Children's Home run by Resicare Alliance Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children's home: 2503598 1 Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children with emotional and social difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered on 29 September 2020 and is suitably qualified.

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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 30 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: 27 November 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2503598 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/09/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: 2503598 3

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improvement to be good

Four children are living at the home and are cared for by a staff team who genuinely care about them. Staff work hard to help children make progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of education and have implemented an individualised structure and routine for one child. Consequently, the child now arrives at school on time and is in a positive frame of mind to learn.

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improvement to be good

Staff have developed individualised person-centred support plans for children. However, these plans are not always clear as to how staff help children to progress and it is not clear if staff have read and understood those plans. On occasions, this leads to staff not following those plans and to inconsistent approaches by staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff have tried to get all children engaged in a variety of social opportunities, with some children going go-karting, and to the local gym and trampoline park. For other children who are reluctant to engage, staff have not been creative in their approaches. Consequently, some children have become bored.

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improvement to be good

There have been changes in staffing which mean children now have staff who better understand their individual needs. This has meant that one child in particular is better able to talk to staff about their feelings. Consequently, they feel listened to by staff who have empathy for them.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote positive relationships between children. However, on occasions, children are verbally unkind towards another child. This behaviour could have a negative effect on the child’s confidence and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Staff have helped children to keep in touch with those who are important to them, taking children on visits, encouraging phone calls and helping children make arrangements to see family. This has helped maintain positive relationships with those who are important to the children.

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improvement to be good

Staff have created personalised positive behaviour plans and risk assessments for each child. However, staff do not regularly review all plans in a timely manner and there is no evidence that all staff have read and understood those plans. Consequently, responses to children’s behaviour can be inconsistent.

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improvement to be good

Staff keep children safe online with parental controls on the home’s Wi-Fi. However, managers have not ensured all staff have received training on internet safety. This Inspection report children's home: 2503598 4 omission could mean staff do not have the skills and knowledge to identify risks posed to children when they are online.

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improvement to be good

Managers have responded appropriately to concerns raised. When a child left the home without staff’s knowledge, managers fully investigated how this had occurred and took robust action against the staff involved. As a result, staff now fully understand their responsibilities in respect of the supervision of children.

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improvement to be good

Managers have responded appropriately to complaints made by children. Consequently, children feel valued and listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children do on occasions go missing from the home. When they do, staff are diligent in reporting and searching for the child. When children return, they are welcomed back to the home and given an opportunity to discuss the reasons why they went missing. As a result, managers better understand the reasons children go missing and put in place strategies to prevent further occurrences.

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good

The home is managed by a child-focused manager who knows the children well. Managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home and are developing plans to take action regarding shortfalls at the home.

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good

Managers have made sure the house is homely. It is well furnished and decorated with lots of pictures of children, artwork by children and pieces of written work. Managers have dedicated a wall to be used as a height marker, showing how much children have grown while living at the home.

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good

Staff say they feel well supported by the manager. However, not all staff receive regular supervision. Therefore, they do not all have an opportunity to reflect on their practice.

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good

Managers provide staff with mandatory training, along with more specialised training to meet children’s specific needs. However, not all staff have undertaken training in child sexual exploitation, children at risk of being involved in gangs, county lines and bullying. Consequently, not all staff have all the skills and knowledge need to care for the children living at the home.

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good

Not all staff working at the home have completed the appropriate qualification needed to work in residential childcare within the required timescale. Managers have taken action to rectify this, however, this shortfall means some staff do not have all the skills and knowledge needed to undertake the role.

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good

New staff have been recruited to the home following safer recruitment procedures. Consequently, staff working at the home are suitable. Inspection report children's home: 2503598 5

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to care plans, and that actions should be proactive not reactive, and that staff read, understand and consistently follow the plans. 13 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and 13 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2503598 6 make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff being more creative in engaging and planning social opportunities for children.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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 is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff helping children build positive relationships with other children living at the home. 13 August 2021

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 13 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2503598 7 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff regularly reviewing risk assessments and that staff read and understand the risk assessments.

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having training in child sexual exploitation, gangs, county lines, bullying and internet safety. 13 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. 13 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2503598 8 (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff completing the level 3 Diploma in the required timeframe.

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Requirement Due date

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 specifically relates to managers undertaking staff supervision in line with the company policy. 13 August 2021

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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: 2503598 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 181 Penn Road, Wolverhampton WV3 0EQ

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Colleen Davies Jones

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2503598 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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