Children's home run by Birmingham City Council in Birmingham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 1 SC033698 Registered provider: Birmingham City Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children‟s home and is registered to provide care for 12 children who have learning disabilities. The home provides care for children of either gender up to 18 years of age.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people have positive relationships with staff. Staff know children and young people remarkably well.  Staff provide individualised care to children and young people, ensuring that Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 2 they meet each child‟s and young person‟s varying and complex needs.  Children and young people have positive transitions that are planned and meet their needs.  Children and young people have positive experiences and are engaged in a range of different activities.  Staff keep children and young people safe. Children and young people do not go missing from this home.  The registered manager has strong leadership skills and has created a positive culture of team working.  The registered manager and staff have built positive relationships with parents and carers. Families are supported and welcomed when they visit their children.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not consistently and clearly document children‟s wishes and feelings about the care that they receive.  Staff need to improve the way in which they document children‟s and young people‟s experiences and the memories that they create when living at the home.  Managers have not ensured that supervision is undertaken on a consistent basis.  The registered manager has not thoroughly reviewed the quality of care provided to children and young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Good 18/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 3

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home‟s care help each child to prepare for any review of the child‟s relevant plans and to make the child‟s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review. (Regulation 7(1)(2)(a)(iv)(vi)) 02/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 02/03/2018

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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. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the

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Requirement Due date

quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. The system referred to must 02/03/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 4 provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Recommendations

 Support children and their parents to understand the nature of records kept in the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia and help them record significant life events. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people have positive experiences when living in this home. Staff celebrate children‟s and young people‟s achievements and significant events. During the inspection, staff planned a party for a child‟s birthday and a leaving party for another young person who was due to move out of the home. All children and young people were invited, the young person did a speech, and everyone joined in the celebrations. A grandparent told the inspector, „They put an awards ceremony on last year, it was so special. The staff got [young person] dressed up in a suit. He looked amazing, so grown up.‟ As a result, young people feel special and valued. This has a positive impact on their self-esteem. Staff ensure that children and young people have positive transitions when they leave the home. Unplanned admissions and discharges are rare. Staff supported one young person to visit her new home several times before she moved. Staff told the young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

person that when she did leave she could visit the home and attend parties and events. This creates a sense of belonging for children and young people. A social worker told the inspector, „Staff invite previous young people back to the home. This really benefits the young people and their families.‟ Children attend many different activities, such as swimming, horse riding and going on holiday. As a result, children have different experiences and integrate with the local community. All the children and young people that the inspector spoke to said how „great‟ the activities are. Children and young people would benefit further if staff documented such events so that children and young people could look back on the memories created. Children and young people have additional and complex needs with varying methods of communication. Staff understand each child‟s and young person‟s needs extremely well. Staff ensure that children and young people have individualised care. The home

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

environment is comfortable and meets children‟s and young people‟s needs. The Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 5 registered manager made some changes to the environment following consultation with a professional who specialises in autistic spectrum disorder. Consequently, children and young people feel comfortable in their home and make positive progress. Communication with children and young people continues to develop. Staff use the Picture Exchange Communication System to communicate with children and young people. Staff are also learning Makaton as an additional form of communication. This will make communication with children and young people even more effective. Staff from the home coordinate with school staff to share communication methods used with children and young people. This ensures that children and young people have a consistent communication method and improves their communication skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have positive relationships with children and young people. Professionals and parents recognise this. One parent told the inspector, „They (staff) are brilliant, they really care for the children and meet all their needs.‟ All children and young people attend and engage in education. If children are unable to attend school, staff ensure that children and young people participate in educational activities. As a result, children have the opportunity to learn new skills and engage with others. Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that they meet children‟s and young people‟s emotional needs. A nurse told the inspector, „The staff are great at working with others and putting care plans in place. The progress [young person] has made since being here is really good and he is now coming off his medication, [previously] when in the community he could not be contained and was putting himself

