Children's home run by Nirmal Homes Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 1 Registered provider: Nirmal Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered in December 2019 and is run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children with a range of complex needs. The aim of the home is to maximise children’s independence, health and well-being.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in December 2019.

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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 home on 18 February 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected 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: 18 February 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since registration, two children have moved into the home. The children have positive experiences and make progress from their starting points. Children spoken with provided good feedback about staff and said that they enjoy spending time with them. The staff have established secure relationships with children through nurturing, open and consistent communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are regularly received and contribute to the everyday running of the home. Staff encourage high levels of participation through one-to-one house meetings, daily activities and key-work sessions. When children have concerns, they are supported to make complaints and are satisfied with the staff’s responses and actions. Consequently, children develop reflection skills and emotional resilience, which supports their independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to engage in education. One child has successfully moved to a local school. Another child has made progress with a home tutor to the extent that she can return to school in September 2021. Staff work closely with schools and alternative education providers to overcome barriers to education and help the children to meet their education targets. As a result, children who have previously experienced gaps in education have been able to sustain good attendance and attainment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management team gives careful thought to the group of children who stay at the home together. Effective impact assessments are carried out, and well-planned moves take place. Staff spend time with children prior to their admission. This helps children to benefit from a warm welcome to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to stay in touch with their families. Staff are effective in their communication, organisation and planning. The staff team recognises the importance of these relationships. Consequently, children benefit from increased well-being and maintain their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s bedrooms are personalised to suit their preferences and interests. Children are supported to grow vegetables and herbs in a well-maintained garden. However, the kitchen and bathroom areas are showing signs of wear and damage, which detracts from what is otherwise a nurturing and welcoming home.

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

Children’s risks have significantly reduced. Children who were previously involved in risky behaviours in the community and were subject to exploitation are now safer. The staff actively follow the updated and individualised risk assessments. Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 4 Staff are skilled and experienced in dealing with self-harming behaviours. Although there have been some incidents of self-harm, the frequency of these incidents is notably reducing over time.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. The children develop a sense of belonging and safety at the home.

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

Staff use clear and informative behaviour management plans. The plans help the staff to identify the potential triggers for unwanted behaviour and understand how to manage children’s behaviours in a helpful and effective way.

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

Staff manage difficult incidents between children well. Restorative meetings take place which enable children to reflect on and resolve their differences to reach common goals. This helps the children to develop an understanding of other people’s emotions and improve their relationships with each other.

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

Safe recruitment processes are not consistently followed. The use of agency staff has recently reduced. However, managers have not ensured that the recruitment records for agency staff always contain the required information. As a result, the processes do not sufficiently reduce the potential for unsuitable people to gain employment at the home.

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

The location risk assessment is updated regularly and identifies some of the risks associated with the location of the home. However, important crime data and intelligence that could help reduce risks and provide risk-reduction strategies related to children’s identified vulnerabilities are not obtained. This does not ensure that potential concerns around the area are known and mitigated effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. The management team and the staff team are child focused. They have high aspirations for children to succeed and achieve good outcomes. The registered manager is due to become the responsible individual in September 2021. In the interim, the deputy manager has been appointed as the manager to ensure a smooth handover period until they apply to be registered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by managers. New staff have effective inductions to help them begin to work with the children. Regular supervision, effective appraisals and well-developed training equip staff with the skills to meet children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff promote equality and diversity very well. This includes helping the children to learn about their cultures and helping them to develop an understanding of other people’s differences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff and management team have sustained good relationships with parents and professionals, who provided positive feedback about the quality of care and the good communication. Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 5 The manager undertakes a detailed internal review of the quality of care. However, this fails to consider consultations with children’s families, external professionals and staff. Furthermore, objectives identified for improvement are not specific or measurable. This reduces the overall effectiveness of the review and the ability of the management team to have a full understanding of the strengths and development opportunities of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managerial monitoring needs some improvement. Some of the children’s case files are disorganised and contain contradictory information. In addition, the manager’s monitoring has failed to identify gaps in records of safety checks regarding a child’s mobile phone. This has not led to increased risk for the child but has the potential to do so if left unchecked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the managers have responded effectively to an allegation against a staff member, they failed to notify Ofsted about this. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor safeguarding arrangements has been reduced. Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 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 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

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, implement effective monitoring of staff’s checking system for children’s mobile phones and online activity, and monitor children’s case records to ensure that they are accessible and accurate. 17 September

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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,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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 (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 31 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 7 In particular, ensure that agency staff have had the required checks prior to their deployment.

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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

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 31 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should provide a nurturing, homely and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, the kitchen and bathrooms should be maintained to a consistently good standard. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home. Specifically, ensure that the assessment is informed by up-to-date crime intelligence related to children’s identified vulnerabilities. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review meets all the aspects stipulated in regulation 45. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: 2565542 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nirmal Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 73 Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire B16 8SP

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Inspector

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2565542 9 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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