Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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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 and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people aged six to 17. Children and young people may have faced adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and placement and family breakdown.

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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

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(e)) 30/08/2019

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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 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(h)) 30/08/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people to make positive progress from their starting points. Concerning behaviours reduce as staff build positive and trusting relationships with children and young people. For example, one young person has stopped using drugs, and the risk of criminal exploitation has reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote a range of positive activities for children and young people to enjoy. These include swimming lessons, wakeboarding, drama lessons and activities within the home. This helps children and young people to develop their self-esteem and improve their levels of fitness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have the skills to support children and young people who self-harm and have mental health concerns. Children and young people regularly attend appointments that promote positive emotional health and well-being. Additionally, staff find local groups that complement the support that children and young people already receive. Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 4 The registered manager completes a very detailed matching document prior to children and young people moving into the home. This identifies children and young people’s needs prior to their admission.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff are child focused. They engage children and young people in creative work to help them to manage their behaviour. Staff are empathetic and support children and young people well. Children and young people feel comfortable to talk to staff, and feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is inviting, decorated in a homely way and well maintained. Each child and young person’s room is personalised to their own individual tastes, and there is a development plan in place to make further improvements.

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

Staff respond quickly when children and young people are missing from the home. They conduct searches and contact police, family and social workers whenever necessary. Staff make sure that an independent person is available when children and young people return home. This ensures that they can discuss any concerns that they may have.

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

Staff respond well when children and young people display challenging behaviours. Records of these incidents are detailed and show how and why staff have intervened. Restraint is only used as a last resort once a range of other strategies have been tried.

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

Staff are aware of how to respond to safeguarding concerns. The registered manager works well with the local safeguarding board and other professionals when concerns are raised about the safety of children and young people. Staff have had training to support children and young people with issues such as self-harm, radicalisation and child exploitation.

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

Risk assessments are clear and give good guidance to help staff to manage children and young people’s behaviour and reduce risks. In some risk assessments, children and young people’s views are documented. For example, details are included of how they would like staff to manage self-injurious behaviour. This helps children and young people to inform the care that they receive.

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

The registered manager is appropriately experienced and is completing the necessary qualification. He has a good awareness of the needs of the children and young people. He is supported by an experienced deputy manager.

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

The home has a core staff team that provides a level of consistency to children and young people. However, due to the staffing structure within the organisation the registered manager uses many ‘bank’ workers. These staff are employed by the company, but it means that a large number of staff care for the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 5 The registered manager has monitoring systems that identify areas for improvement. These include monthly independent quality assurance visits, regularly document reviews and file auditing tools. However, the registered manager does not always go far enough to understand why mistakes have happened and how they can be prevented in the future. For example, there have been repeated medication errors. The registered manager has acted by providing staff with additional training and carrying out daily checks. However, there is a lack of scrutiny as to how these errors have occurred. This

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

prevents the registered manager from identifying further solutions to reduce future mistakes.

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

Staff receive regular supervision and yearly appraisals to support them in their role. Written records of supervision sessions have recently improved. The registered manager has started to make staff more accountable for their actions and provides them with clear targets to achieve. This supports staff development and ensures that children and young people receive care from suitably skilled staff.

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

The registered manager has built positive relationships with other professionals and parents. This ensures good communication and means that children and young people receive the care that they need.

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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: 1226397 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mountfields House, Epinal Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3GE

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Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1226397 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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