Children's Home run by HAVEN CARE GROUP LIMITED in Birmingham

Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: Not previously inspected

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Not previously inspected

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assurance visit report: 2548333 2

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Findings from the visit

We identified the following serious concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit:  Children’s bedrooms are not appropriately maintained. Children lack enough storage space for their belongings. There are trip hazards on a child’s bedroom floor.  Children’s health needs are not always promoted.  Risk management plans are not up to date.  There has been instability in the management of the home.  Quality assurance systems fail to identify shortfalls.  Fire safety is not managed effectively. Defects to fire detection and prevention equipment are not repaired in a timely way.  Children are not always spoken to after receiving a sanction and managers do not always record the effectiveness of the measure.

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The care of children

This is the home’s first inspection since being registered in February 2020.

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The care of children

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, children have been encouraged to share their views and experiences with staff. This has helped children to develop attachments with staff. These relationships have helped children to make safer decisions, such as not going missing from the home. However, staff have not helped children to access advocate support. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that children can express their views and experiences of COVID-19 with someone who is impartial of the home.

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The care of children

Staff have encouraged children to explore new activities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to children developing new hobbies and interests. For example, children have been helped to purchase a pet hamster and take responsibility for the hamster’s care. Children have also been encouraged to join a local football team.

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The care of children

Children’s school attendance is variable. Staff ensure that concerns about school or college attendance are explored with the relevant services to try to overcome the barriers that affect children’s learning.

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The care of children

Children are encouraged to stay in touch with people who are important to them. However, potential discord in contact arrangements between the social worker and the staff has not been fully explored or resolved by managers. This has resulted in some drift and delay in raising concerns.

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The care of children

Managers and staff have failed to help children to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. One child’s bedroom does not have sufficient wardrobe and storage space for Assurance visit report: 2548333 3 the child to store their belongings. This has resulted in the child storing their clothes in suitcases, despite the child having been at the home for over seven months. This has also presented as a trip hazard should the child need to leave their bedroom in an emergency. Another child’s bedroom aligns with a flat roof which is covered in rubbish. This shows a failure in the staff using their relationships with children to strengthen children’s sense of security and belonging, through supporting them to have pride in their bedroom. However, communal areas of the home are clean, tidy and homelier.

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The safety of children

Staff are mostly alert and responsive to the needs of children and know the children well. However, records in the home lack clarity and there is the potential for confused approaches from staff. For example, a child indicated that they did not wish to progress a consultation with a doctor but there was no resulting follow-up. This also contradicted the child’s risk management plan. This means that managers and staff have failed to ensure that health is promoted. This has the potential to affect the health and well-being of children and does not promote good healthcare practice.

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The safety of children

Although there are systems in place to check fire safety, a lack of management oversight means that there is drift and delay when shortfalls are noted. For example, in September 2020 there was a defect noted with the fire alarm. It was not made clear what, if any, actions were taken to rectify this issue. Similarly, fire safety checks identified that a fire door was not closing effectively. Managers said that this had been remedied but was again noted as an issue on the day of the inspection. These shortfalls have the potential to compromise the safety and welfare of children. Ofsted has notified the local fire and rescue service of these concerns.

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The safety of children

Restraint is used rarely but appropriately. Children are thoroughly debriefed, and great care is taken to use the least restrictive interventions and only as a last resort. Incidents of challenging behaviour are reducing. Sanctions are given to help children develop positive behaviour. However, records relating to imposed sanctions lack the required detail. For example, not all records contain the required confirmation that a member of staff has spoken to the child. There is also no review of the effectiveness of the measure. This creates a missed opportunity to use feedback and assessment to improve practice.

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Leaders and managers

In addition to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the home has also been unsettled due to managerial arrangements. The original registered manager left the home to work elsewhere in the organisation. A new manager was appointed but left before completing their registration application. Interim management arrangements had been put in place but had failed to fully stabilise the home. As a result, there was an increase in incidents, which also coincided with a new placement to the home. A new manager is now in post and children and staff are responding well to some changes being implemented. To date, the new manager has not applied for Assurance visit report: 2548333 4 registration, although they confirmed that they are aware of the urgent need to do so.

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Leaders and managers

The manager was present throughout the inspection. The responsible individual was not available, but a senior manager from the organisation was present and available. Both acknowledge that there are many areas to improve, and some immediate actions were taken during the inspection. However, there have been significant failures by the organisation, and the various managers in the home since January 2020, to monitor and review the quality of care in the home effectively.

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Leaders and managers

The home has enough staff for the children placed. There are no current plans for more children to join the home, although managers keep this under review. There has been learning from previous placement decisions. Although not yet tested, both the manager and the senior manager from the organisation confirm that admission processes are improved.

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Leaders and managers

Staff supervision now takes place regularly. There was a brief period earlier this year when there were gaps in the frequency of staff supervision with senior staff. A range of topics are discussed, and staff are asked to reflect on their work. If there have been no safeguarding matters then this is reflected in the notes with no further discussion. This is a missed opportunity to further discuss safeguarding with staff, explore the effects of COVID-19 on the emotional welfare of children and check staff understanding or training needs.

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child; and 13/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2548333 5 enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii))

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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— 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)) 13/12/2020

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))* 13/12/2020

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 13/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 13/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2548333 6 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

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— the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 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")— has spoken to the user about the measure; and 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)) 13/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulations 5(c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate (see paragraph 4.16) if the child’s needs are not being met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8) Assurance visit report: 2548333 7  All children must have access to appropriate advocacy support, and where possible this should be provided by a person that the child chooses. Looked-after children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure they have the support needed to express their views, wishes and feelings about their

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Recommendations

care and lives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)  As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) This is with reference to ensuring that staff supervision routinely focuses on the safeguarding of children.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Haven Care Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Haven Care Group Limited, First Floor, Unit 3 Barberry Court, Parkway, Centrum One Hundred, Burton-on-Trent DE14 2UE

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Inspector

Pete Hylton, Regulatory Inspection Manager Assurance visit report: 2548333 8 to 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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