Children's Home run by The Spring Children‟s and Transitional Care Limited in Walsall

Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 1 Registered provider: The Spring Children’s and Transitional Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home providing care for up to three children who have a range of complex additional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is without a manager. The responsible individual is in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 14 November 2019 to carry out a full inspection. The report is published on our website.

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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: 14 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2019 Full Good 21/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two children who currently live in the home have been there for a long time. Staff provide a nurturing environment for the children. Staff invest in children’s progress, and they are passionate and dedicated to delivering good-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the staff and the children flourish because they are built on mutual trust and respect. As a result, the children love living at the home and know they are valued and well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Effective care planning by staff means that children receive personalised individual care centred around meeting their needs. An educational professional told the inspector that a child living at the home has made great progress. For example, the child would not communicate with others, attend lessons, have break times or go out at lunch with other children. But this has all changed because the staff have really helped her with her social skills and implemented routines, so she could understand what was planned for her school day. As a result, children continue to thrive and are happy to attend school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff welcome and encourage children’s friends and family to visit the home. Children value these opportunities and get great joy from these visits. Children’s relationships with important loved ones are strengthened as a result of these visits .

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are instrumental in promoting the transition for children into adult care. A child told the inspector how he is ready for adult life. He has enjoyed living at the home and is confident about his journey into semi-independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving into the home have positive experiences that help them to feel settled in their new environment because staff invest valuable time into planning the transition. One child experienced a premature ending to his placement when his risk increased during his transition period. Although his placement ended earlier than expected, staff continued to offer support while he settled into his new adult provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to raise their views, wishes and feelings. Children have raised two complaints since the last inspection. Complaints are responded to and acted on swiftly. As a result, children feel confident to tell staff when they are not happy.

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

Children are happy living at the home. They feel safe and protected by staff who care for them dearly. As a result, children do not go missing from care. Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 4 Children are protected from harm because staff understand their vulnerabilities and triggers to behaviour that have a potential to place them at risk of harm. As a result, there have been no incidents that have required staff to use physical interventions.

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

Staff are instrumental in offering praise and rewards to promote self-esteem and to recognise achievement. As a result, sanctions are rarely used. When they are used, they are fair and proportionate.

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

Staff provide good support to promote the safe use of the internet, mobile phones, on-line gaming and social media. This means that children gain valuable skills to stay safe by understanding how to report and recognise signs of abuse or grooming when using technology.

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good

The home is currently without a manager. The previous registered manager resigned from her post on 20 April 2021. She has taken up a new role as a senior manager in the organisation and, therefore, continues to have involvement and oversight of this home. The responsible individual is currently in day-to-day charge of the home.

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good

The home does not yet have a full complement of permanent staff and is often reliant on support from casual staff members. Before the registered manager resigned, she was covering shifts to deal with the staff shortages. This impacted on her oversight of the home.

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good

Staff have not received their annual appraisal. As a result, staff do not receive valuable feedback about their performance, and they miss opportunities to plan and assess their development for the coming year.

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good

The statement of purpose has not been updated since May 2020 and contains incorrect information. For example, the staff list is out of date. The statement of purpose, therefore, provides misleading information about the staff who will be available to care for children.

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good

One significant event has not been reported to Ofsted. The registered manager failed to notify the regulator when a medication error occurred. This lack of information sharing by the registered manager could have delayed any required action to be taken by the inspector.

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good

Staff and external professionals speak well of the previous registered manager. A social worker said, ‘The manager is very helpful and always keeps me informed. She recently went above and beyond to support a young person in their care, as well as the local authority, to manage a crisis situation.’

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good

Staff receive sufficient training to meet the individual needs of each child. Prior to one child moving into the home, staff were given specific training to meet their Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 5 needs. As a result, staff gained valuable insight about how to support the child whose needs were extremely complex.

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good

Six of the seven requirements raised at the last inspection have been met. One requirement has been restated. Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 6

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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—

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff follow the safeguarding procedures. 25 June 2021

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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

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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 home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that there are enough permanent staff employed to provide care for each child. 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 7 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

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the statement of purpose is updated when there are changes to staffing and to include any casual staff employed. 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that a manager is appointed. 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff receive an annual appraisal. 25 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 8 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff notify Ofsted of any significant events, including medication errors.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1271519 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Spring Children’s and Transitional Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 9 Grenville Drive, Birmingham B23 7YX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Blessing Manyara

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1271519 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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