Children's Home run by Bright Life Living (Stirchley) Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 1 Registered provider: Bright Life Living (Stirchley) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home opened in January 2022 and is owned by a private company. It is registered to care for up to three children who may have specific emotional needs and are likely to have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has suitable skills and qualifications to manage the home and has been in post since the home opened.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 3

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improvement to be good

The home opened in January 2022 and this is the home’s first inspection since then. Two children have moved in during this time, and no children have left.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is cosy and inviting and it is personalised to the children. This helps children to feel valued.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not fully plan for and consider children’s needs before they move in. Staff do not always have the skills required to care for children’s specific needs. For example, staff have not developed an understanding of attachment disorders, which is important for one child living in the home. Another child’s educational needs and how to meet these were not fully thought out before they moved in. This impacts on children’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff do not have clear plans to support children to progress and meet the expectations of their care plans. For example, family time and life-story work has not started despite this being in a child’s plan. This limits the progress children can make when these parts of their care are not being fully supported.

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improvement to be good

Staff spend time with children to help them learn about important aspects of their lives, such as how to keep themselves safe and to develop life skills. However, children’s opportunities to voice their views about their care are limited. For example, children have monthly house meetings but do not receive feedback on the things they have discussed in those meetings. This prevents children from feeling fully listened to.

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improvement to be good

Staff take an interest in children’s education and support them to attend school. One child is struggling with their anxieties around education and staff have listened to and reassured the child and worked with the school to think of ways of engaging them. However, for one child, managers and staff did not identify that their personal education plan required a review.

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improvement to be good

Children are registered with health professionals and staff support them to seek medical advice when needed. However, managers have not followed up on an outstanding action for a psychological assessment for one child. In addition, there are gaps in some statutory documents relating to children’s health. The manager has not escalated either of these concerns sufficiently. This leads to delays in meeting some of the children’s health needs.

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improvement to be good

Children and their families speak positively about the home and say they get on well with staff. One child told the inspector that they have close relationships with staff, and one parent commented that they feel the manager is easily approachable and keeps them up to date on their child’s well-being. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 4

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improvement to be good

The home has had very few significant incidents since opening and there have been no physical restraints of children.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff do not fully understand their role in keeping children safe online. One child who is at risk of harm online has not been sufficiently supervised by staff. Risk management plans are not clear to help staff know what actions they should take to keep the child safe. This recently resulted in a child accessing unsafe material online.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always respond to children in a skilled way to help them manage their emotions. In one incident, staff used a punitive approach with the child, who became more distressed and harmed themselves. Staff did not follow plans to keep the child safe and reduce the risk of them harming themselves again. Records made by staff used stigmatising language regarding the child. The manager did not take sufficient action to address this in their oversight of the incident.

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improvement to be good

Staff make some efforts to locate children when they go missing. Staff contact police and known associates of children. However, they do not promptly look for children and do not search places where they are told they could be. Children are comforted when they come home, and staff discuss risks with them. However, plans are not updated after incidents to reflect new information should the child go missing again.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not demonstrate that they can always recognise and understand potential risk to children. For example, staff did not pick up on information that may indicate a child is at risk of potential radicalisation. The responsible individual recognised that this is an area for improvement and there are plans for this training to be arranged.

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improvement to be good

When allegations are made, the manager appropriately investigates and follows safeguarding procedures to ensure that staff are safe to continue working with children. However, when investigations identify some concerns regarding staff conduct, the manager has not addressed this. This leaves children vulnerable to being cared for by unsuitable individuals.

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good

The registered manager has been in post since the home opened and has the relevant experience. She is committed to developing staff skills in the home so that children receive more nurturing care.

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good

The manager’s oversight of incidents and safety planning in the home requires improvement. Managers’ oversight of incidents has failed to identify shortfalls in staff responses to children. The manager has not taken action to ensure staff have Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 5 the relevant information about managing risk and written guidance on how to keep children safe.

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good

The manager does not have effective monitoring systems to evaluate the care children receive, and therefore she does not have plans to help her improve care. The responsible individual has a therapeutic approach to her oversight and offers some oversight of care to support the manager in their role.

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good

Staff do not have all the skills needed to meet all children’s needs. Staff have not had training to meet specific needs, for example around understanding mental health, attachment disorders and internet safety. The manager has recently brought in the team psychologist to offer staff therapeutic care meetings, but this development is not yet embedded.

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good

The manager offers staff regular supervision at which children’s care is discussed. However, supervisions are not yet reflective and are not being used to develop staff skills in caring for children. When shortfalls in staff practice are identified, the manager does not meaningfully address potentially negative attitudes to children.

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good

Managers generally recruit staff safely. However, where information of concern may be returned as part of checks, senior leaders do not always assess how they deem staff to be suitable. This prevents managers from having clear plans to monitor the practice of new staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 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

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they seek to involve other professionals in children’s care in line with their relevant plans and that when the responses they receive are insufficient they challenge this with other agencies. 25 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults. 25 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff understand children’s attachment needs and past experiences, and use this understanding to respond positively to children and support them with their behaviour, using restorative approaches that are not punitive.

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)(b)) 11 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 8 This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that there are clear risk management plans in place that guide staff on how to manage risks for individual children, and that these are updated when new information emerges.

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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 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met;

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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)(f)(g)(i)(h)) 11 August 2022

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; 25 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 9 (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they use the information gathered before children move in to inform care plans and risk assessments.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2656172 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Life Living (Stirchley) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Wheeleys Road, Birmingham B15 2LD

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Inspector

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2656172 11 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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