Children's home run by Stepping Stones Care (Midlands) Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2686012 1 Registered provider: Stepping Stones Care (Midlands) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered on 18 October 2022, when the home opened.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2686012 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children live at the home. Before the children moved in, staff and managers worked well with partner agencies to understand all relevant information. They considered the children’s needs and lived trauma in relation to staff skills and knowledge to manage these needs. Consequently, the children have settled extremely well at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children told the inspector that they feel happy living at the home, as they have good relationships with staff and with each other. They said that there is nothing they would change about the support and care they are currently receiving from staff and managers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children are not attending education . Managers and staff have exercised appropriate professional challenge when there has been drift and delay by partner agencies. This is helping to get the children back into school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers are providing the children with educational activities and have requested tutoring to reduce the gaps in children’s learning. One child is in full-time education and teachers are pleased with his dedication and academic achievements. He is on target to achieve good grades, which will help him to progress to the next stage of his education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are reflected in their care plans. The children have opportunities to contribute to their care planning review meetings. They have good-quality one-to- one chats with staff and weekly meetings where they make decisions about their routines and set targets linked to their local authority care plans. The children are making significant progress. For example, children’s physical and emotional health are improving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When the inspector arrived at the home, the children were pleased to meet them and proudly showed off their home. The children are aware of their daily routines and talked about the different activities that they go to, such as football clubs, swimming, gym and dancing. They knew what meals they were having for the week, as they had helped to choose them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides the children with a warm and welcoming family environment. There is ample space for children to come together and for them to have space to quietly relax and unwind. The children have been involved in making their bedrooms their own. They are adorned with family pictures and decorations which reflect their interests and personalities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers want the children to feel they belong in the home and their local community. Relationships with local neighbours and police are very good. The children and staff select local charitable organisations and raise money for them. Inspection report for children's home: 2686012 3 The children have enjoyed being part of these fundraising activities and have visited the charities with staff to hand over donations. The children are developing a sense of social responsibility, which is also improving their self-esteem and confidence.

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

Managers and staff know the children well and have positive relationships with them. The children told the inspector that they are able to speak with staff if they have any worries. As a result, they feel safe and secure in staff’s care.

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

When children struggle to regulate their emotions, staff support them well. They de- escalate challenging situations effectively. Consequently, there have not been any significant incidents in the home.

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

Staff use reward charts with the children to promote positive behaviours. The children are involved in setting their targets for the week and when these are achieved, they receive a treat. The children engage well with this and proudly showed the inspector the goals they had achieved for that particular week.

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

Staff and managers have only used restraint on one occasion. The manager’s oversight of this incident was very good. There is a clear chronological account of the incident and sound reflective debriefs were held with the child and staff involved.

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

Staff and managers do a lot of educational work with the children to help them to use the internet and social media safely. As a result, children are starting to understand risks more and are learning to keep themselves safe.

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

Children are helped by staff to take age-appropriate risks, such as going into the community alone. This helps to promote the children’s independence skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child-focused and models positive parenting to the staff and children. She has high aspirations for the children and wants them to have a highly positive experience of living at the home. Through working well together with her team, with partner agencies and the children, the manager offers a home environment where the children can flourish and make significant progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring of the service is effective, as she addresses any shortfalls diligently and without delay. She has an excellent understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager has a clear action plan for how she intends to continue developing the home to enable the children to achieve even better outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reported that they feel supported by the manager. They receive regular supervision, which gives them opportunities to discuss their continuous professional Inspection report for children's home: 2686012 4 development. Staff have received specialist training, which enables them to understand the children’s needs better.

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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: 2686012 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stepping Stones Care (Midlands) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Camomile House, 6 Embassy Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 1TP

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2686012 6 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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