Children's home run by Kids

Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 1 SC454707 Registered provider: Kids

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a charity and offers short-break care for up to seven children with social and emotional difficulties, physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities. At the time of this inspection, one child was staying at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The provision does not have a registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 5 December 2023

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2023 Full Good 11/05/2021 Full Good 21/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Management instability has been an ongoing concern since the last full inspection in December 2023. This has had a detrimental impact on children’s experiences, progress and safety. Serious and widespread concerns were found during this inspection because managers had failed to identify shortfalls in practice that put children at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Too often children are not supported to make progress when they visit the home. While staff have started to attend meetings with local authority and education staff, they are not using the information gathered to create achievable goals for children. While this is almost always the case, there are occasional exceptions to this when staff make a positive difference for children. For example, when a staff member used their initiative to help a child develop independence skills, but overall, staff are not aspirational for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have a limited perspective of their role and the purpose of the home. They want to ensure that children have a nice time when they visit the home, for example by supporting them to play and sometimes arranging trips in the community. However, they have overlooked other important safeguarding responsibilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff say that they use children’s preferred methods of communication to understand their views, wishes and feelings. However, there is little evidence of this in practice and in the children’s records. The home has recently instructed an advocacy service to visit the children, but plans are in their infancy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Generally, staff have pleasant relationships with children. However, one staff member expressed that they found one child’s behaviour overwhelming, which meant that they were hesitant to support the child in moments of distress. The child’s father said that staff were ‘nervous’ around his child, which was observed during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The provision is not entirely accessible for children who use wheelchairs and plans to address this have not been fulfilled.

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

Staff have a poor understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities towards children. They do not consistently follow escalation processes and they often fail to inform their managers, parents and other professionals when incidents of concern arise. Managers have failed to identify and challenge poor safeguarding practice, which has left children at risk of harm.

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

Staff are not consistently using agreed de-escalation strategies to help children when they are distressed. For example, staff have adopted a strategy of ‘run and retreat’ for one child, which involves them hiding in the office. Staff have prioritised their well-being Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 4 above the needs and safety of the child. This means that this child is left unsupervised in moments of crisis when they are at risk of harming themselves and require emotional support and reassurance. Managers have endorsed this approach.

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

Staff do not recognise that guiding a child is a form of physical intervention. Consequently, it is likely that they have failed to record these incidents and take appropriate action to support children afterwards. Staff do not consistently make efforts to gather children’s views and feelings after physical interventions are used.

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

Too often staff do not respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns. For example, one parent complained that their child had unexplained injuries after they returned from the home. Staff failed to recognise that this was a significant concern and did not escalate it to senior managers. On a separate occasion, staff failed to speak with social workers when a child attended the home with injuries that appeared to be non-accidental.

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

Managers have not supported staff to participate in safeguarding training that enables them to fulfil their roles properly. Managers’ approach to safer recruitment is poor; they are not assuring themselves that staff are safe adults to work with vulnerable children. Managers have failed to take action to address this, despite the valid advice and recommendations made by their independent visitor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management instability has been ongoing for approximately one year. This has had a negative impact on staff’s care of children, who are extremely vulnerable. The former registered manager left the home in June 2023. The deputy manager, who was inexperienced, assumed interim leadership responsibility. The responsible individual, who had previously left the organisation, was reappointed in October 2023. A manager was also appointed in October 2023 but decided to leave in February 2024. They did not seek registration during this period. The deputy manager assumed interim leadership again. A new manager joined the home in May 2024. Managers’ oversight has been weak and, in some instances, entirely absent. They do not have a comprehensive understanding of children’s experiences when they visit the home. They were unaware that staff were deviating from care plans and behaviour support plans, which has enabled poor practice

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When managers have identified shortfalls in practice, their response has not been swift or robust enough. Poor management oversight, particularly in the context of safeguarding, has contributed to a culture in which children’s needs and safety are not prioritised and are too often overlooked entirely. Managers are not using quality assurance mechanisms effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Recruitment of permanent staff continues to be an ongoing concern for the home. Managers have made efforts to address this, but progress has been slow. As a result, there has been continued use of agency and sessional staff in order to keep the home open. This reliance on short term and part time staff who come and go makes it harder Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 5 to ensure consistent standards of care and safeguarding for children or to enable children to be cared for by members of staff who they know and trust when they come to stay at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some requirements made at the previous inspection are not met. For example, helping children to make progress, providing care in accordance with their plans and ensuring that children can access all facilities in the home. These have been restated alongside some additional requirements. In addition to the above, there are consistent failures that fall within the leadership and management standard. Consequently, a compliance notice has been issued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 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

*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 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(f)(h)) 4 August 2024

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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; and

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 4 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 7 ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and

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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)(b)(iv)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all facilities in the home are accessible for children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; 4 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 8 that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC454707 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 249 Birmingham Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B72 1EA

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Inspector

Tara Webb, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC454707 10 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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Inspector

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