Children's home run by Birmingham City Council in Birmingham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 1 SC033662 Registered provider: Birmingham City Council 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 16 children and young people who have physical and/or learning disabilities. The home provides 10 long-term placements and six short-break placements. The home is operated by a local authority. The home is also registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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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 consult children and young people about the quality of care that they receive. Staff cannot evidence how they have gathered children‟s and young people‟s views, wishes and feelings.  Children and young people are not consistently provided with a wide range of activities.  The use of door alarms and monitoring devices is not rigorously assessed, or reflected in the statement of purpose.  The registered manager does not ensure that staff have up-to-date training.  The registered manager does not safely vet staff prior to employment.  The registered manager does not have effective monitoring systems in place that allow her to review the quality of care within the home.  The environment is not homely.  The registered manager does not ensure that the progress children and young people make is evidenced. There is no clear link between behaviour management plans, key-work sessions and targets set for children and young

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Key findings from this inspection

people.  The locality risk assessment does not identify risks within the local area.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have positive relationships with children and young people.  Staff ensure that children and young people have consistent personal care routines.  Children and young people are happy living in the home.  Parents and professionals speak positively about the care provided for children and young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 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 registered person must ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1) and (2)(c)(i)(ii)).

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to the lounge areas, reception area, cinema room, bathrooms and bedroom flooring in elephant house and snake house. 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to express views, wishes and feelings and regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home‟s care. (Regulation 7(1) and (2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. (Regulation 9(1)) 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

ensures that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1) and (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to induction and staff training in food hygiene, first aid and health and safety. 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

ensures the registered person understands the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child, and uses this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1) and(2)(f)) 08/03/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 4 The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16(3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to surveillance and monitoring equipment. 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home if full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) 08/03/2018

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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 quality of care review

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Requirement Due date

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 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)) 08/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children‟s home at least once in each calendar year, taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46(1)) 08/03/2018

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child‟s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child‟s access to Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 5 any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child‟s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child‟s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. Information on restraint and deprivation of liberty is contained in the protection of children section of the Guide from paragraph 9.41. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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improvement to be good

Children and young people like living at this home and staff have positive relationships with them. One young person shared, „I think the home is good, staff are good and nice and kind. I think my room is good. The food is good, there is nothing I do not like.‟ When the inspectors asked another young person if they liked living at the home, they said „yes‟, and nodded.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, staff limit children‟s and young people‟s day-to-day experiences. There is a strong focus around routine and care tasks, with little provision made for varied and individualised activities. No children or young people attend after school activities. Furthermore, the inspectors observed children and young people sitting in their wheelchairs during the evening with nothing to stimulate and entertain them. Activities and trips that do take place are limited to weekends and school holidays. As a result, children‟s and young people‟s individual and holistic needs are not being consistently met.

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improvement to be good

All children and young people are able to communicate in a variety of different ways. However, children‟s and young people‟s views, wishes and feelings are not gathered. There is a heavy reliance on using picture exchange communication (PECS). Staff use this form of communication as standard practice, even with children and young people who do not use this form of communication. Important documents, such as the children‟s guide and all key-work sessions, are printed in PECS. As a result, staff do not support all children and young people to understand the information or consider individual communication needs.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people do make progress from their starting points. A social worker told the inspectors, „He has made lots of progress with physical development. Previously he just sat down and now he rolls around and uses interactive toys and crawls around the home.‟

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improvement to be good

However, staff do not record children‟s and young people‟s progress and it is sometimes difficult to see exactly what progress they make. For example, children and young people are set goals to achieve. However, the goals do not link to key-work sessions, care plans, behaviour management plans or risk assessments. A social worker told the Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 6 inspectors, „I ask staff for an update and some staff say they do not know as they have not been working with him this week and they are not getting much from recordings. Recordings tell me the basics and his routine.‟ As a result, children‟s and young people‟s progress is not monitored and reviewed to an adequate standard.

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improvement to be good

Children‟s and young people‟s health needs are met. Staff have support from nursing staff who also work at the home. There are positive working relationships between health and care staff. Consequently, if children or young people do become unwell, staff take swift, appropriate action.

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improvement to be good

All of the children and young people are in education. Children and young people have good school attendance. This supports their academic progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff have good working relationships with other professionals and parents. Inspectors received positive feedback, one parent telling the inspectors, „I feel he is well looked after, if there is a problem it is dealt with straight away.‟

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improvement to be good

Staff have supported children and young people to move successfully to other placements. As a result, children and young people have positive experiences when they transition to new homes.

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improvement to be good

The home is clean. Staff clean children‟s and young people‟s bedrooms daily. However, the home environment requires some refurbishment. This includes: the lounge areas, which have worn settees; the cinema room, which is cluttered; and the bathrooms, which need updating and modernising, along with the flooring in some bedrooms. Staff regularly refer to the different areas of the home as „units‟. This adds to the institutionalised feel of the home.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff put necessary safeguards in place to ensure that children and young people are safe. For example, monitors and door alarms are in place for some children and young people at night, so that staff can be alerted if they are having seizures or if they have left their rooms. However, the rationale behind having such monitoring devices is not detailed by staff in children‟s and young people‟s individual risk assessments. Furthermore, monitoring devices are not mentioned in the home‟s statement of purpose. As a result, it is not clear if all of these devices are required, or how their use has an impact on children and young people.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people do not go missing from this home. No children or young people are assessed to be at risk of child sexual exploitation. Staff have good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. As a result, staff know how to protect children and young people.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not documented any physical interventions or sanctions since the last Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 7 inspection. The registered manager reports that such documentation is not necessary, as staff are able to engage with children and young people by using alternative approaches. However, these approaches are not clearly documented. Behaviour management plans are descriptive in nature. They do not capture triggers for behaviours or interventions that help staff to manage challenging behaviours. The registered manager has not identified this shortfall, or assessed the impact that it may have on children and young people.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager does not ensure that recruitment procedures are robust or keep children and young people safe. For example, she does not verify qualifications and references before new staff start. Additionally, on one staff file there are no details of a Disclosure and Barring Service check. These shortfalls could result in unsuitable adults working in the home.

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improvement to be good

A location risk assessment is in place. However, it does not reflect the risks in the immediate and local area. Additionally, it does not identify how to reduce these risks, to ensure children‟s and young people‟s safety.

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

The registered manager is experienced and has worked at the home for many years, as have the deputy manager and the majority of the staff team. As a result, children and young people receive care from consistent staff.

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

Staff feel supported in their role and receive regular supervision from the management team. One staff member told the inspectors, „I love it here‟; another said, „We are a good team.‟

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

The registered manager has not ensured that staff have the skills required to meet children‟s and young people‟s needs. The induction process for new staff is not consistent and some staff are not provided with a structured induction programme. Additionally, some staff require refresher training in health and safety, first aid and food hygiene. Consequently, staff do not have up-to-date knowledge in these areas.

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

The registered manager is child focused. She works closely with other organisations to ensure that children and young people get the services and equipment that they need. An occupational therapist told the inspectors, „I think the registered manager is a good leader. If she feels that things need to change about an approach, or if the workers said they wouldn‟t do something she would challenge this. She is child focused and everybody follows her lead.‟

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

The monitoring systems in place for reviewing the quality of care that children and young people receive are poor. Views from parents, professionals and children and young people are not gathered to help inform the manager‟s decision-making. This hinders the registered manager from driving the service forward and addressing the shortfalls within the home. Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 8

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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: SC033662 9

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Lisa O‟Donovan: social care inspector Anna Gravelle: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC033662 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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