Children's home run by Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 1 Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to 16 children who have a physical and/or learning disability and/or a sensory impairment. Children are aged between five and 17 years. Children may stay beyond their 18th birthday while they finish their education. The home provides 10 long-term placements and six short-break placements.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been operated for over 20 years by a local authority. The service and the existing manager registered again under a children’s trust limited company in March 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The Care Quality Commission registers and inspects the healthcare that is carried out on the premises.

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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 22 September 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 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: 25 February 2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children thrive from the stability that the home provides. Staff are committed and dedicated to the children who live there permanently or receive a short-break stay. As a result, relationships between children and staff are trusting, loving, and caring.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to use their preferred methods of communication to make choices and have their say. Staff are trained in the interpretation of a range of communication styles. This ensures that they can communicate well with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s menus are available in a variety of formats. During the visit, the inspector was shown a large photo book with vibrant pictures of the menu choices. Staff use this to help children who have limited verbal communication to choose their meal. This approach promotes children’s independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good support to ensure that their complex health needs are met. In-house care plans are reflective of the local authority plans. Staff keep them up to date, and children are encouraged to add to their records. Children are supported by staff to attend all routine health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Nursing staff give added support to those children who receive a short-break service. The nursing staff, alongside the care staff, are skilled and knowledgeable. Care plans and medication arrangements are reflective of the detailed requirements needed to ensure that children receive the right care to manage their profound and complex needs. As a result, parents confidently leave their children to enjoy their short-break experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education. Staff and school use a home school diary to communicate with each other about each child’s day. This means that information is shared to keep everyone up to date.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a range of activities both in and out of the home. For example, children enjoy sensory play, musical instruments, skittles and holidays. Children are encouraged and helped to take part as far as practical. This interactivity between children and staff encourages confidence and helps to form friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence is promoted at a pace that is right for each child. Staff encourage children to meet their agreed targets, such as using utensils to eat their meal or using their preferred style of communication to make a request. When goals are achieved, children receive praise in recognition of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain. One child has raised a complaint. The registered manager investigated the complaint and gave verbal feedback to the child. However, she did not follow this up with a written explanation of the outcome. This means that the child’s records in relation to the complaint were left incomplete. Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 5

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

Staff know how to keep children safe. They understand the safeguarding policies and procedures that enable them to safely care for children. Staff manage children’s vulnerabilities appropriately. As a result, children are protected from harm.

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

The registered manager lets Ofsted know when allegations are made against staff. This ensures that the right course of action is taken to safeguard children. However, in some examples, the registered manager has not recorded a written outcome about the decisions made following the investigation.

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

Physical intervention is not used. Staff understand how to manage children’s behaviour effectively. They successfully de-escalate any challenging behaviours. Staff praise children in recognition of socially acceptable behaviour. As a result, relationships flourish.

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

The registered manager ensures that vetting checks are completed before staff begin employment. This keeps children safe from unsuitable people having access to them.

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

The registered manager ensures that the home is free from hazards. Routine health and safety monitoring keeps the home maintained to a good standard. This keeps anyone living, visiting or working at the home safe.

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

Risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance on how to manage known risks. However, one child’s moving and handling risk assessment was incomplete and did not reflect information set out in his care plan in relation to how staff should safely move him. Although staff know what to do, the inconsistent recording of agreed strategies has the potential to cause confusion.

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

Staff know how to evacuate children safely in case of a fire. Staff help children to undertake regular fire drills to ensure that they know how to respond to the sound of the alarm. However, not all children have a personal evacuation plan.

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good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified registered manager. The staff team is established and has worked at the home for many years.

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good

The registered manager has not kept the statement of purpose up to date. For example, information about the use of bedroom-door alarms and the staffing list do not reflect current arrangements. This means information supplied is misleading and inaccurate.

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good

The registered manager has cared for children when staff have had to isolate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although this has provided children with a continuity of care, it has affected the manager’s oversight. For example, the review of the home’s Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 6 location risk assessment has not been reviewed and was three months overdue at the time of the visit.

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good

Staff do not always receive sufficient refresher training to meet the individual needs of children. For example, manual handling training has not been refreshed for all staff. This lack of refresher training by staff members may compromise their ability to move children safely.

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good

Staff speak well of the support provided by the registered manager. Staff receive regular supervision and have an annual appraisal. This means staff gain valuable feedback about their performance and individual training needs. A staff member spoke about her supervision and said, ‘They are helpful. We can raise anything and bring anything up.’

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good

In some instances, the registered manager’s monitoring and recording of her monitoring activities have not always been good enough. These administrative shortfalls are acknowledged by the registered manager and she has begun to take steps to address this. Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 7

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff take the necessary action to protect children from harm. 31 December

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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 the registered person ensuring that staff are suitably trained, experienced and qualified to deliver care. 31 December Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 8 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. (Regulation (16) (1) (3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the statement of purpose regarding the use of bedroom- door alarms is updated. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the outcome of any investigation is recorded. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the location risk assessment being updated and reviewed. 31 December

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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: 1273658 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Third Floor Zone 16, 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham B4 7DJ

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Inspectors

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Kev Brammer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1273658 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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