Children's Home run by Adecyn Children’s Homes Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children's home: SC423617 1 SC423617 Registered provider: Adecyn Children’s Homes 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 for up to three children with emotional and/or social difficulties, or who have faced adverse childhood experiences, trauma and/or placement and family breakdown.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It was registered by Ofsted on 8 April 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 30 October 2020. The deputy manager is in day-to-day charge of the home and is in the process of registering 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 3 November 2020, 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: 19 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC423617 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC423617 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and one child has moved out. There are currently three children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. This is because they have good relationships with staff, who are friendly and nurturing. Strong bonds between staff and children are built on trust and respect. As a result, children are settled and do not experience disruption to their placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in harmony with each other and learn how to accept their differences without prejudice. One child has been supported by staff to explore his feelings about his own sexuality. Staff provided resources that helped the child to gain a better understanding of this. As a result, the child feels more confident about their own identity and sexuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to. Staff help children to express their emotions by using visual prompts such as emojis. This sharing of views, wishes and feelings helps children to tell staff about what they think of the home and how they want to improve it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are generally in good health. They choose to eat healthily, exercise and attend routine appointments. Mealtimes are well organised and give children time to share their day-to-day experiences. These good lifestyle choices promote children’s physical and emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work closely with education staff when difficulties arise. For example, a child’s school timetable was changed to enable better engagement. A teacher said, ‘To his credit, although he has struggled at times in school since his move to his new home, he has managed to settle back down and engage in his learning.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make a worthwhile contribution to the community. For example, a child wanted to help the homeless. Staff helped the child to make and distribute food parcels to homeless people living on the streets. Such acts of kindness by children help them to develop and mature into respectful individuals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a variety of activities in and out of the home to broaden their social experiences. Children told the inspector that they had been to Blackpool. Staff capture these valuable memories in photos and combine them into a life-story book. This means that children can treasure their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children visit friends and family who are important to them. When possible, staff welcome these people into the home. As a result, children strengthen their relationships with people who matter to them. Inspection report children's home: SC423617 4 Children know how to complain. A child told the inspector, ‘There is a post box in the lounge where we can put our complaint form.’ Children also use their children’s meetings to raise their views and concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home is maintained to a good standard. However, one child’s bedroom window does not have blinds. Staff are in the process of replacing these.

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

Children are protected from harm because staff understand each child’s vulnerabilities. Detailed behaviour management plans outline how staff should support children when they go missing from the home, present with behaviours that challenge or are at risk of exploitation. As a result of the support offered by staff, children are responding well and missing-from-home episodes are a rare occurrence.

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort to protect children from harming themselves or others or causing damage to property. One child who is new to the home struggled to adapt to the change and presented with challenging behaviour that required the use of physical intervention. As relationships between the child and staff have improved, staff are now using effective de-escalation techniques to manage behaviour. As a result, the number of physical interventions is reducing.

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

Professionals from other services recognise the positive changes in children’s behaviour since living in the home. A social worker talked about how staff keep children safe and said, ‘I feel [the child] is very safe at [the home]. The staff appear to have clear boundaries and high expectations. They have recently increased staffing around our young person in an attempt to manage some of the risks that he presents.’

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

The manager and staff reflect on incidents to improve their practice. As a result, staff have become consistent in their approach and children have responded well to clear boundaries and structures.

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

Staff offer incentives to recognise positive behaviour. For example, staff offer verbal praise or the opportunity for the child to buy an item of their choice. This recognition by staff helps children to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. Sanctions are fair and proportionate.

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

The manager has safely recruited six new staff. Children are involved in the recruitment process. For example, children can ask potential candidates questions to assess their suitability. This helps children to have some control over who works at the home.

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

Allegations are managed well. The manager refers allegations about staff to the appropriate agencies and acts following their advice. This action by the manager ensures that children are protected from harm. Inspection report children's home: SC423617 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home does not have a registered manager. The previous registered manager’s employment ended on 30 October 2020. The former deputy manager is now the acting manager. She is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. She is undertaking a suitable qualification in the management and care of children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and nurturing in her approach. She has high expectations for children and is driven to help them to achieve their best. A staff member told the inspector, ‘[The manager] is one of the best managers, if not the best manager, I have worked under.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnerships with other professionals and effective communication are a real strength. Professionals speak favourably of the manager. A teacher told the inspector, ‘She is fantastic. The partnership working is great. We have good professional relationships. The manager is very supportive and realistic.’ A health professional said, ‘Any communication I have had is responded to in a timely way and the manager maintains an open and transparent dialogue from a genuine place of care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly monitors and reviews the service. She understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Home development plans ensure that targets are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that all staff receive regular supervision and have their performance appraised annually. When staff are underperforming, the manager implements additional support to help the staff to maintain good standards of care. As a result, staff are more confident in their role and have become more nurturing in their approach. Inspection report children's home: SC423617 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff replace missing or broken window blinds in children’s bedrooms. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: SC423617 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Adecyn Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 13a Pitsford Street, Birmingham B18 6LJ

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC423617 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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