Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 1 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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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 home is owned by a private company. It is one of four operated under a contract with a large local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who may have experienced trauma, placement and family breakdown.

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Information about this children’s home

The organisation’s clinical psychologist provides a service to staff and children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since February 2017.

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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: 12 December 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: 1228090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/11/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(ix)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to implementing agreed plans for children and ensuring that children’s bedrooms are furnished to a high quality. 03/08/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Significant improvement has been made since the home’s registration in April 2016. The service is now providing children with stability and good outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One social worker who has had two children placed at the home told the inspector, ‘Both young people have been happy and well cared for, and it is a settled home which provides a good environment to develop in.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have active social lives, they play sports, enjoy cooking for the staff and other children, and receive good health and therapeutic support. Their school attendance and participation in education is much better. Children who are waiting for a school placement have a clear plan for daily learning, and good night and day routines. This helps to them to be ready for the school day once their school placement is confirmed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Respect for children’s wishes and feelings is at the forefront of this service. Consultation and conversation with children about their important issues is at the heart of the staff team’s care practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff now offer consistent, positive adult attention when children most need it. This positive parenting is helping children to enjoy an ordinary and calm childhood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are a few areas that still need to improve. For example, there have been occasions when staff have been inconsistent and not implemented changes to children’s plans that have been agreed by the placing local authority. This has held back some children from making progress in developing life skills read for adulthood. Not all children’s bedrooms are fully furnished. However, other areas of the house provide a nurturing atmosphere to help children to thrive physically, emotionally and socially.

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

Safeguarding arrangements are much better. Rigorous recruitment checks ensure that only safe adults work with children. Risk management plans assess children’s risks from sexual exploitation, self-harm and extremism. These effective plans help to keep children safe. The neighbourhood police officer has no concerns about how the service keeps children safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 5 Staff now protect children when they go missing from home. Staff follow the home’s procedures and act like good parents in searching for children and encouraging them to return home.

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

Staff no longer routinely use alarms on children’s bedroom doors as a safety measure. As a result, children no longer experience this intrusive, institutional security system and now have their privacy respected.

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

An increase in the use of restorative practice means that restraints and sanctions are now rarely used. Children respond well to the protective care shown by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective leadership and management are evident in the improvements being made. Leadership makes good use of a range of internal and external monitoring and quality review systems, including learning from children’s complaints.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A well-matched group of children has been achieved by the manager’s careful admission planning, even when children move in as an emergency. Two children have moved out; one has moved back home and another child has moved into foster care. Two children are working towards a planned move into independent living.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

If staff do not have enough information to support children’s placements, the manager makes an appropriate challenge to the placing authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has grown in experience and skill, confidence, consistency and stability. An imaginative training programme now ensures that the staff meet the needs of children. Regular team meetings with the organisation’s psychologist help to support the staff to stay focused on the individual needs of each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although staff supervision is happening frequently, not all staff receive a record of their supervision shortly after their meeting. Despite this, staff are very positive about their support, induction and training. Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 6

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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: 1228090 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Niel Shelmerdine

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Inspector

Christy Wannop, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1228090 8 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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