Children's Home run by Motivations Activity Projects Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 1 Registered provider: Motivations Activity Projects Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It provides care for up to four children who have experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably qualified and experienced registered manager manages the home. She has been registered with Ofsted since March 2023.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Good 06/01/2022 Full Good 09/12/2019 Full Good 17/12/2018 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home. Both children have lived in the home for over 18 months and are continuing to make substantial progress from their starting points. One child has moved out of the home, as staff were unable to keep them safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a committed staff team that provides them with thoughtful, nurturing care. The inspector observed warm and mutually affectionate relationships between staff and children. Children develop trusting relationships with staff who care for them. They know they can talk to staff if they have any worries or concerns. This caring and supportive environment enables children to make progress and have positive experiences of living in the home. When asked what the best thing was about living at the home, one child said, ‘The staff are really kind.’ Another child said, ‘The staff are so lovely. I have made so much progress since I have been here and would not have done it if I was not here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to access appropriate education to meet their needs. All children are in full-time education, and their attendance is improving. There is excellent communication between staff and education providers. When children have difficulties attending school, staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that children are supported back into school as soon as possible. This supports the children to progress educationally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a wide range of activities, try new things and develop hobbies and interests. These include cadets, trips to the cinema, archery and shooting activities, as well as enjoying a summer holiday. Sharing activities enables children to grow in confidence and improve their self-esteem and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with all their health needs. Staff support children to attend routine health appointments and access specialist physical and mental health support, when required. This promotes positive health outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote time for children to spend with their families and friends. Children have re-established relationships with their family members through this support from staff. This supports children’s identity and contributes to their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take children’s views seriously. Children say they feel listened to. The manager and staff regularly seek children’s views, through children’s meetings, key-work sessions and general chats. Staff encourage children to participate in their meetings. This means that children can directly influence the care that they receive. Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 4 The home is clean and tidy. The lounge and kitchen areas are warm and welcoming. There are photos around the home of children, and staff encourage children to personalise their bedrooms. However, some areas of the home are looking tired and worn. For example, the paint in the hall is scuffed, the kitchen door is stained and there are stains on the carpets. This detracts from the homely feeling.

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

Children stated that they feel safe and happy living in this home. They feel that staff support them and teach them how to keep safe.

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

Children’s risks are identified well in their written plans, and these provide staff with clear guidance for caring for children. Staff know children well, their risks and the actions they need to take to mitigate risks and keep children safe. As a result, incidents have been significantly reduced. There have been no allegations, complaints or incidents of missing from care.

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

Staff have received training in a range of safeguarding topics. They are aware of the whistle-blowing procedure and actions to take if there is an allegation or children are missing from care.

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

Staff respond with sensitivity and compassion when children harm themselves. This means that children know that they will get help if they need it, and so they seek it from staff.

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

Overall, staff manage children’s behaviours well. They take the necessary action to keep children safe. However, there has been one occasion where staff have not followed a child’s plan. Staff called the police to help manage the child’s behaviour before exhausting all other options and without consulting managers to ensure this was necessary. This means staff are inconsistent in their approach, and this does not give assurances that staff can always keep children safe. The manager did identify this shortfall in practice and spoke to staff to prevent a reoccurrence.

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

Physical interventions are only used as a last resort. The manager has oversight of all incidents, and she holds debriefs with staff and children following any intervention. However, the records of physical intervention are of variable quality. It is not always clear from records if the manager has spoken to staff within the timescales required by regulation. This may impact on her ability to effectively review incidents in a timely manner, when information is still fresh.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated, caring and child-centred. Staff and professionals highly regard her. The responsible individual provides senior leadership. Leaders and managers understand the home’s strengths and areas for development. They strive to ensure that children benefit from high standards of care. They have good knowledge of the children’s starting points and what they have accomplished since living at the home. Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 5 The manager has effective monitoring systems in place, which support them to review the quality of care. They use these well, along with independent visitor assessments, to continually assess and improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are clear arrangements in place for staff induction and supervision. Staff feel supported by the manager. The manager is fostering greater communication across the staff team to involve staff in the development of the home. Fortnightly team meetings enhance opportunity for communication and staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have training to meet the children’s individual 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.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a high turnover of staff, and there are some staff vacancies. The manager has worked hard to ensure that this has not impacted on the continuity of care for children. Leaders and managers regularly step in and support shift cover. They have reduced the number of children living in the home, and there is ongoing recruitment. Leaders and managers undertake exit interviews with staff to review the reasons why staff leave and are using this information to improve staff retention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and the manager work closely with a wide range of professionals so that children receive well-coordinated care. Feedback from professionals is consistently good. They are extremely positive about the staff’s communication and the progress that children make while living in the home. One social worker said, ‘The home has excellent communication with me and school. [Name of child] continues to make excellent progress. They are a different young person.’ Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff consistently following children’s behaviour and risk management plans. 8 December 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, the manager should ensure that staff are spoken to and that this is recorded in accordance with the timescales stipulated in Regulation 35. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, ensure that the home is suitably furnished and that external areas are maintained to a good standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 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: 1257202 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Motivations Activity Projects Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: St Matthews Business Centre, Duddeston Manor Road, Birmingham B7 4LZ

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1257202 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 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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