Children's Home run by Serenity Specialist Care Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report children's home: 2613327 1 Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a small private company. It provides care for up to two children, aged from 10 to 17 years old, who experience social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD).

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A newly appointed manager oversees the day-to-day running of the home. They have applied to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 28 September 2021

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2613327 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2613327 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and two children have moved in. Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. All children have made some progress and have had positive experiences while living at the home. They have made progress in their independence skills and have developed secure relationships with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to build nurturing and trusted relationships with children. This helps children to feel safe and supports them to develop. One child told the inspector that ‘the best thing about living in the home is the staff’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have positive experiences when moving into or out of the home. Children visit the home prior to moving in, to see what the home is like and meet the staff. Similarly, staff support children to visit their new home when they are moving out. This supports children to reduce their anxieties and settle into new environments.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children generally make good progress with their education. Both children are in full-time education and have been supported to gain educational qualifications. One child is really enjoying their education and has excellent levels of attendance. However, for one child there has been a reduction in their attendance. Staff are working with the child, the school and social workers to identify any barriers to their learning and are putting in place plans to support their learning and encourage attendance.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being are promoted. Managers and staff work well with healthcare professionals to ensure that each child’s health needs are met. Staff support children to attend all routine health appointments. Staff will also seek specialist support when required. One child routinely attends external support for their emotional well-being. Staff receive specific training to meet children’s individual health needs. This supports children to maintain optimum physical and mental health.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills. They help children to learn new skills such as budgeting and cooking. This helps prepare children for adult life.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff seek children’s views about their wishes and feelings. Staff encourage children to be involved in the decision-making processes about their care. This means children can positively influence their day-to-day care. When children do raise issues, managers feed back to children. This means children feel listened to and their views are valued. Inspection report children's home: 2613327 4 Staff ensure that children have opportunities to have positive experiences and make happy memories. Staff support children to take part in a wide range of activities and to spend time with their friends. One child has enjoyed going out to an activity- based centre with staff. Another child said they enjoyed going to Blackpool with staff. This encourages children to have fun and build relationships.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children keep in touch with the people who are important to them. Children regularly see their friends and family. Staff welcome children’s friends into the home. This ensures that children continue to build relationships and attachments with those people who are significant to them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is generally clean, welcoming, and homely. There are pictures of children and staff around the home. Staff help children to personalise their bedrooms. This helps children to feel comfortable, take pride in their surroundings and develop a sense of belonging.

p.4

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are effective. Children are safe and say they feel safe.

p.4

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

Managers ensure there are risk assessments and individual behaviour support plans in place, with clear strategies for staff to follow. These are reviewed regularly. Staff understand children’s risks and potential triggers. They use this knowledge to promote children’s safety and well-being.

p.4

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

Staff and managers take prompt action when there are allegations and complaints. Managers ensure that they share information with other professionals. They complete comprehensive internal management investigations when there are concerns. Children are kept informed of any outcomes. This ensures children feel confident to raise concerns. It also helps them to feel safe and secure in their environment.

p.4

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

The level of incidents of children going missing from home is low. Staff follow missing-from-home procedures when children do go missing from home. Staff will go and search for children and liaise with the local police until they are found. Staff ensure that return home interviews are completed by an independent person.

p.4

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

Staff manage children’s behaviours positively. Physical interventions have not been used at the home. Staff use rewards and consequences to support children to learn from their behaviours. They also complete focused work with children to address their individual needs. This supports children to make more informed decisions and keep themselves safe.

p.4

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

The manager completes an annual review of the location of the home. They regularly consult with local safeguarding partners. This means that staff and children have the correct information to enable them to keep safe in the local community. Inspection report children's home: 2613327 5 Staff complete regular health and safety checks. There are regular fire drills to ensure that children know how to exit the building in the event of an emergency. However, managers have not ensured that all actions from a recent fire risk assessment have been completed.

p.4

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

Overall, the manager follows safer recruitment procedures. However, managers do not consistently display professional curiosity when there are discrepancies in employment documents. For example, for one member of staff the dates provided in a reference did not match up with their employment history. Managers did not speak to the staff member about this. This is a weakness and does not give assurances that only appropriately vetted people work with children.

p.5

good

Leaders’ and managers’ monitoring systems for the home are not always effective. Managers have failed to identify the shortfalls found during the inspection. Furthermore, of the three requirements raised at the previous inspection, one has been restated at this inspection. One recommendation has also been repeated. This fails to demonstrate that managers have monitoring and review systems in place which are effective in making continuous improvements in the quality of care provided by the staff.

p.5

good

Since the last inspection, there have been changes in the leadership and management team. A new manager has recently been appointed. The manager and the responsible individual have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of development. They use development plans to improve the service.

p.5

good

The manager ensures that staff have training to meet the children’s needs. Staff have a variety of skills, experience and qualifications. This ensures that all staff have the skills and training necessary to work with the children.

p.5

good

The manager supports the staff team well. There is a robust induction plan in place to support new staff working at the home. Staff receive regular practice-related supervision and annual appraisals. Team meetings are regular and support staff to know how to work best together to meet the needs of the children. This makes the staff feel valued and supports their development. It also ensures children receive consistent, quality care from staff.

p.5

good

Managers have failed to consult with children, their parents, placing authorities and staff when completing their review of the quality of care. This is a weakness. It has an impact on their ability to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the quality of care delivered to children.

p.5

good

Managers and staff work closely with other professionals, including social workers, education and health providers, to ensure children’s needs are met. Managers will challenge providers when they are not meeting children’s needs effectively. The feedback from professionals was largely positive. Both children’s social workers said Inspection report children's home: 2613327 6 that the children have made progress since living at the home, communication is good, and the children are safeguarded. Inspection report children's home: 2613327 7

p.5

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.

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager is to ensure that the actions arising from the fire risk assessment are completed.

p.7

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 27 January 2023

p.7

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—

p.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

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)) 27 January 2023 Inspection report children's home: 2613327 8 This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that monitoring systems are effective in identifying and responding to shortfalls and evaluating the care provided.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

p.8

Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (2)(b))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the quality of care review explicitly takes into account the views of children. 27 January 2023

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.8

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 children's home: 2613327 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Ltd

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, Dominion Court, 43 Station Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3RT

p.9

Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2613327 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10