Children's Home run by Stanfield Care Services Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 1 Registered provider: Stanfield Care Services 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 privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for two young people who have complex needs. The organisation states in its statement of purpose that it cares ‘for young people in emergencies (same-day) or/and as planned admissions’.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in July 2018. A new manager has been in post since July 2018 and is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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: 13 February 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 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 understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and 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 ─ ensure that staff ─

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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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 meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(vi)(c)(i)) 14/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; 14/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 4 help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

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 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(x)(b)) In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 14/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 5 (a)(b)(c)(d)). The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, support young people to stop smoking, and remove cigarette debris from the garden and the side of the home. 14/09/2018

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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

helps children to aspire to their full potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13 (2)(b)) 14/09/2018

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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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 14/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 6 The registered person must ensure full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d)) 14/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees ─

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)) 14/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that 14/09/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 7 they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child that include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3. The records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to young people’s looked-after health assessments, looked after children review minutes, and personal education plans. 14/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)) 14/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 14/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that, when a child returns to the home after being missing from care, or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority enables the home to take account of information provided by return interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Ensure that supervision of staff practice includes discussion about the Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 8 safeguarding culture of the home so that staff understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person must ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear

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Recommendations

recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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improvement to be good

Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and feel confident that they can raise concerns at any time. However, one young person is only achieving 7% school attendance. Despite receiving some education from a tutor, there is little evidence to show that managers have challenged the young person’s placing local authority to secure a school placement. In contrast, another young person has been supported well to find a full-time job.

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improvement to be good

Young people do not live in a home that is well maintained. For example, staff have been too slow to remove inappropriate drawings on a young person’s bedroom wall. There are areas of damage to paintwork and broken furniture. This includes a broken chest of draws in one young person’s bedroom.

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improvement to be good

Young people help with chores in the home. For example, young people help to keep their bedrooms tidy, do their laundry and help the staff to cook meals. However, staff do not hold an updated record of the success young people are making in developing their life skills. This creates a missed opportunity for staff to show the difference they are making in helping young people to be ready for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Young people attend routine health appointments and are encouraged to eat a healthy diet. However, staff fail to record how they have helped one young person to stop smoking, other than signing up to a smoking cessation course. Staff smoke at the side of the home, and there is evidence of used cigarettes. This does not set a good example to young people about healthy living.

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improvement to be good

Young people enjoy a range of activities. These include participating in bike rides, visiting local parks and going to the cinema.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that young people can see their family and friends. This helps young people to retain contact with people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage young people to share their views about their care and the daily routines in the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 9

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in the way that sanctions and rewards are recorded. Managers do not always review records to help to understand why a sanction is necessary and to ensure that all the correct information is recorded. Sometimes, the number of sanctions and rewards is disproportionate. For example, one young person has received seven rewards but 22 sanctions.

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improvement to be good

Managers fail to adequately monitor the use of physical restraint. For example, staff are not always trained in the home’s approved technique but have been involved in a physical restraint. Physical restraint records do not always include sufficient detail to show that young people and staff have been offered a debrief. Occasionally, managers have failed to review and sign off a record.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not follow up advice. For example, an independent fire assessor raised a recommendation for the staff to assess the safety of a settee that was missing a fire- resistant label. The lack of action compromises young people’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not ensured that all significant events relating to the protection of young people are notified to Ofsted. This leaves the regulator with limited insight into how well the registered person takes the appropriate action to deal with significant events in the home.

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improvement to be good

Systems used by managers for the vetting of staff are difficult to navigate. As a result, it is hard to determine whether all checks are completed to assess someone’s suitability to work with young people. For example, reference checks and job histories are not always easy to locate.

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

A new manager has been in post for two weeks. The new manager is realistic about the changes that are needed to improve the service.

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

There are still ongoing shortfalls from the last inspection, resulting in four requirements being repeated. This includes ongoing weaknesses in managers encouraging staff to work together, improving the frequency of staff supervision and ensuring that staff have the required training. For example, there are still gaps in staff receiving training in the use of physical restraint and in understanding young people’s health needs, including asthma awareness.

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

There have been changes in the staff team. Three staff have left, including the registered manager and six new staff have started.

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

Young people’s files do not contain all information required, including their looked-after health plans, personal educational plans and looked-after review minutes These documents are vital to help to ensure that staff have access to essential information Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 10 about young people’s needs.

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

Young people occasionally go missing from the home. When they return, this does not always result in their being offered a return home interview. This creates a missed opportunity for the young person to talk to an independent person.

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

The statement of purpose is out of date, and the children’s guide is too long and detailed to be a helpful guide for all young people who live at the home.

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

Five staff, including the new manager, have completed the level 3 qualification in residential childcare. All other staff are new to residential childcare and plan to commence their level 3 qualification soon.

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

The independent visitor attends monthly and provides an account of progress and shortfalls in the home. However, managers do not always act to rectify identified shortfalls to ensure that the service improves.

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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: 1258026 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stanfield Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 57 Newbury Road, Newtown Community Centre, Birmingham B19 2SW

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Inspector

Julia Wright, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1258026 12 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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