Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 1 SC377825 Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private organisation.

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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: 2 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people enjoy living at the home. They feel cared for and have made progress in many areas of their lives.  Staff understand young people’s backgrounds and care plans. This understanding contributes to young people receiving good consistent care.  Meaningful discussions between staff and young people raise young people’s awareness of issues within society.  Staff support young people to maintain positive and safe contact with their families, when appropriate.  Young people feel safe at the home and risk-taking behaviours are rare.  Positive behaviour is encouraged and rewarded by staff.  Detailed behaviour management plans guide staff on how to manage challenging behaviour effectively.  Professionals involved with the home are positive about young people’s progress and the working relationships that they have developed with staff.  Supervisions and appraisals help staff to examine their own practice and set

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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

 A change in education arrangements does not fully support the learning needs of young people. Staff are not sufficiently trained to deliver education under the new structure.  Some areas of the home require improvement to make it feel comfortable and homely.  The young people’s guide is not written in a way that makes it accessible to all of the young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/08/2016 Full Outstanding 01/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/08/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 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 education standard is that children make measureable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(viii)) 31/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff keep the children’s guide and complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. (Regulation 7(2)(c)) Specifically, that the children’s guide is accessible to younger children. 31/03/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff provide an environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to children’s behaviour. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, ensure that damage to the home is repaired quickly and the home is well-maintained throughout.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from positive relationships with staff. One young person said, ‘I think that the staff are okay, they have helped me get used to the place, understand the Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 4 rules and they do stuff with me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a wide range of activities, including trampolining, going to the local park and visits to the library. A young person was keen to tell the inspector about his first visit to a cinema, and a ‘world news’ video that he had presented. Young people enjoy new experiences and opportunities, which help to build their confidence and self- esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff undertake cultural awareness nights with young people. These include discussing an excellent range of topics and activities. For example, the home has held its own election. The staff’s commitment to educating young people about issues outside the home is exceptionally strong.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage young people to develop appropriate links with family and friends. They support travel arrangements and advocate for young people in their review meetings. As a result, young people maintain positive relationships with their families and people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health is supported well. Health plans show that young people attend routine appointments. This promotes their well-being. Young people take part in activities that keep them fit. For example, one young person is a member of a local wrestling club. Medication arrangements are appropriately managed and keep young people safe and well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recent changes to the organisation’s school system mean that young people who do not have an educational placement now receive education at the home. This currently affects one young person. A teacher visits the home on a regular basis, but staff undertake set learning tasks with the young person. This arrangement has only been operating for two weeks and so the overall impact on young people is limited at this time. However, the home is not registered as a school and care staff are not trained to deliver education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some areas of the home are well looked after and offer a pleasant environment. However, some bedrooms have been damaged by young people. Repairs have not been carried out quickly. Furthermore, some carpets and curtains are not well maintained. As a result, young people do not benefit from a home that is well looked after throughout.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people raise their views in regular young people’s meetings and key-work sessions. Staff act on what young people say and consequently young people feel listened to. Young people confirm that they know how to make a complaint, although no young people have done so since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good transition arrangements help young people to settle into the home quickly. Those who have left the home have been helped with visiting their future placements and staff keep in touch with them to offer additional support. The staff have supported those moving onto independence well, including developing their skills relating to budgeting, keeping themselves healthy and cooking. Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 5

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

Good systems are in place for supporting the safety of young people. Health and safety checks, including fire checks, are completed regularly and the location risk assessment has recently been updated. Staff review young people’s risk assessments regularly, and understand and manage risk well.

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

Staff follow safeguarding procedures when concerns arise. This protects young people’s safety and welfare. Staff report issues to relevant professionals promptly and detailed records show what action they take.

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

Young people rarely engage in risk-taking behaviours such as going missing from home. Young people reported no concerns to the inspector about bullying. Positive relationships between staff and young people, together with good supervision of young people, mean that any issues are identified and responded to quickly. Staff are aware of how to respond should such events occur and this promotes young people’s safety.

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

Behaviour management is based on promoting positive behaviours through rewards and encouragement. When staff implement sanctions, these are effective. As a result, young people begin to understand the effect that their behaviour has on themselves and other people. Individual behaviour management plans give good guidance to staff. They outline possible triggers and effective de-escalation techniques, so that any incidents of challenging behaviour are managed well. On the occasions when staff use physical intervention, they do this safely. Staff write detailed records to show what happened. All behaviour management records are monitored well by the manager.

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

Safer recruitment systems are used in the home. All relevant checks are undertaken on new staff before they start work at the home. This promotes young people’s safety. Young people are involved in the recruitment process and this enables them to contribute to decisions about their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has a good level of experience of residential care, and has completed the necessary level 5 qualification in leadership and management. He has recently undertaken his suitable person interview and is waiting for his certificate of registration with Ofsted to be despatched. The manager has a strong awareness of young people’s needs and progress. The manager has compiled a development plan to maintain good standards of care and drive improvements forward, where necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work well with placing authority social workers. They ensure that they gather the necessary information about young people to help inform their day-to- day care plans. Feedback from stakeholders involved with the home is positive. A social worker said, ‘They keep in touch and let me know what is going on if there are any Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 6 issues.’ Local police officers visit the home regularly to talk to the young people. Records show good levels of communication with health services. Good collaborative working with partner agencies promotes young people’s welfare and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the home effectively. He makes good use of external monitoring reports and acts on recommendations raised by the independent visitor. The independent visitor consults with young people and professionals to inform their evaluation of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care provided for young people is in line with the aims and objectives outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. The young people’s guide contains plenty of information about the home for young people. However, the way the guide is presented is better suited to older young people. Another more accessible version needs to be created to suit those who are younger.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The majority of staff are qualified to work with children in a residential setting, while others are on track to complete their qualifications within the required timescales. Regular team meetings and staff supervision help to embed consistent practice. Supervision records show that staff are encouraged to evaluate their own practice and develop their skills. Staff also have annual appraisals, during which objectives are set to help them to develop their skills. The staff work well together, with one staff member stating that, ‘We all get on really well, all communicate well and we are consistent in the way that we look after the young people.’ A consistent approach to young people’s care helps young people to settle and feel secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good awareness of the need to inform professionals, including Ofsted, of significant events that occur at the home. Notifications are rare, but when they do happen they include all the necessary information. Records show that staff take appropriate action to reduce the chances of the incident happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One requirement made at the last inspection relating to staff signing into the home has been met. Two requirements and one recommendation are raised at this inspection.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 7 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: SC377825 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant/Michael Haddock

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Inspector

Andrew Hewston: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC377825 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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