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 up to two children who have complex needs. The registered manager is appropriately experienced and qualified. She has been managing the home since July 2018 and is 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: 25 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/02/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— meet each child‟s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child‟s relevant plans. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(2)(a)(i)) 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 30/09/2019

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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 promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(b)(2)(c)) 31/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medication received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23(1)) 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children‟s home. (Regulation 25(1)(a)) 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. 30/09/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 3 The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(3)(d)) The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35(1)(a)(b)(2)) 30/09/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.13) In particular, when children do not want to make a formal complaint but raise a concern, the manager must clearly record the response and steps taken to address issues raised by children.

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Recommendations

 The home‟s staff should recognise and celebrate the achievements of their children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 31, paragraph 6.7) This is in relation to accurately recording positive behaviours and contributions of children.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to attend routine health appointments. Children with specific needs have regular reviews by specialist health professionals. This promotes their well- being. However, arrangements for administering and recording medication are not consistently good. There have been four medication errors since the last inspection. Although staff have attended training, further errors have occurred. Medication errors have the potential to compromise children‟s health and welfare. Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 4 The home has a weekly incentive scheme to encourage the children to behave positively. The manager was able to tell the inspector that children are rewarded for positive behaviour. However, children‟s case files do not reflect this. This means that it is difficult to see whether staff apply rewards consistently and the children‟s case files do not reflect the positive progress of children.

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improvement to be good

Children develop positive relationships with most staff and feel that they can talk to them at any time. Children have opportunities to raise their views at regular meetings and are aware of the home‟s complaints procedure. However, managers and staff do not record children‟s complaints and resulting actions consistently well. For example, it is not always clear why children do not pursue initial complaints, how this lack of follow-up is recorded and what staff do to address the concerns raised. This results in missed opportunities to clearly address issues raised by children and make sure that children are listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a range of activities such as trips to the cinema, car boot sales and a local theme park. Staff take the time to plan activities by taking children‟s interests and hobbies into account. Children go to army cadets, fishing and to a dance club. Participation in leisure activities helps children to improve their self-esteem and confidence, while having fun.

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improvement to be good

Children who have previously struggled with education now attend full time. Regular meetings between the staff and teachers take place to ensure that children‟s needs are understood and met. Children‟s achievements in school are celebrated, and this helps children to feel motivated to learn and to attend school.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to keep in touch with their families. When issues arise, staff discuss these with the children‟s social workers so that there is a coordinated response. Helping children to maintain safe and positive links with their families promotes their identity and enables children to feel secure.

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improvement to be good

There are some clear and detailed risk assessments in place. These include details for mobile phone use, activities, and when the manager brings her pet dog to the home. Staff implement the guidance set out in these risk assessments, and this ensures that adequate measures are put in place to assess and minimise most risks. This good practice promotes children‟s welfare. However, one child‟s pre-placement information indicates that he was once at risk of radicalisation. The manager has not explored this with the child‟s placing authority to fully understand what this means. As a result, she and staff do not fully understand this potentially significant risk and what they need to do to manage this.

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improvement to be good

Children‟s plans and assessments are detailed and informative. Staff review and update these documents monthly. However, not all staff make sure that they read this information so that they are aware when changes are made. A new member of staff did Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 5 not read a child‟s file, which led to an incident of challenging behaviour from a child that could have been avoided. In addition, despite several reminders in the staff communication book, there continue to be inconsistencies in staff practice. These include staff not completing children‟s journals. These shortfalls compromise the quality of care children receive.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not adequately monitored and revised the use of physical restraint for one child. Despite being trained, staff have not been able to restrain this child effectively on three occasions. There is good practice around recording of restraints and debriefs with the children and staff. However, the manager has not considered the need to review and revise restraint practice to ensure that this is effective and safe for this child. This increases the likelihood of injury to the staff and children. In addition, on one occasion staff called the police to help them to manage the child‟s behaviour. This increases the risk of the child being criminalised.

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improvement to be good

The manager‟s decision-making in relation to staff recruitment is not thorough. For example, she does not satisfactorily explore issues raised in references written by previous employers for some staff. In addition, there is not a clear audit trail to show why the manager considers these individuals suitable to work at the home. Furthermore, the manager had not noticed that one member of staff did not have the correct level 3 qualification; their qualification was in relation to caring for adults and not children. Shortfalls in recruitment practice increase the risk of unsuitable staff being employed to care for children.

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improvement to be good

Children do not go missing from the home. Staff understand the clear protocols in place should this happen. They know what to do to help children return to the home safely. At times children walk out of the home, usually to the front of the house to calm down following an incident. Staff respond appropriately when this happens by monitoring children to check that they are okay.

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

The manager has aspirations for the home. However, without the support of a deputy manager it has been difficult for her to implement the changes she wants to, and embed these changes. A new deputy manager has been appointed, and once in post will be able to support the manager to bring about improvements and consistency in staff practice.

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

Staff have completed mandatory training, which is accessible online and at face-to-face courses. However, even with training staff practice is not always good. For example, there have been medication errors. In addition, managers have not ensured that staff receive training to better understand attention deficit hyperactivity disorder so that they can fully support a child‟s needs. Similarly, staff have not received training to understand why and how children may be at risk of radicalisation, so they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about this to be able to educate children about such risks.

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

Some management oversight and monitoring activity is good. However, it is not yet consistent enough. In addition, the manager and responsible individual have not acted Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 6 on recommendations raised in the home‟s fire risk assessment, which was completed in December 2018. Failure to promptly address this issue has the potential to place children and staff at risk of harm in the event of a fire.

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

Staff receive regular supervision from the manager. Supervision is reflective and enables staff to consider areas of learning and development. Most members of the staff team are suitably qualified. Those who are not are enrolled on the level 3 course in caring for children and young people, and are expected to complete the course within required timescales.

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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 7

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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: Unit 6, Cuckoo Wharf, 427 Lichfield Road, Birmingham B6 7SS

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Inspector

Shazana Jamal, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1258026 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 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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