Children's Home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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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 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 holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and is registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this visit, one child was living at the home. The child was spoken with during the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 26 and 27 June 2024, a full inspection was carried out at the home. Inspectors found serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of children and the leadership and management of the home. Compliance notices under Regulations 12 and 13 were issued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 2 A restriction of accommodation notice was also issued to ensure that no new children come to live at the home until the necessary improvements have been made.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 2 August 2024, a monitoring visit was carried out at the home. The steps in the compliance notice under Regulation 12 were met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/06/2024 Full Inadequate 10/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/06/2022 Full Good 11/04/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 4

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improvement to be good

The child is making progress, but their day-to-day experiences have been impacted. Staff do not consistently provide care in line with the home’s model of care. This means that the child’s care is not consistently good.

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improvement to be good

Over a short period of time, the staff have worked hard to build relationships with the child. The child said, ‘It takes me time to get to know people. The staff are trying. I like my new keyworker. We can talk about things.’ The child seeks out staff interaction, and they spend time together, for example watching movies and baking cakes. This is helping to build trust and positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is welcoming and well maintained. The child said, ‘The best thing is my room. I am looking forward to getting my new bed, I have had new furniture, and I have put some stickers up. I really like it.’ The child’s self-portrait, artwork and certificates are displayed around the home, which promotes a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

The child is having fun and enjoys a range of activities, both in and outside the home. This includes art and craft sessions, baking cakes, trips to theme parks and ten-pin bowling. Supporting and sharing the child’s interests increases the child’s sense of self- worth.

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improvement to be good

The child is encouraged to develop their independence skills to prepare them for adulthood in line with their plans. They prepare meals and they have learned to use the washing machine. As a result, they are gaining confidence.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded. The child chooses their own rewards, for example visiting their favourite restaurant. This encourages good daily routines such as taking daily showers, which is improving their self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. The child spoke positively about meeting a member of their family for the first time during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

The child is healthy, and staff support and encourage them to attend their health appointments.

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improvement to be good

The child says they feel safe living in the home, and leaders have taken action to strengthen risk management to keep the child safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 5 Staff have an increased understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities and the risks that they face. More thought is also given to the interplay between different risks and how these need to be managed. Overall, risk assessments and plans contain enough information. The manager updated one risk assessment during the inspection to ensure that staff have the information they need to provide care safely.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently support the child in line with the home’s therapeutic approach when incidents occur. On two separate occasions, incidents have occurred due to poor staff practice. On both occasions, serious incidents could have been avoided. One of the incidents is subject to an ongoing investigation by safeguarding authorities.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention has been used on one occasion to keep the child safe. The manager scrutinised the incident to ensure that the use of restraint practice was proportionate and necessary. However, the staff members who had held the child spoke with the child about this, and the language used in the incident record is not supportive of the child. This is a missed opportunity to gather the child’s thoughts and feelings about their experience.

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improvement to be good

When the child goes missing from home, there is a coordinated response. Staff follow protocols and search for the child to try and bring them home safely. When they return, staff talk to them about their feelings and remind them that they have adults in their life who care about them. Effective working relationships and liaison with safeguarding authorities, such as the police, contribute to the child’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practice is safe. This is because leaders make sure the child receives their care from suitable adults. In addition, the team of staff working at the home has remained stable. This provides consistency for the child and supports their feeling of security because they know the adults looking after them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the manager’s confidence has increased. She receives support from the responsible individual to help her to better understand her role and responsibilities. As a result, leadership of the home has improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager’s oversight of the child’s care and staff practice is better. A range of new and strengthened audit tools support her to do this. This shows lessons have been learned. However, the therapeutic approach in use needs to be fully embedded into staff practice to ensure that the child’s day-to-day experiences are positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders are aware of the weaknesses of the home. They have worked hard to create and implement development plans to drive improvement. While there is progress, further time is needed to fully implement and achieve the plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders have completed a review of their staff training. They have focused on upskilling their staff since the last inspection to ensure they are able to manage risks and meet the child’s needs. Staff embrace learning and development opportunities. They spoke Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 6 positively about their recent training, which includes assessing risks, therapeutic parenting and trauma-informed practice. Leaders are continually reviewing the quality of the training to assure themselves that staff are competent to carry out their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say they feel supported and valued by their managers. They receive monthly supervision to support their ongoing development and reflect on their work practices. Regular team meetings take place and provide staff with the opportunity to share important information with each other and generate new ideas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

New systems and processes are in place in preparation to welcome and meet the needs of any new children who move into the home. This has been a key priority, and the staff have completed care planning training to increase their knowledge in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Four requirements made at the previous inspection have been met. One requirement has not been met and is restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Steps in the notice under Regulation 13, in relation to the leadership and management of the home, have been met. The restriction of accommodation notice has been lifted. This means that the home can once again admit children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 7

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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 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 harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff follow children’s plans and support children in line with the home’s model of care when managing incidents to keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 27 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 8 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. Children should be

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Recommendations

encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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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 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 10 regulates 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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