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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 1 SC419229 Registered provider: Care and Management Services Limited Interim 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 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 is in post and has applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Inspection date: 27 January 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 27 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted has judged that it has declined in effectiveness. During this inspection, the requirements and recommendations made during the full inspection were considered. Four of these requirements are reissued and a recommendation about case records is now issued as a requirement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

When children go missing, staff do not consistently take appropriate action to safeguard children. On one occasion, staff failed to report a child missing immediately, in line with the child’s missing-from-home protocol. On other occasions, staff have not taken sufficient action to locate the child. This poor practice compromises the safety of children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has not consistently responded to concerns about staff practice. For example, when staff have not followed children’s missing-from-care protocols, debriefs carried out with staff do not demonstrate that this practice was challenged. This is a missed opportunity to develop staff’s practice.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Physical intervention records do not contain all the required information. For example, one record does not contain an evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure, and it is unclear when the manager reviewed this record. This does not support the manager to have oversight of restraint practice. When children are offered a debrief and decline, staff have not taken action to follow this up. This is a missed opportunity to obtain the views and experiences of children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Overall, staff’s use of physical intervention is proportionate and in line with regulation. However, staff have used interventions that are not recognised by the method of physical intervention used by the home. The rationale for the use of the intervention and oversight by the manager was not recorded. This could compromise children’s safety and does not help the manager to improve practice within the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager takes appropriate action when children share concerns or make allegations against staff. However, the manager does not ensure that the outcome of these concerns is recorded. In addition, the manager does not always record the conversations that have taken place with children. These shortfalls hinder the oversight of safeguarding practice within the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager does not always take action to drive improvement in the quality of care children receive. During an incident, when a child was experiencing difficulties with their behaviour, the manager identified to the inspector that the staff team could have responded in a different way. Despite this, the manager has not explored Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 3 these concerns in the debrief with staff or within the recording. Therefore, this is a missed opportunity to develop practice.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The quality of children’s risk assessments remains inconsistent. There have been some developments to the risk assessment since the last inspection, and children’s positive behavioural support plans now provide strategies on how to work with children. However, children’s risk assessments are not consistently updated. For one child, there is no risk assessment or guidance for staff to help them keep the child safe when they are using the internet. This compromises children’s safety.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children’s educational outcomes are hindered due to a lack of appropriate education provision. The manager has advocated on behalf of children and communicated with professionals to consider a suitable education provision. However, when this was not successful, the manager did not escalate these concerns further. For one child, they said they wanted to be in education and were unable to engage in the home learning in place. Another child is not in education. While there have been some attempts to encourage the child to engage in educational opportunities, this has been limited. This practice is having a negative impact on children’s educational progress and potentially their future.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff do not always support children to develop their independence skills. For example, limited work was carried out by staff with a child who recently moved to semi-independent living. This was a missed opportunity to help the child to develop their independence skills in preparation for adulthood.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Despite the manager taking action to notify Ofsted of some serious incidents, this remains inconsistent. This is because on one occasion a notification about a serious event was not made. This hinders the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has a number of monitoring systems in place to oversee the progress of children. These include the use of a clinical evaluation tool. These systems allow patterns of behaviour and progress to be monitored by the manager. This demonstrates the manager’s focus on understanding children’s progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/09/2018 Full Good 04/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation (5)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that when there are concerns about the education provision for children that these are escalated. 27 March 2022

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation (12) (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)) 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 6 In particular, the manager is to ensure that staff understand the action to be taken in response to children going missing from home. The manager is to ensure that a risk assessment and guidance are in place for children using the internet. When children move out, the manager should ensure that work is completed with children to reduce risks.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that they respond to concerns about staff practice. The manager is to ensure that all incidents are thoroughly reviewed, and appropriate action is taken in response. When allegations are made, the manager is to ensure that the feedback provided to children is clear. 27 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 7 the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation (35) (3)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that physical intervention records contain the required information and are reviewed by the manager within five days of the use of the measure. When a child does not initially engage in a debrief, the manager is to ensure that follow up action is completed and documented.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 8 (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that all records contain the required information and provide clear details.

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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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation (40) (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager is to ensure that Ofsted are notified of serious incidents. 27 March 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: SC419229 9

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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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Inspector

Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC419229 10 regulates and inspects 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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