Children's Home run by Care and Management Services Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report children's home: SC419229 1 SC419229 Registered provider: Care and Management Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of a group of four run by the same organisation. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children who exhibit complex behaviours as a result of their childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager was appointed in May 2021. The manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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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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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: 4 February 2020

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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: SC419229 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/09/2018 Full Good 04/07/2017 Full Good 10/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC419229 3

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improvement to be good

Overall, the experiences of the three children at the home are mixed.

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improvement to be good

All children are in education, however, the experiences of these children vary. One child has made significant progress in attendance and engagement in class. They have received awards in several subject areas and achieved 100% attendance. This is in contrast to another child who is in education on a part timetable. Staff do not support the child to complete education work outside of this time. This leads to missed opportunities to support the child to progress in their education.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not support all children to develop their independence skills. For one child, the lack of direct work has meant that staff are not supporting them to prepare for adult life. The future plan for this child is also not known. Despite the manager seeking clarity on this from the local authority, the child remains unclear about what their plan for the future is. This could be unsettling for the child and cause feelings of instability.

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improvement to be good

The children’s guide is not up to date. It contains incorrect information and does not record the key contacts for external partners. Furthermore, it is not specific to the home. Therefore, children are not provided with up-to-date information and the guide does not provide them with an understanding of what the home looks like before they arrive, to help them settle in.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements for managing medication are not consistently safe or effective. For example, inspectors found out-of-date medication. If the child had taken this it could have had a serious consequence on their health. For one child, the staff were not providing them with the opportunity to take their medication and the recording of this was incorrect. This has led to the child not receiving their prescribed medication. Audit systems failed to pick up on these shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

The children have access to local health services when they need them. Monthly therapeutic management meetings and discussions take place for all children to consider their needs and how best to support them. However, despite the sexual health needs of one child being known, direct work with the child in this area has been limited. This has led to continuing risks around the child’s sexual health.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the children to speak to and see friends and family members. This allows children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them and promotes their sense of identity. Inspection report children's home: SC419229 4

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improvement to be good

The physical environment for children is unsafe and unclean. Children’s bedrooms were dirty, untidy and damaged. Other areas of the house also require urgent attention and improvement. For example, there is damp in the upstairs bathroom, the freezer door does not close properly, there is no restrictor on the window in the top floor room and carpets were dirty. During the inspection, the provider began taking action to address the concerns raised. This environment puts children’s health at risk of harm, as well as placing them in a hazardous environment. It also does not provide children with a warm and homely environment to live in.

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improvement to be good

It is not always clear that staff have restrained children only as a last resort. Records of restraints on children are brief and do not evidence why a restraint has been used. As a result, it is not demonstrated that the use of physical intervention was necessary, proportionate or used in line with regulations. Despite these significant shortfalls, there has been a reduction in the number of incidents of physical intervention with one child. This child now displays less physical aggression than when they moved into the home and is now more able to manage their emotions.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not regularly completing identified work with children to help them understand their individual risks and reduce risk-taking behaviours. This is a missed opportunity to help children learn to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

There are clear plans in place should a child go missing from the home and staff are clear on how they should respond. One child regularly goes missing from the home and is staying away for long periods. Return to home interviews are offered, but the child does not engage in these. Managers have raised their concerns about the child’s missing-from-home incidents to the placing authority, however, this has not been effective in reducing the child’s episodes of going missing. Staff have also not completed direct work with the child to support them to reduce incidents of them leaving and staying away from the home. As a result, the risk of harm remains for this child.

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improvement to be good

Staff are clear about how to respond to concerns about the safety of children. When there were concerns about a child, the placing local authority was informed, and staff took steps to safeguard the child. As a result, children at the home are protected.

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good

The manager has applied to Ofsted to become the registered manager. Since the last full inspection, there have been three managers in place. This has created uncertainty for the children. Despite the previous manager continuing to work in the home and the current manager having worked at the home before, these changes have not provided the children with consistency. Inspection report children's home: SC419229 5 Managers’ monitoring and oversight of the home is poor. For example, they failed to identify concerns in the home environment, the quality of risk assessments, that direct work with children is not consistently being completed and that actions are not followed up. There are also errors in medication records. As a result, there are no systems in place to drive forward improvements in the quality of care provided.

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good

The manager does not always notify Ofsted when a serious event has occurred. This prevents Ofsted from having oversight of the quality of care to ensure that appropriate action is taken to safeguard children.

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good

Staff have the necessary training and skills to care for the children. They undertake a range of training and are given development opportunities relevant to the needs of the children. For example, during the inspection, staff completed training specific to autism. However, one member of staff has not completed their level 3 diploma in the required timeframe. Leaders have a plan in place to address this.

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good

Supervision is provided to staff. Records of supervisions are detailed, however, they do not consistently evidence that the actions identified have been undertaken. This makes it unclear how managers monitor and manage staff’s performance to ensure that children receive improving care. Inspection report children's home: SC419229 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the children’s guide contains correct information and is specific to the home. 4 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 harm to the child 21 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC419229 7 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that direct work is completed with children to support them to learn to keep themselves safe and reduce risk. This also relates to ensuring the home environment is safe and homely for children.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should have systems in place to monitor and have oversight of the quality of care provided to children. 4 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home. 4 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC419229 8 Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that restraint is only used in line with the requirements of this regulation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that medication records accurately reflect when a child refuses to take prescribed medication. Records should also refer to when staff have disposed of medication which is no longer in date. 4 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the manager notifies Ofsted of any incident requiring police involvement with a child in the home. 4 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, must have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the Inspection report children's home: SC419229 9 relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). The registered person may extend the time period if the member of staff has not worked in the role for a prolonged period, such as sick leave or maternity leave, or if it is not reasonable to expect the member of staff to complete in this timescale due to the nature of the hours they work. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)  The registered person must ensure that staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC419229 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care and Management Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park Business Centre, Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Birmingham, Warwickshire B24 9QR

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Inspectors

Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC419229 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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