Children's Home run by Adecyn Children’s Homes Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 1 SC423617 Registered provider: Adecyn Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home that provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since June 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC423617 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/07/2021 Full Good 19/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, one child moved on to semi-independent accommodation after four years living at the home. This leaves one child currently living in the home. Since the last inspection, one other child moved in and later left the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in the home attends school full time and is making good progress. Staff work well with the school to promote the child’s learning and overcome any difficulties or barriers to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child accesses a range of activities outside the home. For example, he goes to a youth club, plays football and enjoys the cinema. Staff also took the child on holiday during the summer. These experiences build the child’s self-esteem and provide him with fun and enjoyable memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child is registered with health services and attends routine medical appointments. Healthy food options are always available. A staff member said, ‘We encourage healthy eating as [name of child] would eat snacks.’ This helps the child to maintain a balanced diet and encourages a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child stays connected with family and friends who are important to him. Staff support contact arrangements. As a result, the child continues to maintain positive relationships with family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child knows how to make a complaint and is confident in raising any concerns to the staff or manager. Regular key-work sessions and daily discussions ensure that the voice of the child is heard. As a result, any grumbles are dealt with before they become complaints.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has undergone extensive building work. This has improved the living environment. For example, the kitchen is now a combined kitchen and dining room and provides a large space where the child and staff can eat meals together.

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

The child is safe and protected from harm. Staff understand his vulnerabilities and manage and review his risks well. As a result, missing-from-home incidents are reducing.

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

When children go missing, staff work effectively in partnership with the police and other professionals to help return children safely. One child who recently moved out of the home did not always receive a return home interview. The manager does not always escalate the issue to the local authority when return home interviews are not carried out. This has meant children have not always had an interview with an independent person. Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 4 The child receives verbal praise from staff for his positive behaviour and achievements. Staff encourage the child to follow routines and boundaries and offer incentives to encourage his participation. As a result, the child learns socially acceptable behaviour and how to be respectful to others.

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

Staff recognise bullying behaviour and take swift action to intervene and protect children from harm. For example, following an incident of bullying, staff address this in key-working sessions. This helps children to understand about discriminatory behaviour and what is expected of them.

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

Staff only use physical restraint when it is necessary to safeguard the child and others. There have been five recorded physical interventions since the last full inspection. On one occasion, the manager did not use an approved handling technique to restrain a child who recently lived in the home. This does not protect children from the risk of harm or injury. The manager has acknowledged his action and as a result, refresher training has been put in place.

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

Manager’s ensures that staff are safely recruited. This means that staff working with the children have been suitably checked to ensure that they do not pose any risks to children.

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good

The home has been without a registered manager since June 2022. A new manager was appointed and submitted his application to register but withdrew his application on 11 October 2022. The deputy manager was in day-to-day charge but left the home on 18 November 2022. The registered individual has not confirmed in writing who is in day-to-day charge of the home.

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good

Since the last full inspection, there have been further changes to the leadership team. Two responsible individuals have left. A new responsible individual and a operations manager have been appointed.

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good

Staff are dedicated and resilient. Despite the many changes to the home’s management team, staff have worked hard to ensure these changes have minimal impact on the lives of children. However, the changes have affected the quality and effectiveness of the monitoring of the home.

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good

During the inspection, the inspector found that children’s case records were not stored securely. For example, the cabinet in the office is left open and does not have a secure lock. This does not protect children’s personal information from being accessed without authority.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision. However, casual staff have not received supervision in line with the home’s policy and procedures. This lack of supervision is a missed Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 5 opportunity to ensure that all staff receive feedback about their practice, performance and development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 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 registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home;

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)) 2 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that casual staff receive supervision. 2 December 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation 36) are stored securely while they remain in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 7

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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: SC423617 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Adecyn Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 13a Pitsford Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B18 6LJ

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC423617 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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