Care for Me Housing

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 1 Care for Me Housing Registered provider: Care for Me Housing and Support LLP

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider. The provider can accommodate up to 42 individuals in 14 shared-living homes that are limited to accommodating children in care and care leavers. The provider operates across the West Midlands.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 25 individuals, 18 of them children aged 16 or 17.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the organisation’s registration in November 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection began on 14 October 2024 when we announced the inspection. The inspectors were on site from 16 to 18 October 2024.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of risks to children’s safety or the quality of support that they receive. They do not ensure that children are assessed as suitable to live together, and this places some children at risk of harm.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not ensure that they share allegations and safeguarding concerns with partner agencies and other professionals.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding risks, such as children going missing, are not well managed. Managers and staff do not work with children to reduce these risks. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 2 Children said that they like living in their accommodation and that they have positive relationships with staff.

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Summary of findings

Most children are in either education or employment. This gives them a sense of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children do not receive tailored support to help them with their specific needs. Direct work with children is generic and focuses on a basic standard of independence skills. Support plans are not individual to children’s needs. For example, they do not include all known risks or specific information relating to children’s cultural or religious needs. Furthermore, staff do not capture children’s views and wishes effectively or include these in their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Concerns around children’s mental health, drug use and self-harm are not fully understood by staff. Managers and staff do not complete referrals for specialist support promptly. This means that children do not receive the support that they need without delay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not have an effective system to allow children to give feedback about the quality of support they receive. Children’s views are not used to help improve the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children whose first language is not English do not receive information about their support in a timely way. This includes the guide for children, their support plans and other documents that outline their needs and support. This means that not all children understand their rights and entitlements, or the plans for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children know how to make a complaint. However, the registered service manager does not ensure that the complaints process is followed. Children are not kept up to date with the progress of their complaint and records do not demonstrate the action the registered service manager has taken to resolve the complaint. This means that children do not know if their complaints are taken seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children said that they are happy and have positive relationships with staff. They are encouraged to continue to see people who are important to them, including family members and friends. This means that children are not isolated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are in either education or employment. Staff work with children to help them to find appropriate courses at college and support them to seek employment, in line with their wishes. This gives children a sense of purpose and helps them to move towards adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children who are new to the country are supported to settle into their new home. Staff spend time with children to help familiarise them with their environment, explaining health and safety issues and how to use facilities in the home, such as Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 3 the washing machine. They also ensure that children are registered with universal health services, and they support them with appointments if needed. These practical activities help children to take their first steps towards independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not fully assess the suitability of children to live together. They do not consider the risks that children may pose to each other before they move into the supported accommodation. There have been occasions when decisions to place children together have resulted in children being assaulted and harmed, and occasions when children’s accommodation and property have been damaged. Children said that they do not feel safe in these situations.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s risk assessments do not include all relevant information to support staff to protect children from harm. Information about children’s needs and risks, including their risks of self-harm and going missing, is spread over various documents. Consequently, staff are not fully aware of children’s vulnerabilities and do not always know how to respond to and manage risks to their safety.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children do not receive support from staff when they return home from being missing. For example, staff do not hold meaningful conversations with children to understand the reasons why they go missing from home and do not work with them to reduce episodes of going missing. Furthermore, when children go missing, staff do not effectively maintain records of these episodes so that they are able to use this information to shape children’s plans.

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How well children are helped and protected

The registered service manager has not notified Ofsted of all serious events. These events include children ingesting hazardous substances, children assaulting staff and children being arrested. When serious incidents occur, these are poorly recorded, and leaders and managers do not have effective oversight. Action plans put in place to address these concerns are not consistently implemented. This means that staff do not safeguard children effectively.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not respond appropriately to allegations of abuse or harm or refer these concerns to partner agencies as required. In these circumstances, they do not complete child protection referrals or consult effectively with children’s social workers or the local authority designated officer. This places children at risk of continued harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not monitor the service effectively. They have failed to identify serious shortfalls that significantly impact on children’s safety, well-being and experiences. Despite this, leaders and managers continue to grow the service at pace, and the suitability of new admissions is not fully assessed. This places children at risk of harm because leaders and managers do not know or understand children’s individual needs or risks to their safety. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 4 Leaders and managers do not adequately assess the quality of the service, children’s progress or staff practice. Current monitoring systems do not support leaders and managers to identify areas for development or to take timely action to address shortfalls. Consequently, children’s experiences are not consistently positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not always act promptly to ensure repairs are carried out when needed to children’s accommodation. When accommodation needs general repairs, has been damaged or is unsafe, they have waited too long for the registered service manager to address these issues. This does not provide children with a welcoming home or a safe environment that they want to spend time in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is a permanent staff team in place. Staff receive supervisions and access relevant training courses to support their work with children. Staff said that they feel supported in their roles by the registered service manager. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 5

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

*The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies, and share information where relevant to keep children safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the relevant roles and responsibilities assigned to them by the registered person in relation to protecting children. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(f)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)) 1 December 2024 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 6 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that managers consider risks to children and their individual needs at the point of referral and make an assessment regarding the suitability of children living together. 1 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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 as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

are adequately maintained so as to provide a welcoming and homely environment within both individual and shared living spaces. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(viii)) 1 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child; 1 December 2024 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 7 keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that processes are in place to enable children to access support from other organisations and community services, such that they are encouraged and enabled to access a range of services, including those offered by advocacy organisations and training providers;

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Requirement Due date

before a child arrives or upon a child’s arrival, ensure that the child is given a written guide, in an accessible format, containing information about—

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Requirement Due date

the support and accommodation provided by the supported accommodation undertaking;

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available, how the child may access that support or those services, and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy;

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representation in relation to the support and accommodation provided and how any such complaint or representation will be dealt with;

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Requirement Due date

what services and facilities are available that take account of children’s needs arising as a result of cultural differences or disability.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that for children whose first language is not English, that they receive information about their support and accommodation in a timely way; and that plans are individual to children’s need including their faith and culture and that children are included in developing their plans. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(g)(j)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation; 1 December 2024 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 8 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff should work in partnership with relevant people, as appropriate, to ensure that each child is provided with support to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of the service and their support package. This may include the use of, and support to use, communication aids, equipment and/or any necessary language support. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 34)  The registered person should ensure that practices are in place for dealing with complaints, including recording them and notifying relevant authorities when necessary. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 46)  The registered person should ensure that managers actively oversee the supported accommodation and make best use of information from internal

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Recommendations

monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 53) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 9

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 10

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Care for Me Housing and Support LLP

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 488 Bearwood, Bearwood, Warley, Birmingham B66 4HA

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Nqobile Mpunzi

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@careformehousing.co.uk

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Inspectors

Shazana Jamal, Social Care Inspector Leah Stannard, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Care for Me Housing 11 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

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