Children's Home run by Resicare Alliance Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 1 SC463639 Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care 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 is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to five children with learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

This home has not had a registered manager since December 2020. The current manager has submitted an application to register.

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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: Inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Serious and widespread concerns were identified at the previous inspection, which resulted in an inadequate judgement. Two compliance notices were issued, under regulation 7 and regulation 12.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place on 22 June 2022 to review the compliance notices. The compliance notice for regulation 7 was met. The compliance notice raised under regulation 12 was not met and was reissued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2022 Full Inadequate 25/05/2021 Full Good 08/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 3

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improvement to be good

Four children live in this home. Three children have lived in the home for more than two years. Since the last inspection, no children have moved from the home.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff have not sustained the progress they made previously in how they communicate with children. At the monitoring visit in June 2022, communication with children had improved since the previous inspection. The compliance notice under regulation 7 was deemed met. However, at this inspection, staff were again observed failing to communicate effectively with children, using their communication aids.

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improvement to be good

Children generally get along well and have positive relationships with each other. In one incident between children, staff managed the situation well and supported the children to reconcile and apologise to each other. However, managers and staff have not updated children’s plans to consider how to minimise any potential reoccurrence or provide guidance to staff should the situation reoccur.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and events. Day trips out to beaches, theme parks, boxing, the safari park, and a day to celebrate the Commonwealth Games are some of the things children have experienced recently. Staff take lots of photos and add them to children’s memory books. This helps children understand their journey and look back on experiences and memories they have made.

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improvement to be good

Children are all making progress in becoming more independent. Staff support children to tidy their room, do their laundry and cook. Social workers and staff say that children’s self-care and independence skills have improved.

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improvement to be good

The house is homely, with plenty of room for children to play. The garden has recently been improved. Children chose new plants which they planted with staff. There are sensory rooms and a games room for children to enjoy.

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improvement to be good

For one child, the addition of pictures and sensory lights on his wall are a significant improvement. As a result, his bedroom is a more welcoming space and personalised to suit his individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have taken some action to improve in relation to the shortfalls in how they protect children from harm. In relation to a serious incident which occurred after the last full inspection and before the monitoring visit, managers have now implemented further strategies to safeguard children. These strategies have been agreed with professionals and are included in children’s plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 4 When children report concerns about staff, the manager follows the correct procedures and informs relevant professionals. Managers write to children, using appropriate communication aids, to inform them their concerns are being taken seriously. Managers ensure that children have the opportunity to speak to them and their social workers about concerns. Children and staff are supported to repair their relationships when appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, the manager is not always objective in her view when reporting safeguarding allegations to professionals. For example, one child reported receiving an injury following a restraint. While the manager reported this to the relevant professionals, they stated that the injury was self-inflicted, which conflicted with the child’s view. The manager does not demonstrate positive safeguarding practice regarding allegations of harm. The manner in which they convey information to other professionals is in support of the staff, rather than putting the child’s views first.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, managers and staff did not demonstrate they make safe decisions around children’s medication arrangements for the day. Staff did not take a child’s medication with them when they went out, even though the child would need it in the time they were away from the home. When the inspector raised this, the manager took action to advise the staff they needed to return. The child then received the medication at the time they needed it, however, it meant their day out was cut short.

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improvement to be good

Children’s rights to privacy have not been protected. For example, staff have sent parents photos of their children, however, the photos also included another child living in the home.. The manager had failed to identify this as a concern. As a result, children’s rights have not been recognised and respected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been no registered manager since December 2020. During that time, one manager has applied to register with Ofsted but withdrew their application. Another manager did not submit an application to register. The current manager has applied to register and is awaiting a suitable person interview.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have previous experience of being in a management role in residential childcare or in caring for children with learning disabilities. The manager’s lack of experience is a weakness which is evident in the shortfalls identified at this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not lead by positive example or embed a positive culture within the home. For example, the manager does not communicate with children using their communication aids. In addition, the manager does not intervene to remind staff how to communicate effectively with children when they observe poor practice. The inspector observed both the manager and staff guessing what a child was Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 5 attempting to tell them rather than using their visual communication aids to help them to express their view.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager lacks understanding of child protection processes. While she does follow procedures, her knowledge and insight regarding child protection are weak. As a result, she is not disseminating correct information to the staff team and the responsible individual and incorporating this into children’s plans. This included incorrectly understanding and sharing the outcome of a child protection investigation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not embed a positive safeguarding culture. For example, they do not always demonstrate they take a child-focused view when children allege they may have been harmed. While they report to professionals as required, information shared can at times be biased towards the staff point of view over the child’s view.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual continues to fail to have oversight of significant concerns. For example, he has not had oversight of outcomes of child protection investigations completed by the local authority. As a result, he is not aware of the information in the reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers are failing to demonstrate they have sufficient oversight of the quality of care children receive. For example, the manager had failed to identify that one child’s bed had an ill-fitting mattress and the bed frame needed repairing. Once the inspector pointed out the shortfall, the responsible individual was quick to resolve the matter, purchasing a new bed, mattress and bedding the same day. In addition, the quality of care review is not yet of good quality to meet regulation 45.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual is taking action in an attempt to improve the quality of care to children. He has commissioned an independent consultancy team to support improvements required. There are plans for a new training package for staff, managers and senior managers. The training package is designed to meet the differing levels of expertise and knowledge required. This is yet to be implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professionals report that the manager communicates regularly and is organised. The manager ensures that staff have regular practice-based supervisions and appraisals. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff using communication tools and aids to help children communicate on a day-to-day basis. 16 August 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 23 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 7 This specifically relates to the outcomes of child protection investigations being included in children’s plans, to help keep them safe from harm.

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Requirement Due date

Also, that when new risks arise, these are reviewed, to keep children safe, and are included in the plans, to help staff support children.

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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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they understand the quality of care, and that monitoring and oversight are effective. 12 September

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected (Regulation 21 (a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children’s photos only being shared with people who have permission to see them. Additionally, any personal documents for individual children should include only their photos, not those of other children living in the home. 12 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a disabled child accommodated in the home is provided with access to such aids and equipment as the child may require as a result of the child’s disability in order to facilitate the child’s communication with other persons (Regulation 22 (4)) 16 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 8 This specifically relates to staff using communication tools and aids to help children communicate on a day-to-day basis.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the responsible individual understanding safeguarding and their responsibility to ensure children are protected from harm. This includes being knowledgeable about investigations into the protection of children and their outcomes. 16 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)) 12 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report"). (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with appropriate furniture. This specifically relates to children’s beds being in good repair, with good-quality well-fitting mattresses. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements for the administering of medication. This includes medication to be given when children are outside of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  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. (‘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 for children’s home: SC463639 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 181 Penn Road, Wolverhampton WV3 0EQ

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Inspector

Jodie Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC463639 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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