Children's Home run by Forte Care Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 1 Registered provider: Forte 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 owned by a private company. It provides care for one child who has experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post is currently vacant. A manager has been appointment and is yet to register with Ofsted.

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 3

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improvement to be good

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection. The quality of support and planning for this child when he first moved into the home could not be assessed. This is because the current manager is not aware of what took place and written records do not provide a clear account. This is a missed opportunity to review and improve the planning arrangements for those children who are new to the home.

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improvement to be good

The child has good relationships with staff. The child is making progress in some aspects of his life. For example, education and care review meeting records show that he has made progress with his learning while living at the home. For example, he has progressed from being home tutored to attending full time at an appropriate education provision.

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improvement to be good

The child has opportunities to express his wishes and feelings through key-work sessions and children’s meetings, and he can access an advocate if needed. Staff involve the child in making decisions about some aspects of the day-to-day running of the home.

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improvement to be good

The child has access to different leisure activities, such as going to the cinema, attending educational summer and winter camps, youth club and going on day trips. These give him some positive experiences and develop his self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

The child does not consistently receive the help that he needs to meet his health needs. For example, staff have not been proactive in supporting the child to attend a health appointment that has been outstanding for over two years. This lack of action means that staff are not helping the child in line with the aims and objectives set out in his health plans.

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improvement to be good

Although some areas of the home are well maintained, others are not. This does not create a consistently homely and welcoming environment for the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote the child’s age-appropriate independence skills. However, managers and staff do not liaise with and challenge professionals effectively to review the child’s independence plans. This does not give the child a clear structured plan about what work they need to complete to attain good independence skills, which fully prepares them for the future.

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improvement to be good

Staff set consistent routines and boundaries for the child. This means that the child understands the expectations of him. This has contributed to a steady improvement Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 4 in the child’s behaviour. Furthermore, the child has been supported to develop strategies to manage his emotions. This has resulted in a reduction in self-injurious incidents. This is significant progress for this child.

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improvement to be good

The child told the inspector that he feels safe living at the home, as staff provide him with the support and the safety he needs. Records viewed at the time of the inspection show that staff deal with any safeguarding incidents promptly and liaise with relevant agencies to keep the child safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers do not consistently undertake essential daily health and safety checks within the home. This does not protect the child from avoidable hazards that have the potential to impact on his health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not ensure that non-permanent staff have been safely recruited. Furthermore, managers do not exercise professional curiosity when staff declare previous offences. They do not explore the nature of concerns or put in place risk assessments to keep the child safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not undertake regular review of the arrangements to store and dispose of medication. As a result, staff had failed to dispose of medication that is no longer needed by one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home does not have a registered manager. A new manager has been appointed; however, there has been a significant delay in the manager applying to be registered with Ofsted. This means that Ofsted has not had the opportunity to assess his suitability to be the registered manager. An application has now been submitted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s and responsible individual’s oversight of the home are ineffective. Managers do not have a sufficient understanding of the home’s areas of development and have not taken effective action to address known shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual told the inspector that the manager had not received a good induction into the role to enable him to carry out his duties effectively. This has contributed to some of the shortfalls identified in this current inspection and does not promote the well-being of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and responsible individual have not ensured that the independent visitor’s reports are submitted to Ofsted consistently. This means that the regulator has not had a clear overview of the home to enable any concerns to be promptly identified and addressed if required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff and managers do not keep the child’s records up to date. For example, staff did not have up-to-date care plans and review documentation for the child. This does not provide an effective system of tracking and reviewing the child’s progress. Furthermore, it does not help staff in ensuring that the care and support they are providing him are in line with his local authority plans. Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 5 Most staff are up to date with mandatory training. However, there are some staff with outstanding training. This means that not all staff have the required skills to meet the needs of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report that they feel supported by the manager and senior managers. However, the manager does not provide non-permanent staff who work at the home with support supervision sessions. This is a missed opportunity to review and address any shortfalls in their practice and to enable them to reflect on their own development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the shortfalls identified, partner agencies report that the manager works well with them and keeps them informed about the well-being of the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 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

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)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met.

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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 each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a) (2)(c)) 29 April 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 29 April 2022

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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 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 7 promotes their welfare.

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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; 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)(c)(h))

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure —

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(iii)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 29 April 2022

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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, 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 8 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))

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 29 April 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered provider should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children and is homely. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2618553 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 213 Station Road, Stechley, Birmingham, West Midlands B33 8BB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Chinchen

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2618553 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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