the appraisal system. A good training system ensures that staff receive up-to-date knowledge of childcare practice, with monitoring completed by the organisation’s training department. The majority of staff have completed the level 3 qualification in residential childcare, with others preparing to start the course following the recent completion of their induction.

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Good

The home is well staffed, and this allows young people to be involved in varied activities with staff support. Regular staff meetings include sharing of information about the young people and the home. This develops a consistent approach to the care provided.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 that 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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