Children's home run by Birchwood Independence Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679827 1 Registered provider: Birchwood Independence Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A qualified registered manager has been in post 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 good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2022

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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: 2679827 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2679827 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the child with a stable, nurturing and safe home. There has been a period where the child was unsettled. Staff have supported the child through this, using the strong and trusting relationship they have built. This approach has led to the child feeling safe and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making progress. There has been a reduction in incidents and allegations. This is due to staff’s good understanding of the child’s needs and how to meet them. Staff help the child to understand their history and find ways to manage the feelings that arise from this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate well for the child when they are not receiving or accessing the services they need to move forward in their life. This is especially evident regarding the child’s education. Staff are working effectively with other professionals to improve the child’s access to education. To support the child’s progress and prepare them for the start of the school term, the home sourced a teaching assistant to visit at least twice a week, including throughout the holidays. This approach is proving to be effective as the child has requested the teaching assistant to come more often.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, a child has left the home due to concerns about her safety. Staff understand the importance of supportive endings and help children to move on positively. Staff created a memory album for the child, which tells the story of their time at the home. This includes photos of their time at the home and letters from each member of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The current child’s plans provide clear guidance for staff on how to care for the child. However, these are written in a first-person narrative, although the child has not contributed fully to the plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s social worker is very positive about the care the child receives. They feel that staff work very well with them in achieving the best outcomes for the child.

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

The child feels safe at the home. She trusts the staff and feels they really care for her. She feels listened to and that her views and opinions are valued.

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

Safeguarding issues are addressed swiftly and effectively. Allegations made against staff are well managed and in conjunction with external professionals. Good support is given to the child, which has helped them to build positive relationships with staff.

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

Staff understand the child’s needs and help them when they feel anxious or upset. This is proving to be effective as there has been a reduction in incidents. Staff manage risk effectively. They take appropriate action if the child goes missing from Inspection report for children’s home: 2679827 4 the home. These events are reducing because staff have meaningful conversations with the child to understand how she is feeling and what they can do to help.

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

Restraint is used appropriately and only as a last resort to protect the child or staff from serious harm. However, some restraint records do not consistently include all the information as required by the regulations. In addition, meaningful conversations held with a child after a restraint are sometimes carried out by the member of staff who was involved, which does not provide the child with the opportunity to talk to an independent person.

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

The home follows safer recruitment practices. However, those carrying out the interviews are not consistently signing their record of the interview.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At this inspection, the registered manager, who is appropriately experienced and qualified, was on leave. The responsible individual and the deputy manager were present during the inspection and they both demonstrated a good understanding of the home, including its strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child benefits from being cared for by an experienced, stable and well-trained staff team. Staff feel well supported in their role and valued by leaders and managers. There have been some occasions when agency staff have been used but these are rare as staff understand how this could affect the child, who struggles with new people. When needed, leaders and managers have identified a small number of agency staff they will use to ensure consistency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In addition to management supervision, staff benefit from having regular meetings with the emotional health and well-being team. This forum provides staff with an additional space to be able to discuss and reflect with an outside professional about their work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have implemented a new monitoring system; however, this is not yet embedded in practice. So far, their monitoring has identified the need for improvements to be made in how staff record their work with children to avoid using vague, institutionalised or emotive language and to ensure that sufficient detail is provided. Leaders and managers understand that records need to be meaningful for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679827 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are in full-time education while they are of compulsory school age. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  The registered person should ensure that restraint records consistently provide information on what led to the restraint and the duration of the restraint. In addition, meaningful conversations with children after they have been restrained should be carried out by a member of staff not involved in the restraint. In addition, the registered person should consistently monitor these records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that all interview records are signed by the interviewer. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s records and plans are written using first-person narrative only when the information comes from the child. All information in children’s records should be recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2679827 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birchwood Independence Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 14 Highlands, Taunton TA1 4HP

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2679827 7 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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