Children's home run by YCPG Services Ltd in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 1 SC392492

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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 is registered to provide care for four children who have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. They are in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted last visited this home on 31 October 2023 to carry out an assurance inspection. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 17 August 2023, Ofsted conducted an assurance inspection of the children’s home. Serious and widespread concerns were identified in safeguarding practice and Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 2 in the leadership and management of the home. Following this inspection, Ofsted issued compliance notices under regulations 6, 12, 13 and 26.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 20 September 2023, Ofsted conducted a monitoring visit to review the safety and well-being of children and to review the provider’s progress in relation to the compliance notices issued under regulations 6, 12 and 26. As a result of the inspection, Ofsted deemed that the compliance notices issued under regulations 6, 12 and 26 were met.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 31 October 2023, Ofsted conducted an assurance inspection of the children’s home. As a result of this inspection, Ofsted deemed that the compliance notice issued under regulation 13 was met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/01/2023 Full Good 08/07/2021 Full Good 21/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 4

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have had mixed day-to-day experiences. There have been occasions when children have been unkind to each other. In addition, one child said they were unhappy living in the home and that they did not feel well cared for by managers and staff. Another child said they were unhappy about the length of time it had taken for repairs to their bedroom to be completed. Despite this, children were observed to have some good relationships with staff and have made progress from their starting points.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is poor. There is ongoing refurbishment of the home, and some areas of the home have been redecorated, but other areas are tired, worn and in need of urgent repair and attention. For example, there were decorating materials and broken furniture stored in the dining room, a hole in the kitchen floor and peeling paint on walls. One child’s bedroom had a broken drawer and another child’s ensuite bathroom was dirty, had an unpleasant smell and had clothes piled on the floor. Furthermore, the garden and front drive were untidy, in need of weeding and there was rubbish piling up. This does not provide a homely and welcoming environment that children will want to spend time in and that makes them feel valued.

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improvement to be good

The children’s guide does not support children to understand the care they can expect to receive while living in the home. It lacks information on day-to-day routines and how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints policy.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend education. When children are not in school, staff encourage children’s learning through online tutoring and home-based education. Staff communicate with education professionals and advocate for children to ensure that their learning needs are met. One education professional said that ‘staff have gone above and beyond’ to support one child’s education. As a result of staff support, one child, who had been out of education for a long time, is now attending education.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to see their family and friends. As a result, most of the children are enjoying more time and overnight stays with their families and friends. Through assistance from staff, children stay connected to people who are important to them, which supports them with their identity and contributes to their life story.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop their hobbies and interests. They also have days out, and the manager is also planning a holiday abroad for the summer. This helps children to develop their social skills and builds confidence. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 5

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been two allegations and two complaints. Managers responded to the complaints quickly and ensured that they communicated the outcomes to children. This helps children to feel listened to and gives them confidence that their concerns are taken seriously. However, managers have not always responded promptly to concerns around staff practice. On one occasion, there was a significant delay in the manager seeking guidance from the local authority designated officer when a child raised a concern about staff practice. Although the manager did immediately speak to the staff concerned, the delay and failure to quickly share information with safeguarding professionals have the potential to put children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond quickly when children go missing from the home. Staff follow detailed missing-from-care protocols. They search for children and liaise with the local police until children are found. When there are associated exploitation risks, staff share information with other professionals and attend multi-agency meetings to establish strategies to reduce risks for children. However, managers have not ensured that children are offered return home interviews by an independent person. This is a missed opportunity for children to speak to an independent person about the reasons they went missing and discuss any worries or concerns they may have.

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improvement to be good

Staff rarely use physical intervention. Staff use de-escalation techniques to defuse situations. Managers have oversight of all incidents. However, although they ensure that they talk to children and staff following incidents, there is a lack of reflection. This is a shortfall because it does not provide an opportunity for staff to amend practice or for children to reflect on the reasons that the restraint was considered necessary.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff know the children well. They understand the children’s risks and needs and the actions required to keep children safe. Children’s written plans, including risk management plans, are detailed, are regularly updated and give clear guidance for staff on how to care for children and mitigate risk. As a result, children’s incidents have reduced.

