Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 1 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to three children with complex emotional and/or behavioural needs as a result of past trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a qualified manager who has been in post since February 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 September 2020 to carry out an assurance 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/05/2018 Full Good 12/12/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress in all areas of their lives. This is because staff know them well and children are encouraged to develop positive relationships. Furthermore, staff provide individualised and consistent support. Staff understand children’s starting points and celebrate their progress and achievements. This means that children feel valued and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to specialist support which helps address their traumatic experiences. The therapeutic support is delivered by staff who are suitably trained and knowledgeable about the children. The therapist is also supporting staff to help them understand the children’s experiences, using therapeutic approaches to inform their practice. As a result, children are cared for by staff who know them and who understand their needs well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are attending school are making good progress. Children say that they are supported with their learning and that their interests are promoted by staff. Children’s achievements are celebrated, and they feel motivated to continue to do well. Staff ensure that they escalate concerns appropriately when there are barriers to children accessing education. This means that children have ambitions for their future and are supported to achieve them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make complaints when necessary to do so. Children are informed of the outcomes of their complaints and staff put measures in place to address their concerns. As a result, children feel that their complaints are taken seriously, and they feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children are at the centre of their practice. They speak positively and with warmth about children. Staff ensure that children have family time with people who are important to them when safe to do so. Children live in a home where staff look after them and care for them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence. Staff understand that children may feel anxious about moving on from the home and are able to reflect on the impact this may have on children’s progress. Consequently, children are encouraged in a sensitive way to develop their ability to live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager does not consistently ensure that the matching of children who come into the home considers the impact on all the children. This has resulted in children leaving the home in an unplanned way and an incident of one child harming another. Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 4

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

Children feel protected and safe in the home. Staff ensure that they listen to children and take their concerns seriously. There is a proactive response with partner agencies to reduce harm to children. As a result, children’s welfare and safety is prioritised.

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

Staff ensure that children’s risk assessments address any known vulnerabilities. There is good consultation with the clinical psychologist to ensure that these risk assessments are effective. This means that children have plans in place to help manage their own risks and staff understand how to support them to do this.

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

Children receive support to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. There are clear boundaries in place and children respond well to this. Staff are using therapeutic models and restorative discussions to support children to understand their feelings and behaviour. Consequently, children are learning to appropriately regulate their emotions and behaviour.

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

Staff ensure that restraints are clearly recorded. The registered manager’s oversight of physical restraints is good, and she challenges disproportionate responses to children’s behaviour. The registered manager ensures that debriefs with staff are reflective and supports them to take learning from incidents that have occurred. As a result, poor practice that may cause harm to children is immediately addressed and good practice that promotes the safety of children is encouraged.

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

Staff ensure that they follow the appropriate protocols when children go missing and when they are absent from the home without authorisation. Staff ensure that they conduct discussions with children when they return. This enables children to reflect on their actions and helps staff to understand potential risks to children when they are away from the home. However, risk assessments do not state when staff should report children as missing to the police. Consequently, staff may not report children as missing in a timely manner, resulting in a delayed response to identify their whereabouts.

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

On occasion, staff do not consistently follow procedures in place to keep children safe in the home. This has resulted in some children being at risk of potential harm. However, the registered manager has reviewed the learning from incidents and has implemented action plans for staff. Consequently, there have not been further incidents of a similar nature and children continue to be safe in the home.

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

The registered manager ensures that investigations into allegations are thorough. The social worker and the designated officer are informed of concerns and they are updated of any outcomes. The registered manager ensures that staff are supported when they are subject to an investigation. This means that concerns about people working with children are taken seriously and managed in a manner that is fair and supportive to the staff involved, but also ensures the ongoing safety of children. Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong leader, who is very experienced, knowledgeable and suitably qualified. She is reflective in her practice and transparent in her approach. She can identify shortfalls and consider action plans to address these. As a result, the areas of development for the home are reviewed and addressed in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that the home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the children’s needs. Children have consistent adults working with them and this includes regular agency staff. This means that children are able to develop positive and trusted relationships with adults working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions and appraisals of staff are completed on a regular basis and to a good standard. There is evidence of high support and high challenge within the registered manager’s discussions with staff. The strengths and developmental needs of staff are identified and support is put in place as appropriate. Consequently, children are cared for by staff who are receiving regular support to strengthen their ability to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care plans for children are comprehensive and meet their individual needs. These identify short-term and long-term aims and objectives for the children. The registered manager supports staff to understand the plans for children, to enable them to be effective. Consequently, children have plans that consider where they are in their journey, the impact of their lived experiences and how to meet their needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff ensure that case records reflect the everyday lives of children. Children are supported to understand their behaviour through reflective debriefs and discussions. Staff have also completed ‘my story’ work with children to reflect their life in the home, important events and milestones. As a result, children will be able to look back on their positive experiences when they leave the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that there are good monitoring and reviewing systems in place. For example, learning reviews are completed when shortfalls in practice have been identified. As a result, poor practice is identified, however, further evidence is required to demonstrate if the learning has been fully embedded into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager does not consistently ensure that notifications of safeguarding incidents are sent to the regulator. However, the social worker and the designated officer are informed of concerns and appropriate action is taken to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that they escalate concerns with external partners when necessary to do so. For example, there have been difficulties with one child accessing education and the home has challenged relevant agencies to ensure that this is progressed. There is good communication with partner agencies to ensure Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 6 that a joined-up approach is taken and plans for children are progressed. This means that children are cared for by staff who advocate for their needs and who address any barriers that hinder them accessing the services they are entitled to. Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that matching risk assessments consider the impact on all the children. 29 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff follow the risk assessments and safeguarding processes for the home. Staff should consistently demonstrate their skills and be alert for any signs that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)  The registered person should ensure that the regulator is notified of all incidents relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 8

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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 for children's home: 1228090 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Ltd, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Mazviita Makiyi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1228090 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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