Children's Home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates the home. This home provides care for up to four children with a variety of complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023 and has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2022 Full Good 11/04/2022 Full Inadequate 23/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 21/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. One child has made some positive progress since moving into the home. However, another child has made no progress from their starting point and staff have not been able to meet his needs.

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improvement to be good

Since the previous inspection, two children have moved out. One child’s move was planned well. Staff supported this child both practically and emotionally with a move into supported accommodation and stayed in touch with them for a brief period. The other child moved out of the home sooner than anticipated following a significant incident. Staff were unable to meet this child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The quality of relationships between staff and children varies significantly. One child has built good relationships with staff and this has had a positive impact on his progress and experiences. However, not all children benefit from this quality of engagement. For example, the inspector observed that staff made no attempt to meaningfully engage another child who spent the majority of the day in his bedroom. This does not demonstrate a caring and child-focused approach.

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improvement to be good

The support given to children to engage in education and learning is mixed. Staff successfully support one child to attend school. This is helping him to make progress with his learning. However, when children are not in school, staff do not ensure that children have routines or are engaged in activities that support their learning. For example, during the inspection, one child was watching television and another child spent the majority of the time in his bedroom. This does not promote high expectations and aspirations for children to achieve.

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improvement to be good

Some aspects of the home are clean, tidy and personalised. However, other areas of the home are not. For example, one child’s bedroom had no blind on the window. Outside, a broken window in a garden shed had not been repaired and presented a risk of harm. A lack of diligence by managers to ensure that repairs and maintenance are undertaken in a timely way detracts from children living in a nurturing, comfortable and homely environment. Some action was taken during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the benefits of enduring family relationships and support is given to children to maintain important family connections. However, staff and managers have not ensured that one child’s arrangements for visiting his family are as set out in his agreed plans.

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improvement to be good

Overall, children’s health needs are met to a good standard. Staff ensure that children’s routine health needs are monitored and guidance from health professionals is followed. Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 4

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff always have the most up-to-date information to support children’s complex needs. This means that inexperienced staff members do not have access to up-to-date guidance and advice to help them to better understand children’s needs and their responsibilities to reduce risk. For example, one child’s risk assessment does not give staff guidance on how to reduce the risks posed to him through having open access to the internet by using his own dongle. Consequently, staff take little action to understand what content the child is accessing or to reduce any potential risk to his safety and development.

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improvement to be good

Some staff have sensitive and meaningful discussions with children to help them talk about their feelings and difficulties. This aims to help children to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. However, this positive support is not consistent for all children. For example, staff did not help one child to explore or take responsibility for their discriminatory behaviour or to understand the impact of that behaviour on relationships.

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improvement to be good

A lack of action by staff to ensure that security measures were in place to reduce access to inappropriate material on the internet meant that one child was able to access adult content. Managers have since taken action to ensure the appropriate parental controls and checks are in place for this child.

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improvement to be good

Staff are responsive when children going missing. They act quickly to follow children’s missing-from-care protocols. They escalate concerns by working in partnership with the local authority, local services and the police to ensure that children return home as soon as possible.

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improvement to be good

New staff are safely recruited and receive well-planned inductions to the home. As a result, staff feel they have the support of their managers.

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improvement to be good

Staff only use physical intervention when all other de-escalation strategies have been used and the welfare of the child and staff is at risk. Staff are knowledgeable and use their understanding of the child’s behaviours to enable them to manage incidents. Following a physical restraint, staff use flexible approaches to ensure that the child’s voice is heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home have not been stable or effective since the last inspection. The registered manager resigned from their post in January 2023. A manager from another of the company’s homes helped to oversee the home as an interim arrangement. A new manager started in post in June 2023 and is now in day-to-day charge of the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 5 Managers have not ensured a culture of high aspiration and expectation for all children, as set out in the statement of purpose. Consequently, children do not always receive nurturing care to meet their individual needs. For example, one child spends a significant amount of time in his bedroom. Managers have not ensured that staff are clear about the strategies they might use to encourage him out of his bedroom, build a relationship with him and support him into school. Staff also do not understand his use of the internet and any risks this poses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Instability in the management arrangements for the home and lack of oversight by the responsible individual mean that managers do not always take effective action to address shortfalls, to improve children’s safety, progress and experiences. For example, managers were not aware that staff were restricting children’s access to a downstairs bathroom by locking the door.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Internal monitoring of the operation of the home has been weak. The responsible individual was not aware that the interim manager had not been carrying out the organisation’s routine monitoring of the home in recent months. This means managers lack awareness of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Furthermore, a requirement relating to the conditions of the home environment was raised at the last inspection and has been repeated at this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The interim manager did identify some shortfalls in managing children’s access to the internet and made a positive change for one child. However, poor follow-up and escalation with another child’s placing local authority mean that he continues to have unlimited and unsupervised access to the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not always challenge the responsible placing authority effectively when staff have concerns about the care plan for a child’s education and development. In one example, the manager quickly escalated her concerns to the social worker, but when the response was delayed and unclear, these concerns were not escalated further to more senior management. As a result, the child’s care plan was not amended and no additional support was provided for the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that children’s records and care plans are kept up to date and that they are reflective of their needs and capture their progress. For example, risk assessments, personal care and placement plans do not contain all the relevant information about how to support the children’s needs. In addition, on occasions, staff have failed to record relevant information in children’s daily records. This means that information about children is limited and has the potential to misrepresent their journey.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff hold appropriate qualifications for their roles. Managers have ensured that all staff are enrolled on a course to achieve the residential childcare qualification. Staff members are within timescale for qualifying. Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 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, The 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

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

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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 (1)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to leaders and managers rigorously challenging other professionals to ensure that children receive the support that they need. 25 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— 25 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 7 meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s bedrooms are clean and tidy and that the home is a nurturing, well-maintained and welcoming environment for children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last two inspections and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager and staff ensuring that children are supported to overcome barriers to their learning. 25 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

mutual respect and trust; 25 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 8 positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)(viii)(ix)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the managers and staff ensuring they support children to build positive relationships with other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff set clear boundaries and expectations for children.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 25 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 9 This refers to staff ensuring that they understand potential risks, minimise risks and follow children’s risk assessments. These documents must be regularly reviewed and updated.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the manager ensuring that staff have a consistent approach to children’s care.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the manager ensuring that they and all staff receive essential training. In addition, the responsible individual must have effective oversight skills to conduct their role.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the manager ensuring that they use internal monitoring systems more effectively. 25 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date; and 25 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 10 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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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: 2516553 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Beacon Childcare Ltd, 28 Phoenix Business Park, Avenue Close, Birmingham B7 4NU

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Inspectors

Alison Cooper, Regional Inspection Manager Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2516553 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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