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 Community Interest Company

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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.

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Information about this children’s home

This home has operated for over 40 years. It is one of four homes operated by a local authority trust since March 2018. The registered manager has extensive experience and knowledge.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: 14 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1273485 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to recording and reporting safeguarding information. 30/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(c)) 30/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). 30/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1273485 4 The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This relates to temporary or agency staff. 30/04/2020

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Children have new experiences and opportunities because of supportive care during their short visits to the home. Staff consider the mix of children’s abilities and needs for each group at each stay. This advance planning gives children an opportunity to develop friendships and skills. These may be self-help skills like learning to eat independently, becoming continent or developing eye contact. Children go out and about in the community and enjoy constructive play at the home. They have fun.

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Staff are skilled in communicating with children using touch, signs and symbols. This means that children who do not use speech are also able to communicate their wishes and feelings. Parents told Ofsted about the progress their children have made and the positive difference that staff support and advice have made to their family lives.

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Staff work well with the placing authority and children’s parents to create and review short-break plans. Health and education needs are well managed. However, staff do not always have copies of children’s other plans, including, in one case, a statutory care plan, and education, health and care plans. This means they may miss out on important information about children, including about educational aims and therapeutic recommendations. Inspection report children’s home: 1273485 5 Some short-break plans do not give sufficiently up-to-date or detailed guidance to guide staff about how they should support key placement aims, for example, by helping children to establish good sleep patterns and maintain healthy diets. Consequently, some day and night staff adopt different strategies. This means that children experience inconsistent care.

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Staff plan carefully to make sure that children and their parents have a positive, personalised experience of moving in and on from the service. One former young resident is now an independent visitor with the city’s rights and advocacy service. They told Ofsted: ‘I will rate service great, food great, trips. If you needed to speak to anyone, staff there had the advocate come in and spoke to us about our rights.’

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improvement to be good

Not all staff understand what they have to do if they receive information about children’s safeguarding concerns. A member of staff failed to record and share safeguarding information with their manager about a concern raised by the placing authority. The concern did not relate to any issue at the home. This failure to understand their child protection responsibilities meant that the information was lost to the service and the child’s records and prevented the registered manager from fulfilling their responsibilities.

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improvement to be good

The provider does not evidence that agency or temporary staff have completed full recruitment checks, or that they have the skills and qualifications for their role. The provider does not make arrangements to provide professional supervision to these staff. Consequently, they do not know that these staff are suitable to work with children, or whether their care practice is of a good standard.

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improvement to be good

In all other regards, arrangements to protect children are positive. The majority of staff implement their advanced safeguarding training, policy and procedure. There have been no concerns about children while at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff reduce the risks sometimes associated with children’s disabilities and behaviour through calm, positive relationships and careful planning. Staff manage some children’s harmful, challenging behaviour calmly and with great care. They use distraction, toys, activities and music to calm and reduce distress or escalating behaviour. Staff have not used physical intervention to restrain children since 2018. Children experience sensitivity and respect.

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improvement to be good

Regular health and safety checks result in an environment that is safe for all. Parents and the placing authority are confident that staff protect children. One parent told Ofsted that the service makes children less vulnerable and more self-reliant. Inspection report children’s home: 1273485 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider delivers a service that is valued by children, parents and the placing authority. It meets the needs of children well. Several parents shared their positive appreciation of the staff. Parents have a high regard for the caring, teamwork approach, which has exceeded their expectations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems for managerial monitoring and review are effective and support improvement through effective action. Parents are confident that any issues they may have will be properly sorted out by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are long-standing, knowledgeable, skilled and professionally qualified. Staffing levels allow for individualised care. Permanent staff have good support through professional supervision and good training opportunities, highly relevant to the needs of children who have a disability. Managers work with staff to develop and improve staff practice. Relationships with children are respectful and caring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good relationships with parents, through regular coffee mornings and events and in their regular consultations about the service. Professional partnerships with the local children’s disability team, speech and language therapists, the child mental health service and children’s schools promote a responsive, child-centred service. Inspection report children’s home: 1273485 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

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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

Christy Wannop, 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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