Children's Home run by Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 1 Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by Birmingham Children’s Trust as part of the local authority and has been registered since March 2018. The home provides care for up to 12 children under the age of 18 with learning disabilities. Children can remain beyond 18 while they finish their education, if required.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted for this home since it opened and has worked as a registered manager in children’s homes since 2013.

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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: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/05/2022 Full Inadequate 11/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 3

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improvement to be good

The management team has developed monitoring systems to ensure that the staff team is aware of the strengths and needs of the home. Although this has brought about improvements in some areas, these systems are not yet fully effective in improving and embedding practice across the whole service. As a result, there are areas that continue to require improvement.

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improvement to be good

Children live busy, healthy lifestyles. They are encouraged to eat a balanced diet, take regular exercise and develop their self-care. They take part in a range of activities and hobbies, and have experienced a variety of holidays and day trips over the school summer holidays. This improves their confidence, social skills and social inclusion.

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improvement to be good

Children have good school attendance. This enables them to learn essential skills. Effective communication between home and school staff ensures that everyone is kept up to date about important information about the children. As a result, a consistent approach to supporting the children at home and in school is maintained.

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improvement to be good

Staff help the children to become more independent. Children can do many tasks including cooking, cleaning, washing and dressing with support from staff. As a result, children are well prepared for the next stages of their life.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the importance of the children staying in touch with family and friends to enhance their well-being.

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improvement to be good

Improvements have been made to the home’s environment and hazards have been repaired. Children have chosen what colours to decorate their room and with what accessories. However, there are areas of the home that do not feel homely. This is not helped by staff not recognising or reporting environmental shortfalls and also a further delay in the maintenance team attending to fix them. Managers are aware of these shortfalls. There is an ongoing refurbishment plan in place and managers are currently reviewing the maintenance arrangements.

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe living at this home. Staff know them well and strive to keep them safe from harm. Staff build trusting relationships with the children. They help them to feel safe by enabling them to communicate their needs. This helps to stabilise the children’s emotions and behaviours. As a result, there have been no physical interventions or consequences. There have been no safeguarding referrals, complaints or missing-from-care incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 4 The quality of children’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans are now being reviewed and monitored by managers. Some of these documents are detailed and informative. However, in a few cases, they still do not contain consistent, clear information about current risks and the measures the staff should take to safeguard the children. For example, information was not consistent across documents as to what action the staff should take if a child removes their seatbelt in a vehicle. This

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improvement to be good

could lead to inconsistencies in practice.

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improvement to be good

Internet safety guidance does not provide the staff with clear guidance on consent and age-appropriate access to online apps. Staff are not consistently following measures to ensure the children’s safety when online. Inspectors found the staff had not checked the children’s electronic devices to ensure security measures were in place. Consequently, the children could have accessed inappropriate websites. There was no evidence that this had happened, and staff took immediate action to apply security measures to the devices to keep the children safe. The home’s recruitment and vetting process helps ensure that all staff working in the home are suitable to work with the children.

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good

Since the last inspection, the management team has begun to take decisive action to improve practice. They have evaluated the service and have brought in additional resources that have enabled improvement work to start. As a result, three of the six previous requirements set by Ofsted have been met.

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good

Work to meet the three remaining requirements is ongoing. These specifically relate to fire safety, staff appraisals and leadership and management. These requirements have been repeated.

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good

Work relating to fire safety in the home is ongoing. Immediate fire safety risks have been resolved and work over and above the original recommendations has been commissioned. An action plan has been implemented to complete all remaining improvement work by the end of October 2022. The remaining work and staff training is scheduled to take place within clear timescales.

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good

Managers now have an overview of staff appraisals. Although there has been an improvement, four are still out of timescale. Furthermore, when appraisals do take place, some are of a poor quality. This lack of regular and reflective review of practice means staff are not being held accountable and enabled to maintain and develop new skills.

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good

The management team now has clear development and refurbishment plans in place to address shortfalls. These are ongoing. They have also implemented quality assurance processes that identify shortfalls and monitor progress. This work is also ongoing and has not yet consistently resulted in improvements in all areas. For example, the children’s plans and files are being audited. However, a child’s health Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 5 plan was not being followed. He was not being weighed on a regular basis and therefore his successful weight gain had not been evidenced. Staff supervisions are now being monitored and audited. However, some supervisions are still not taking place on a regular basis and the quality of some supervisions is poor, leaving staff feeling unsupported. The registered manager is auditing key records. However, the location risk assessment lacks detail and evaluation.

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good

Children’s records do not capture key events in their lives or daily life occurrences. They also do not record important conversations with the children. For example, detailed conversations about the Queen’s death and incidents experienced at school were discussed between staff and the children and observed by inspectors. However, these were not reflected in children’s records. This lack of information means that the children’s journeys are not evident through records. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should ensure all staff receive regular, good-quality supervisions, that actions from children’s plans are being implemented and the location risk assessment is reviewed and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention. (Regulation 25 (1)(a) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 31 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 7 This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should ensure the home is domestic in nature and maintenance concerns are recognised and addressed in a timely manner. 31 December

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)) 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 8 In particular, the registered persons should ensure –

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Requirement Due date

risk assessments and behaviour management plans provide staff with clear, current and consistent strategies to support the children;

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Requirement Due date

there is a policy that provides staff with clear guidance about consent and access to age-appropriate apps and websites;

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Requirement Due date

staff implement security measures that stop the children accessing inappropriate websites on electronic devices.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 1273663 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Third Floor Zone 16, 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham B4 7DJ

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Inspectors

Dawn Bennett, Social Care Inspector Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1273663 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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