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improvement to be good

Staff use rewards and consequences to promote positive behaviour in the home. Consequences used are not always clear and restorative in nature, and at times they can be punitive. In addition, records of consequences are of variable quality. For example, staff have removed children’s items for an unspecified time and implemented reparation for damage to property of unspecified amounts. The manager has recognised this shortfall in their oversight and will overturn consequences when they feel they are not proportionate. There has also been additional training with staff on appropriate consequences. As a result, the use of consequences is reducing. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 6 Managers have not ensured that the maintenance of the home is always up to date. For example, the annual emergency lighting test and the annual portable appliance tests were out of date. This lack of diligence has the potential to put children at risk

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improvement to be good

Staff talk to children about important topics, such as discrimination, bullying and substance misuse. This supports children to be informed and helps them to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practices are safe. Staff who work in the home are subject to all necessary checks. This ensures that only suitable people work in the home.

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good

The manager of the home was not present for this inspection. The deputy managers cover the management of the home in her absence. The deputy managers are caring and committed. They want the home and children to do well. They encourage the staff team to share this ethos. However, gaps in the leaders and managers’ knowledge and experience have contributed to the management shortfalls identified during this inspection.

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good

Leaders and managers’ monitoring systems for the home are not always effective. While the managers have a good working knowledge of the home and the children, their monitoring does not consistently identify shortfalls in practice and gaps in the children’s case records. In addition, there have been delays in ensuring that the home environment is improved, delays in informing safeguarding partners and Ofsted of serious concerns and lack of oversight on the maintenance of health and safety in the home. However, there is a diligent and thorough independent person who provides good-quality comprehensive monthly reports for the home that are supporting improvements in the quality of care that staff provide for children.

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good

The quality of some children’s records is poor, and there are gaps in records. The managers’ plans to develop the home and staff practice, to enable staff to deliver care as stated in the home’s statement of purpose, lack detail. The workforce development plan does not consider the development of the staff team and the home’s development plan, and it only considers improvements in the home environment. This shows that managers lack knowledge and ambition for the home to continually improve.

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good

There have been occasions when there have been delays in the manager reporting safeguarding concerns to Ofsted. This means that the regulator may not have up-to- date information to understand what is happening in the home.

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good

There are clear arrangements in place for staff induction, supervision and appraisal. Staff say that they feel supported by managers at the home. Regular team meetings enhance opportunities for communication and staff development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 7 There is a comprehensive training offer established for the staff team. This helps to ensure that staff can develop the knowledge and skills to provide better care for children.

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good

Professional feedback evidences that communication with staff and managers is good. Professionals say that staff work hard to keep children safe and that children make progress while living in the home. Managers take action to raise concerns with the multi-agency team when they have recognised that the home is not meeting a child’s needs and are confident in making decisions in children’s best interests. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 8

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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 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—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the home being appropriately furnished, decorated, maintained and clean. Also, this relates to ensuring that repairs are completed in a timely manner. 22 July 2024

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and 22 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 9 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished, and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vi)(vii)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, managers must ensure that when a child returns home after being missing or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must also ensure that the local authority designated officer is promptly informed of all allegations or concerns about staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must also ensure that the health and safety of the home is monitored and that the equipment in the home is appropriately maintained and serviced.

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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

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; and

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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. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)) 22 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 10 Specifically, managers must ensure that staff are given the opportunity to reflect on their practice and consider ways of improving it, and that children are given the opportunity to reflect and develop more socially aware behaviour.

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that monitoring systems are effective in identifying shortfalls in practice.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must ensure that oversight on children’s records is consistent, to improve the quality of records.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must ensure that the home’s development plans support continual improvements in the quality of care for children. Particularly, that the workforce development plan highlights any further training required by staff to enable delivery of the home’s statement of purpose. 22 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 11 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 signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, managers must ensure that records are of a consistently good standard, are accurate and complete and are signed and dated correctly. 22 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand what the day-to-day routines of the home are (‘what happens in the home’); the statement of purpose of the home (the care they can expect to receive while living there); how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints procedure; how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible; and how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be

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Recommendations

skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should promptly notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 12

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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: SC392492 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 102 Queslett Road, Streetley, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham B74 2EZ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Joanna Mountford

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Inspectors

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC392492 14 and inspects 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

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

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