Children's home run by Albrighton Care Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 1 Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered to provide care for up to two children with a learning disability.

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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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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2020 Full Good 14/11/2018 Full Good 26/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living at the home at the time of inspection. Both children have positive relationships with staff. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and work hard to provide each child with the support that they need. Staff have developed individual communication methods to be able to effectively communicate with children who are nonverbal. This supports children to feel empowered and for their views to be listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their independence skills. They praise children for their progress and provide lots of encouragement for children to learn new skills. This approach gives children the confidence to try new things and, as a result, they are developing important skills for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to be involved in activities both in and out of the home. They have fun going to parks and learning to swim. The inspector observed staff having fun with the children by singing, dancing and using sensory play. Staff capture children’s experiences in photo books to provide children with lasting memories. This also helps children to understand their life story, which develops their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help children to spend time with their families. One parent shared positive feedback about the care their child receives and described the home as being like ‘part of their family’. The registered manager has ensured that moves into the home are well planned. This includes visiting children on several occasions before they move in and meeting with the people who are important to the children. This practice ensures that children are welcomed into the home when they arrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the home is clean and well maintained. The homely environment is not only a nice place for children to spend time in, but is suitably decorated to meet the individual needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff use pictorial tools and social stories to understand children’s views and wishes. In the main, this means that staff understand how children are feeling and children can have their say. However, staff have not explored with children how they feel about the behaviours of other children who have been living at the home. This is a missed opportunity to explore this issue.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to the safeguarding of children. The children are settled and, as result, there are few safeguarding concerns. Staff are sensitive and alert to children’s needs and provide individualised support to ensure that the children feel safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 4 Children are cared for by staff who understand their vulnerabilities and needs. Staff complete training that is relevant to children’s needs, and the registered manager recognises and puts in place further training as and when required. This ensures that the staff have the skills and knowledge to manage children’s behaviours and keep them safe.

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

Staff only use physical intervention as a last resort. When a physical intervention is used, the registered manager reviews the incident and considers and acts on any points of learning for the staff. Despite this, on one occasion, the registered manager did not identify that a record relating to an intervention had only been signed by one of the two staff involved. This is an isolated issue that has not had a detrimental impact on the child.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities. Risk assessments, which are reviewed regularly, include clear strategies to try and manage the known risks. Despite this, the risk assessments do not include a plan to manage current concerns about the effect of one child’s behaviour on the other child. This administrative shortfall is mitigated by the fact that staff are aware of this concern and understand how to manage this.

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

Children rarely make allegations about staff. On the one occasion that an allegation was made, the registered manager took appropriate action and shared this with relevant external professionals. Although the matter was investigated as required, the outcome of this investigation was not discussed with the child in a timely manner. This means that child experienced an unnecessary wait in response to their allegation.

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

The registered manager has systems in place to support recruitment checks and staff vetting. However, on one occasion, the registered manager’s checks relating to the Disclosure and Barring Service for one member of staff was poorly documented. This did not directly compromise the children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about improving the outcomes for the children. He has a good understanding of the complexities of the children and how best to support them. Staff mirror the manager’s approach and work hard to promote good outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has monitoring systems that identify strengths and weaknesses in the home. The registered manager actively monitors the quality of care provided to the children to make continual developments to the care provided. Despite this, the home’s statement of purpose is not accurate and does not fully explain the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides staff with regular practice-based supervision. The registered manager and team leaders ensure that children are central to discussions. Staff have personal development plans that are regularly reviewed and feed into Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 5 team meeting agenda items. Staff are positive about the support provided by the manager and have confidence in him as a leader.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager effectively monitors performance issues and responds quickly when concerns are raised. Where staff are not working to the expected performance levels, support is provided to staff. Where this is an ongoing issue, the registered manager ensures that changes are made to the staffing team. This demonstrates that the registered manager recognises the importance of staff being able to provide children with effective care and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recognises that there have been shortfalls with the independent visitor. He has acted accordingly and further changes to the independent visitor have been made. In addition to the concerns identified by the registered manager, the independent visitor failed to recognise the shortfall linked to not documenting plans to minimise the impact of the behaviour of one child on another. This was a missed opportunity to address this sooner. Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 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

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

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that risk assessments consider the impact of risks on other children in the home and clear guidance is documented to reduce these. 6 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation (16) (3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the statement of purpose is up to date. 6 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that the experiences of children are considered. Further, the registered manager should ensure that children receive feedback in a timely manner when an allegation is made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that the independent visitor effectively considers the safety and well-being of children and makes their opinion clear on these matters. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 7  The registered person must ensure that managers and staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This includes recruitment records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1263329 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, Bermar House, Rumer Hill Business Estate, Rumer Hill Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0ET

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Inspector

Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263329 9 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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