Children's Home run by Serenity Specialist Care Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 1 SC471672 Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care 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

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. The home is owned and operated by a small private company. The manager of the home 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

This home is subject to a notice restricting accommodation. Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2019 Full Inadequate 03/07/2018 Full Good 30/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff adhere to any risk assessment about safe storage of substances which can be harmful to health. 06/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b)) 06/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent.

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Requirement Due date

Before implementing, or making an amendment which the registered person considers to be substantive to, the missing child policy, the registered person must— 06/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 4 consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person; and have regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. (Regulation 34 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to maintaining the children’s register. 06/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”) (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)) 03/04/2020

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Recommendations

 For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Staff should make available in the home, information in an appropriate form which enables children to contact their placing authority to call for a review of their care plan if they have concerns about their safety or welfare. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 43, paragraph 9.11) Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 5

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improvement to be good

This home was judged inadequate at a full inspection on 19 and 20 June 2019. The inspector found 15 regulatory breaches. Two children moved out of the home soon afterwards. Since the inspection, the home has worked hard to address these breaches and 13 have been met. Two breaches remain unmet and three further regulatory breaches were found on this inspection.

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improvement to be good

The overall experiences of the young person who lives at the home are improving. He attends school every day and is making some progress. Staff take him to school and attend all meetings and school functions. Feedback from the headteacher was positive. The young person returns from school on public transport as part of developing independence skills.

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improvement to be good

There is a temporary reduction in the number of staff members working in the home due to sickness and annual leave. Despite this, the young person is able to fulfil planned activities. Staff encourage him to try new hobbies such as dance and martial arts. He is looking forward to playing basketball with a local group. This broadens his social experiences as well as improving his skills and well-being through exercise.

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improvement to be good

The home supports the young person to see his family and other significant people. This often involves travelling some distance and staying with him to ensure that the visits run smoothly. This helps the young person maintain important relationships while living away from home.

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improvement to be good

The views and opinions of the young person are gained through regular key-working sessions. These are discussed among the staff and any decisions are fed back to him. This is an inclusive approach to involving the young person in the planning of his care.

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improvement to be good

A written guide was given to the young person when he moved into the home. It contains information about the home and the local area and explains the complaints procedure and the availability of the advocacy service. Information about the young person‟s social worker and independent reviewing officer is missing. This reduces options for the young person should he wish to speak with someone about the care they receive.

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improvement to be good

There have been improvements to safety within the home. However, issues remain. There are substances that can be harmful to health stored in a cabinet in the room where the washing machine is housed. This room is locked but the cabinet is unlocked, meaning the young person could access it when doing his laundry. Failure to store hazardous substances effectively is an avoidable risk. Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 6 The home’s management have worked to improve recording of information and other important documents. Further work is need around policies such as the missing from care and child protection policies. It is essential that such policies are clear and well embedded within the staff team, so everyone is aware of their responsibilities to safeguard the young person.

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improvement to be good

The young person has been reported missing twice since the last inspection. Both episodes were short, lasting a matter of minutes. However, staff response to going missing was inconsistent. This does not adequately safeguard the young person should he leave the home without permission.

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improvement to be good

All damage within the home has been repaired and the home has been decorated throughout. The home now has an abundance of fire safety signs. This detracts from what is otherwise a homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good relationship with the young person, they understand him and communicate well with him. They de-escalate unwanted behaviours and there have been no physical interventions since the last inspection.

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

The manager of the home was registered with Ofsted in October 2017 and has the required level 5 diploma. The manager is supported by a deputy manager. The members of the staff team are well qualified and receive training to support them in their roles.

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

The management have worked to address shortfalls from the previous inspection, but further improvements are needed.

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

The most recent internal review of the quality of care that the home provides did not incorporate the views and opinions of young people. No actions to drive improvement resulted from the review. This means the review of care was ineffective. The home has since implemented a new system to undertake such reviews.

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

The home’s statement of purpose was updated recently but does not give an accurate summary of the care the home provides. This could be misleading for someone who is seeking to make a referral to the home.

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

The recording of information on the home‟s register lacks accuracy. For example, the address where a child moved to after leaving the home is recorded as „residential home‟. This means that there are gaps in information should this need to be accessed at a later date.

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

The staff receive regular, practice-led supervision and annual appraisals in line with organisational policy. The staff value therapeutic discussions about the young person with experts during regular team meetings. One staff member said, „Everyone here is very caring and [the young person] understands that we care about him.‟ Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 7

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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: SC471672 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, Dominion Court, 43 Station Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3RT

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Inspectors

Ricky D’Arcy, social care inspector Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC471672 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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