Children's Home run by Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 1 Registered provider: Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides residential care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a registered manager who is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are making progress from their own starting point. The staff team demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of children’s needs and a passion for supporting their progression.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care. Activities and targets are centred around children’s individual strengths and interests, such as horses or sports. Activities encourage children to have fun and build relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a clear incentive system, which encourages progress in skills and provides financial rewards. One child told the inspectors that he is keen to work towards increasing his weekly money.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage with staff in direct work covering a range of topics. This demonstrates the positive relationships children have with the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are attending education settings and are increasing their attendance time. Furthermore, the home is running an accredited course for children to widen their opportunities for development and achievement. A celebration event is planned for this. As a result, barriers to learning are reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are supported by the home to maintain relationships with their families. This includes the home being in regular contact with family members and providing children with transport and support to see their families. One parent told the inspector that their child is thriving living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child left the home at the end of his assessment period. Plans for children moving to the home are now carefully considered and planned. Children have settled quickly into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised. One member of staff is a skilled artist and has worked with children to design and paint wall art of their choosing. The shared areas of the home are clean and well maintained. There are some shortfalls around the cleanliness and maintenance of bedrooms. Children’s contribution towards improving this is embedded in their targets and incentives.

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

Staff understand the children’s known risks and what actions they are expected to take to keep children safe. Incidents are well managed, and procedures are followed.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and are provided with a range of training in safeguarding. This increases their knowledge and awareness Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 4 of safeguarding issues, extending beyond current known risks such as child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.

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

There has been one allegation against staff. The registered manager responded appropriately but did not notify Ofsted. This impacts the regulator’s ability to monitor the home.

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

Use of physical intervention is minimal and the least-restrictive options are used, and only as a last resort. Overall, behaviour management strategies are effective, evidenced by a reduction in incidents for children. Staff are responsive and intervene in a timely way to support children.

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

For one child, there is a pattern of going missing. The home has followed procedures and escalated concern, and there is a clear action plan in place. This is monitored and reviewed by the multi-agency team on a weekly basis.

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

There are robust systems in place for monitoring and managing health and safety in the home, and these are used consistently.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the necessary checks. This ensures that staff are suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from an experienced registered manager. The manager can identify strengths and areas of development for the children, the home and the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is appropriately staffed to meet the needs of the children, although agency staff are occasionally used. The use of agency staff has not detracted from the quality of care provided to children. The home’s permanent staff team provides children with consistency and stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the management team. Supervisions are taking place on a regular basis. The staff team demonstrates confidence in seeking support from the registered manager and she is very responsive to this. However, regularly used agency staff do not always receive supervision. This means that those agency staff may not receive the support, guidance and oversight that is required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that there is good communication with families and professionals. All professionals spoke highly of the registered manager, her communication and commitment to the children. Furthermore, the registered manager challenges other agencies to ensure that action is taken to meet children’s needs. For example, the registered manager actively pursued an education placement which resulted in a child been allocated a school place. The child is now attending school and making progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 5 The registered manager’s audit systems are in place and are effective. This is supported by staff feedback, which shows they are clear on actions required following audits. However, the independent visitor reports are not fully utilised to effect change in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good staff training programme in place. There are some shortfalls in training around specific needs, for example in supporting children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, there is minimal impact at this time as children’s needs are well understood. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the children’s bedrooms provide a hygienic and welcoming environment. 30 November

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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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 7 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2624155 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd

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Inspectors

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2624155 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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