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

at risk.‟ Staff sometimes consider children and young people‟s wishes and feelings. However, this is an area for development. Staff do not consistently gather and document children‟s and young people‟s views about the quality of care that they receive. For example, children‟s and young people‟s views, wishes and feelings are not always gathered before review meetings are held. Additionally, documentation that is available to gather their views is not child friendly. While staff have made efforts to adapt this, it is not done consistently. Parents and carers feel welcomed into the home when visiting children and young people. One parent told the inspector, „They have an open door policy, I am always made to feel welcome.‟

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

Children and young people are closely supervised to ensure that they remain safe. Children do not go missing and there is a reduction in previous risk-taking behaviours. Several children told the inspector, „I feel safe here.‟ Child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and self-harm are not current concerns for children and young people living in this home. However, the registered manager and staff remain vigilant to these risks. The registered manager attends police forums regularly to discuss children who go missing from care. Staff have received training about radicalisation and internet safety from the police. As such, staff are equipped to Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 6 address these issues should they arise. The staff understand what is likely to cause a child or young person to become upset. Staff are aware of one young person who becomes upset if she hears the word „no‟. Therefore, staff use other words when explaining what the young person can‟t do. As a

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

result, staff are able to manage children‟s and young people‟s behaviours well. Staff use physical interventions as a last resort. Staff use distraction methods or remove themselves from the situation if they feel that they are contributing to the child‟s or young person‟s behaviour. If physical interventions take place, holds are used for a minimal amount of time. Staff provide positive boundaries for children and young people, supported by a consistent routine. When necessary, children and young people receive consequences for negative behaviour. Consequences are proportionate to the child‟s and young person‟s understanding and development. Staff manage risks inside and outside of the home well. Staff make decisions that are in the best interests of the children and young people. For example, one young person who attended school was refusing to enter the school building and was remaining in the car

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

park. The registered manager and staff made the decision with the social worker to remove the young person from education as they had concerns for his safety. The registered manager recognised that education was important but ineffective and was putting the young person at risk. Plans are in place for a more appropriate educational environment for the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has strong leadership skills and delegates effectively, ensuring that all staff take responsibility for the care that children and young people receive. The registered manager receives support from a deputy manager and three assistant managers, each of whom is responsible for overseeing one of the three areas of the home. The home comprises a bungalow split into three individual homes, with shared spaces in the building. The registered manager has good knowledge of the home and works closely with the senior staff. Staff feel supported in their roles and view managers in a positive way. One member of staff told the inspector, „My manager is good, she will sort anything out if I have any problems.‟ The management team addresses staff practice in a supportive way when mistakes occur. This ensures that staff improve their practice and learn from mistakes. Staff supervision does take place. However, these sessions are not always as frequent as

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

they should be, particularly during busy periods such as the school holidays when children and young people are not at school. This reduces the opportunities that staff have for reflection. The registered manager recognises the strengths and weakness of the home. However, her formal system for monitoring and reviewing the quality of care that children and young people receive needs to be improved. For example, she would benefit from documenting more clearly children‟s wishes and feelings when reviewing the service. The registered manager is working with the children and young people to develop an Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 7 evaluation form for parents, carers and professionals to evaluate the service. The registered manager and staff have positive relationships with other agencies. Staff regularly liaise with professionals and keep them updated on children‟s and young people‟s progress. A social worker told the inspector, „The staff are always available to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

me if I need to speak to them.‟ The registered manager has created additional responsibilities for staff such as „education coordinators‟. These staff are responsible for liaising with school staff to ensure that there are clear communication systems in place. Consequently, the staff work more collaboratively with education colleagues and ensure that children and young people‟s needs are met. The registered manager and staff work closely with other organisations to ensure that children and young people are provided with the same opportunities as their peers and are not excluded because of their disabilities. For example, they work with a corporate parenting officer, who said, „The activity programme is amazing, we just complement that, making sure that the young people can access different services.‟ As such, young people have access to work experience, engage in activities in the community, and celebrate their achievements at award ceremonies.

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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 differences 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 whom 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: SC033698 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BB

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Inspector

Lisa O‟Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC033698 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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