Children's Home run by DMR Services Ltd in Birmingham

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 1 Registered provider: DMR Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to four children aged between 11 and 17 who may have had adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have a registered manager. A new manager has recently been appointed but has not yet applied to Ofsted to be registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 9 and 10 August 2022, Ofsted undertook a full inspection and judged the home as requires improvement to be good, and inadequate in leadership and management. Ofsted issued a compliance notice under regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard).

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 2 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 3

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Leaders have not taken sufficient action to meet the compliance notice raised under regulation 13. As a result, this compliance notice is reissued for a third time.  Leaders have not ensured that steps have been taken to meet the four requirements raised at the last full inspection. These requirements are restated.  The responsible individual’s oversight of the home has been poor. This has contributed to the failure of managers to implement required improvements following the last two full inspections.  Children’s safety is compromised as staff do not consistently follow safeguarding procedures. Specifically, staff did not take appropriate action in response to an allegation.  Leaders have not undertaken a review of staff skills and knowledge in order to identify required training and development.  Leaders’ monitoring and review systems are not effective. For example, leaders have not ensured that care plans and risk assessments are reviewed

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The care of children

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home, in a planned way. Three children are currently living in the home.

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The care of children

There has been a recent change of manager. The new manager has begun to support staff to provide children with a more consistent quality of care. These improvements are not yet fully embedded and further work is needed to ensure that staff are given clear guidance on how best to meet children’s needs. This includes ensuring that there are up-to-date and clear plans setting out how staff can promote children’s welfare and help them meet their potential.

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The care of children

Children have made some progress since the last inspection. For one child, this progress has resulted in a reduction in the required levels of supervision from staff. For other children, the progress has meant they have been given more responsibility for using their mobile phones and computers. However, these aspects of progress are not well documented.

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The care of children

The manager has worked hard to develop positive relationships with the children. This has included giving children the opportunity to share their views so that they feel listened to. Children told the inspector they are happier living in the home since the new manager joined the home. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 4

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The safety of children

Staff have undertaken training to help them understand and act on potential safeguarding concerns. However, staff did not take appropriate action when a child made an allegation. This had the potential to compromise the child’s safety. In response to this shortfall, the new manager has spoken to all staff to advise them of the processes they should follow should there be any further allegations. The actions taken by the manager to address staff’s safeguarding practice has not been documented. This is the second time that staff have failed to follow safeguarding protocols when a child has made an allegation. Despite this, there has been no review of how the allegation was managed to identify other learning for staff.

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The safety of children

Leaders do not consistently speak to children following safeguarding incidents to understand their views. Furthermore, management oversight of such incidents is poor. However, this is an improving picture since the new manager came into post. In addition, there has been an associated reduction in incidents in the home, such as the frequency of children going missing from the home.

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The safety of children

Leaders have not ensured that staff are given clear guidance on how to protect children. For example, risk assessments have not been updated to reflect children’s current vulnerabilities.

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The safety of children

Staff are generally successful in managing children’s behaviour. Physical restraint is rarely used, and staff have only restrained a child once since the last inspection. However, this incident is not well recorded and there is no management oversight of what happened. This is a missed opportunity to identify areas for improvement..

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has left the company. Another manager was appointed but did not take up the position. A new manager has been appointed and has been in post since 7 September 2022. At the time of the inspection being announced, he was unaware that a compliance notice had been issued following the last inspection. This has been a contributing factor in the manager’s failure to take action to meet the compliance notice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The responsible individual does not have good enough oversight of the home. In part, this is because she delegates her role to a director in the company. This hands- off approach has added to the ineffective leadership of the home and has meant that limited progress has been made since the last full inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The home has experienced a period of unstable leadership because of the registered manager leaving. Overall, the new manager’s appointment has been positive for the home and there are early indicators of improvements. The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development in the home. He is in the process of implementing monitoring and review systems. However, these systems are not yet embedded or fully effective. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 5 Leaders have not undertaken a review of the staff’s skills and knowledge. This means that the staff’s training and development needs are not yet fully understood. As a result, staff have not been given the necessary support to consistently meet children’s needs. In addition, staff are not always provided with supervision sessions. Some staff have not received a supervision since June 2022. This means that there

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

are limited opportunities for staff to formally reflect on their practice, review their training needs and raise any concerns. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 6

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/06/2022 Full Inadequate 09/06/2021 Full Good 11/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 7

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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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that children’s risk assessments are up to date and include all known risks.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered manager must ensure that staff have the skills to help them to identify and act on risks to children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 27 November

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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

promotes their welfare. 27 November Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they have monitoring and reviewing systems in place that identify shortfalls effectively.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection.

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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.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children having up-to-date plans that are reflective of their needs.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 27 November

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Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must— 27 November Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 9 have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the nominated responsible individual having oversight of the home and actively supporting the improvements required.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that debriefs take place with children and are recorded. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 27 November

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they undertake a review that focuses on the quality of care in the home. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the care provided, which will be captured in the written report. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 15.4, page 65) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: DMR Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: DMR Services, 102 Queslett Road, Streetley, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham B74 2EZ

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Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Compliance Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1278421 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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Inspector

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