Children's home run by Albrighton Care Ltd in Cannock Chase

Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 1 SC484830 Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for two children with learning disabilities. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager who is suitably experienced and qualified.

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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 for children's home: SC484830 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 02/07/2019 Full Good 03/01/2019 Full Good 18/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two children currently living at the home have both been there for over two years. The staff team has also remained unchanged for over a year. This stability has contributed to children flourishing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are very nurturing toward children and, as a result, children have developed a trusting relationship with the staff. This helps children to feel relaxed in the company of staff. Children feel confident in inviting friends to spend time with them at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a comfortable and pleasant environment. Children’s bedrooms reflect their own unique interests and hobbies. One child saved up his pocket money to buy a king-size bed with speakers and lights. This gives children a positive sense of belonging at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence skills in preparation for adulthood. The children are developing their skills in budgeting, shopping and cooking. Staff offer praise and rewards in acknowledgement of progress made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children with their education. One child is in full-time education, which includes four days of attendance at school and one day of home-based study. During this day, staff encourage him to complete his work and ensure that he can access the resources he needs. Staff are supporting another child, who is no longer in education, to seek employment. In the interim, they are keen to ensure that he retains a routine and some structure to his day, recognising that this is important for his well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A weekly children’s meeting provides opportunities for children to express their views. Children are also confident in voicing their likes, dislikes and choices throughout all their conversations with staff. Staff listen to children and are very responsive. As a result, children are understood and can make their own choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is some information and documents not in place for children, for example health and education assessments. The manager has made requests for these documents. However, when they have not been received, this has not been escalated further. This gives the potential for children’s information to be missed.

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

The nurturing care provided at the home makes children feel safe. The staff understand the risks for children. Children are encouraged to take positive risks in line with their age and ability, for example riding a bike to school. The staff achieve a good balance between protection of children and promoting their independence. Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 4 The children have very clear guidance and boundaries. As a result, they understand what is expected of them. There are no significant behavioural incidents for children at the home. Where behaviour does fluctuate, staff and the manager talk this through with children. This helps children understand how best to manage their emotions and behaviours.

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

Staff are skilled at using day-to-day conversations with children to promote their learning about risk and keeping safe. For example, the manager gave one child some advice about buying items off the internet. This led to the child doing some further research to improve their understanding about online safety. Children respond well to the natural conversations staff engage them in and learn from them.

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

There are boundaries in place around internet use. There are planned internet breaks in the daily routine for children. This has increased the time children spend with staff and each other. This has also had a positive effect on children’s emotional well-being.

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

Staff have had training in a range of safeguarding topics, including child sexual exploitation and e-safety. Staff are confident in what action they must take to safeguard children. Staff have clear opportunities to express concerns through team meetings and supervisions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from a stable and permanent manager. The manager is committed and passionate about providing quality care to the children. The manager has in-depth knowledge about the children and really understands their needs. He ensures that he spends time with and listens to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is staffed to meet the needs of the children with permanent staff. There are no current vacancies, and no casual or agency staff is needed. As a result, all staff know the children well and have a good relationship with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads the team in reflecting on the needs and progress of the children. This enables the team to work collectively to plan children’s care. As a result, children receive consistency in their care from a whole team that knows their needs and how to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a capable advocate for the children. A recent example of this is that one child has recently had an autism diagnostic assessment. The manager requested this assessment and overcame many barriers to secure it. As a result, the child’s needs are better understood. This will aid his transition to adulthood by ensuring that he can get the level of support he requires.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not have a clear overview of training that staff have completed. This issue is compounded by a recent delay in the provider enabling all staff to have access to the online training facility. As a result, there are some gaps in mandatory training for staff. Notwithstanding this, most staff have accessed a range of relevant Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 5 training courses and can explain how training has improved their practice. One example of this was training on ‘impulsiveness’, which aided staff’s understanding of one child’s behaviour and how staff can support him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a culture of open discussion between the manager and staff. As a result, staff are confident in raising any issues with the manager. Staff feel well supported by the manager. Supervisions of staff do take place. While records are made, they are not stored in an accessible and consistent way. None of the staff, including the manager, has had a formal appraisal of their practice. This may result in missed opportunities for staff development. Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to escalating when children’s documents are not received and building positive working relationships with other professionals. 10 February 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

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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)(a)(b)(c)) 10 February 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 7 This specifically relates to all employees having a formal appraisal and records of supervision being stored appropriately.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role he plays in the training and development of staff in the home, including having full oversight of training completed, enabling him to identify gaps and plan training activities accordingly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC484830 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, Bermar House, Rumer Hill Business Estate, Rumer Hill Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0ET

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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC484830 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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