Children's home run by Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 1 Registered provider: Birmingham Children‟s Trust 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 a short-break service for seven young people who have learning disabilities. The home has been operated for several years by a local authority. The service and the existing manager were registered again under a newly created local authority trust in March 2018. The registered manager has extensive experience and knowledge.

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Information about this children’s home

It is one of four homes operated by this local authority children‟s trust.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 2

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that promotes their welfare.

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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 the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(b)(2)(f)(h)) 09/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep under review and revise the placement plan as necessary. (Regulation 18(7)) 12/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that 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; 12/10/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 3 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 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 supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(4)(a)) 12/10/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers a warm and welcoming living environment for young people. Young people have access to seven different themed bedrooms, and can choose which one they like best. Young people can bring their personal belongings to display in their chosen bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The excellent matching skills of the manager and staff mean that young people are in groups that help them to thrive and to feel settled. Young people are having fun and enjoying the things they love the most. They are doing a range of activities within the home and in the community, such as playing in their well-equipped sensory playground; watering plants and vegetables; using the sensory room; visiting local parks, a safari park, the seaside and Harry Potter in London; going canoeing; and doing archery. Young people are building social skills, friendship groups, self-esteem, confidence and independence skills. One parent said, „My son has managed to build social skills and has friends which he never used to have.‟ These experiences and opportunities enable young people to feel happy and valued, and prepare them for transitions into adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are set individualised targets towards their independence and are making progress. However, staff do not consistently record young people‟s progress within their Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 4 steps-to-progress records. This means staff cannot always evaluate and evidence young people‟s progress against their set targets. Young people‟s small steps to progress could be missed and not celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite young people having complex needs, staff ensure that they have a voice and choice in their day-to-day care. Young people have regular key-worker sessions and young people‟s meetings using words and pictures. This gives young people opportunities to choose activities and to plan the menu. The cook told the inspector, „I look at the young people‟s meeting minutes and then come up with a menu from their chosen food and ingredients.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

New young people are given a warm welcome. Staff use tea visits to get to know young people better, and to allow the young people to get used to the home environment. The tea visits are gradually increased to overnight stays but are done with consideration of each young person‟s needs. When young people leave the service, a leaving party is always set up to celebrate the young people‟s achievements.

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

Staff know young people‟s strengths and areas of risk. They have clear safeguarding policies and procedures that enable them to safely care for young people. Risks identified in young people‟s healthcare plans are generally cross-referenced in their risk assessments.

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

There have not been any complaints or missing-from-care episodes since the last inspection. The home uses restorative practice to reinforce positive behaviour in young people. For example, when young people meet their weekly targets, they are rewarded with certificates. During the inspection, photographs of young people receiving their certificates were seen and young people appeared happy and proud of their achievements.

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

Staff have built good relationships with young people, as a result restraint is rarely used. There has been one restraint since the last inspection. The recording of this restraint is poor. It lacks all of the relevant information. For example, the record is missing the details of the young person‟s behaviour before the restraint, the duration of the restraint, where each staff member held the young person and whether a staff debrief was completed. This information is important in ascertaining if the restraint was necessary and proportionate.

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

Staff recruitment is safe, which means that young people are looked after by safe, appropriate adults.

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

The manager‟s monitoring and reviewing of the service are ineffective in some areas. For Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 5 example, the manager signed off a poorly written restraint record, a risk assessment plan which did not contain all of the young person‟s presenting health risks and a short- break plan without the authors name or date. Furthermore, young people‟s steps-to- progress records are not being completed by staff, and management have not addressed the shortfall. These are missed opportunities for the manager to address and improve staff‟s practice effectively, which in turn would improve the quality of care given to young people.

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

The manager did not submit her quality of care report to Ofsted within the recommended timescales. There was a five-month delay. This reduces the credibility of the system and opportunities for timely improvement. The next quality of care review report is due at the end of this month. However, the manager indicated to the inspector that she has not commenced the process of obtaining feedback from parents. This is despite the manager identifying that this as an area of improvement in her last quality of care report. This raises further concerns around her ability to learn from previous shortfalls to enable her to improve the overall quality of care the service provides for young people.

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

The manager works well with partner agencies and keeps them updated regarding the care and progress of young people. The manager is supportive of parents. For example, she offers Makaton training to parents, to help them to develop their communication with their own child. The manager ensures that all young people have access to advocacy services. This supports young people to fully participate in important decisions about their care.

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

The home has a stable team of experienced staff who have worked at the home for several years and have an excellent understanding of young people‟s disabilities and needs. Staff receive good-quality supervision. Staff in general state that they feel supported and listened to by managers. However, there are some staff who do not feel that they are always listened to by managers. The manager is aware of the concerns and is in the process of addressing the matter.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 6 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: 1273485 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birmingham Children‟s Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Third Floor Zone 16, 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham B4 7DJ

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1273485 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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