Children's home run by Care and Management Services Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 1 Registered provider: Care and Management Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of four homes run by the same organisation. The home provides care for up to two children with complex needs as a result of their childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since July 2022. They are in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children live in the home. One child has lived here since the home opened in September 2020. The other child has lived here for over a year. Children continue to make good progress. There are indicators of substantial progress for one child. For example, one child could not understand English prior to moving in. They now can speak fluently and have reading and writing skills. This child was supported through extra classes before and after school, and tutoring on the weekends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a homely and well-maintained environment. They have a sense of belonging, with personalised bedrooms where they can enjoy their own personal space. Further to this, there is a development plan in place to make further improvements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As children grow in confidence, they access new social circles and enjoy a range of new activities. New experiences include a holiday to Blackpool, piano lessons and visits to the zoo, local attractions, escape rooms and the circus. Children also attend basketball and cricket clubs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place a strong emphasis on education as they understand the positive impact it has on children’s lives. They persistently encourage children to attend school. Staff were observed helping children to complete their homework to promote their learning and help them achieve their best. Staff work in partnership with schools and teachers to ensure that children have every opportunity to reach their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A dedicated staff team develop positive relationships with children. These bonds enable children to trust the staff. In turn, staff are able to have conversations with children about difficult topics. Staff listen to children and actively seek out how they are feeling and their views about things. This promotes the children’s voices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well with their health and well-being. Staff demonstrate an ability to seek specialist help when necessary and undertake research to meet the specific needs of the children they care for. The multi-team approach means that children’s needs are responded to effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with care that is individualised and meets their needs. However, documentation does not always detail the positive care planning or how this links to local authorities’ care plans.

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

Children say that they are happy living in this home. The manager and staff know the children well. They demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs. They respond to children sensitively and with compassion, which means that children Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 4 make good progress. Staff build positive relationships with children, and they feel listened to. As a result, children feel safe and secure, and there has been a reduction in incidents in the home.

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

Staff know children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Comprehensive individual risk assessments and de-escalation protocols are in place. Staff work well with children to help them to understand behaviour that may present a risk to them, or when things may cause them upset. This work has supported some children to become increasingly safe.

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

The manager ensures that appropriate actions are taken to safeguard children and staff when allegations or complaints are made. There is good communication between staff, social workers and local authority designated officers. Good oversight and scrutiny of allegations and complaints help to protect children from harm. One child was supported to raise a complaint against the local authority, and they were assisted by an advocate.

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

Staff physically intervene when children become unsettled and show behaviours that place them or others at risk of harm. Staff understand the reasons behind behaviour and provide excellent support to children afterwards. This helps children to move on from the incident. The manager does not always record that they have spoken to the child or staff after a restraint. The manager therefore does not evidence that the child has had the opportunity to complain or speak with someone who has not been involved in the hold. The manager also does not always record staff’s views about the incident when overviewing the appropriateness of the hold. This oversight does not provide confirmation by the manager that the details of the measure used are accurate.

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

Staff ensure that the home environment is safe for children to live in. A range of health and safety checks are completed to assess whether there are any hazards that could pose a risk to children. Children take part in regular fire drills to ensure that they know how to safely evacuate the home in case of such an emergency. However, the gas safety certificate ran out in April 2022. This was completed during the inspection.

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

Staff have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. Children do not go missing from the home. However, missing-from-care risk assessments do not give staff direction in how to respond effectively if a child was to go missing. However, to date, this has not had a direct impact on children’s safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and child focused. They are aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. They are motivated to continue to make developments to the care and support provided to children. Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 5 The manager has good monitoring systems in place. For example, they can easily track the number of incidents that a child has, allowing them to identify patterns and trends.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training that reflects the individual needs of the children. Consequently, staff have the required knowledge and skills to help them to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established strong connections with partner agencies. Professionals are unanimously positive about the communication with the staff team and about the care provided for children. One teacher told the inspector, ‘There really are no words to express the positive changes we have seen in [child]. This is due to the positive and joined-up working of all professionals involved and the home is an intrinsic part of this.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meeting discussions are reflective and provide a comprehensive overview of the progress made by the child. This allows all staff an opportunity to discuss the child’s progress, generate ideas and have a consistent approach to the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff receive regular supervision. The quality of these vary. Some address children’s care and any practice or performance concerns. Supervisors who complete these have not received training to deliver these effectively. This is a missed opportunity to upskill staff to have a consistent approach to the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The external monitoring of the home does not meet regulation 44. An independent visitor has not visited the home since May 2022. This limits independent scrutiny of the effectiveness of the arrangements for caring for and protecting children. Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 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 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— that staff—

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that risk assessments direct staff in how to respond to children who go missing from home. 2 January 2023

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the home has annual gas safety checks. 2 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and 2 January2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 7 have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff receive regular supervision, and supervisors completing these are trained effectively.

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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

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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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 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is 2 January 2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 8 authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the registered manager has completed debriefs with children and staff involved in incidents, and that the registered manager uses professional curiosity when evaluating them.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home 2 January 2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 9 and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

If the independent person becomes aware of a potential conflict of interest (whether under regulation 43(3) or otherwise) after a visit to the home, the independent person must include in the independent person’s report—

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Requirement Due date

details of the conflict of interest; and

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Requirement Due date

the reasons why the independent person did not notify the registered provider of the conflict of interest before the visit.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

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Requirement Due date

the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5) (6)(a) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint an independent visitor and ensure that they visit the home on a monthly basis. They must produce a report and send it to all relevant people.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s internal placement plans are up to date with all relevant information in line with local authority care plans to include up-to-date contact arrangements, health needs and pathway planning arrangements for children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.1)

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 10 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 children’s home: 2596121 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care and Management Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park Business Centre, Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Birmingham, Warwickshire B24 9QR

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Inspector

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2596121 12 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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