Children's Home run by Individual Specialist Care Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report children's home: SC481235 1 SC481235 Registered provider: Individual Specialist Care

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who have learning disabilities. A private provider owns and operates the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children's home: SC481235 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children's home requires improvement to be good because

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not ensure that young people are protected from hazards in the home.  Sanctions given by staff are not always fair and proportionate.  Staff do not always make a record when they complete a room search.  Staff lack knowledge of the home’s policies and procedures on room searches.  The manager has not yet completed a six-month quality of care review.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff provide good support to help the young person transition into adult care.  Relationships between staff and the young person are more trusting, open and honest.  The manager and staff work well with external professionals and families.  Improvement has been made to the home interior. The home is well decorated and furnished.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2017 Full Inadequate 21/09/2016 Full Inadequate 24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC481235 3

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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, 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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure—

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 31/05/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21(a)) 31/05/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)) 31/05/2017

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Recommendations

 A child's bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary when there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child or another person's safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) Inspection report children's home: SC481235 4  Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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improvement to be good

Since the last full inspection in January 2017, one young person has lived at the home. The young person has recently left the home. Consequently, there were no children or young people living in the home at the time of the inspection. Evidence was gathered by talking to the young person who had moved on, her relatives, staff and the manager. Documents were also viewed to help gather additional evidence.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between the young person and staff had improved since the last inspection. The young person told the inspector, ‘I got on really well with the staff. The staff were nice. The manager was my favourite staff [member].’

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improvement to be good

Staff helped and assisted the young person to engage in activities that interested her. The young person’s social and physical needs were met because staff listened to what she wanted, engaged with her and helped her to become more able to cope with social situations. For example, the young person found large social events difficult but the staff helped her to overcome this. Eventually, the young person managed a trip to the cinema. This was considered a big step for her.

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improvement to be good

The young person benefited from visits from her family members. Staff made every effort to make them feel welcome whenever they came to visit. The young person established friendships while living at the home and commented about a previous young person that had lived there. She said, ‘I had friends. I liked the boy that also lived at the home. He was a really nice boy.’

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improvement to be good

Staff engaged the young person as much as possible to gain her views. This was sometimes difficult, as the young person did not always wish to participate in sharing her views. Staff used opportunities while out in the community, driving the car, and during one-to-one support to listen to the feelings of the young person. This helped staff to gain her trust and, as a result, she began to open up and express her feelings more.

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improvement to be good

The transition to adult care was managed well. Staff helped the young person to prepare to leave the home. The careful planning and preparation enabled the young person to understand the process, and this relieved her anxieties. A staff member said, ‘We went to the new home with her to settle in and helped her to choose her bedroom. Before she moved, we invited the staff from the home she was going to to come and visit. This gave us the chance to share information so that the move could go smoothly.’ Inspection report children's home: SC481235 5

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improvement to be good

There have been no episodes of missing from care since the last full inspection. The risk decreased since the young person began living at the home. A staff member said, ‘She used to run off when she first came to us. There are no reports of missing from home since August 2016.’

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always make a record when they have completed a room search. Staff undertook a room search to protect the welfare of the young person. However, the staff do not have any understanding of the procedure that must be followed, including how to record the search. This means that it is not clear whether the young person was advised that the search was conducted or whether her rights were respected.

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improvement to be good

The staff offer praise and reward to acknowledge the positive behaviour of the young person. However, during incidents when property has been damaged, sanctions have been imposed. Following one such incident, the staff asked that the young person paid a percentage back towards the cost of replacing the damaged item. This was taken from the young person’s pocket money. However, staff agreed that it would be taken from the activity money. Consequently, the sanction appeared unfair.

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improvement to be good

An incident occurred in which the young person gained access to a hammer that had not been safely stored away and used the hammer to threaten staff. Although no one was injured during the incident, the lack of staff attention to ensure that DIY items are safely stored compromised the safety of the young person and the staff.

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improvement to be good

The home is well maintained and has recently been redecorated. This has made the home feel more homely. However, some bedrooms do not have any curtains or blinds to protect the privacy of young people. Although there are currently no children or young people living at the home, the lack of soft furnishings means that bedrooms are not ready for taking new admissions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has met all but one of the 11 requirements that were made at the last full inspection. The manager has re-evaluated the young people’s feedback form. This provides young people with a questionnaire to complete about their view on living at the home. Research has been undertaken to explore the local area to improve the social experiences for young people. The staff team has now changed. The staff are more focused because they have been provided with training identified to their individual needs. Staff are now clear about restraint and what should and should not be applied. All staff recruited, including any agency staff, have suitable information in line with regulation to satisfy that they are safe to work with children and young people. Staff Inspection report children's home: SC481235 6 have all received regular supervision to ensure that their practice is monitored and that areas for development are identified. The manager reports all matters of safeguarding

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

concern to the appropriate agencies within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has still not completed the quality of care review within the regulatory timescales. This requirement has been raised again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has received a quality assurance visit from a placing authority. The report confirms that the placing authority was happy with the care being provided and had no concerns about the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff spoke highly of the manager and said they feel that the staffing structure is better now. The staff confirm that training and supervision are completed regularly. This ensures that staff are kept up to date with legislative changes and that their performance is monitored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The independent visitor provides monthly reports about the home. These reports, alongside the monthly review of the quality of care undertaken by the manager, help to provide information on what needs to improve and what is going well. Inspection report children's home: SC481235 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

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 children's home: SC481235 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Individual Specialist Care

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 30 Leahouse Road, Oldbury, West Midlands B68 8PD

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC481235 9 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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