Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 1 SC467264 Registered provider: N H Care Limited

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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 operates the home. The home registered with Ofsted in 2013 to provide care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023 and is working towards obtaining the relevant qualification for this role.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC467264 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/01/2024 Full Good 10/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/07/2021 Full Inadequate 02/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children at this home have good experiences. The two children who live in the home are settled and progressing well. One child has lived in the home for one year, and the other for seven months. Inspectors spoke with both children during the inspection. Since the last inspection, two children have moved in and two children have moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and provides a warm and comfortable place for the children to live. The children’s bedrooms are personalised, and the children are happy with their rooms. However, there was a delay in obtaining replacement furniture for one child. Although this did not impact on the child, who liked their room, it is not conducive with providing a nurturing environment for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. Staff speak affectionately to the children. They encourage the children to enrich their lives with activities. One child is particularly active and is supported to participate regularly in various sporting activities that they enjoy. The other child is more reluctant to participate in activities. However, staff have persisted in finding opportunities that they feel the child may enjoy. This helps the children to have fun and grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to encourage the children to engage in education. When one child did not want to attend school, they worked cooperatively with educational professionals to explore alternative options for education, encouraged attendance through reward systems and obtained materials to continue the child’s education in the home. Education professionals were very complimentary about how the staff worked with them in supporting the child to prepare for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain good health and attend routine appointments. Where there are concerns about a child’s health, these are responded to quickly, with the support of specialists. Children are encouraged to eat a varied and healthy diet and participate in physical activities. Children enjoy the food provided in the home and participate in planning the meals they eat. This helps children to develop good habits in looking after their health and general well-being.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and know how to keep them safe. For example, staff took decisive action to protect a child when they were placed at risk of harm. This led to another child moving from the home to a more suitable placement. Children told inspectors that they felt safe living there.

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

Children know how to raise a complaint and are listened to. When a child raised concerns about the home, the manager took the time to consider their concerns and to Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 4 provide a comprehensive response. This gives children the confidence that their concerns will be heard and taken seriously.

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

Staff do not always have the skills and experience to manage incidents well. While most incidents are managed appropriately, there was one incident when staff called the police to attend a situation in the home. The incident had been resolved by the time the police attended. The child told us that they had been scared by the police attending. This did not give the child confidence that staff can manage their behaviours when they are feeling overwhelmed.

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

Staff take appropriate action to ensure the safe return of children when they go missing from home. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the processes involved. These protocols are specific to the children and enable staff to focus on areas where the child might go. The children receive return home interviews, which enable staff to understand why the child went missing from home, discuss safety issues and help minimise the risk of a similar incident occurring.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour in the home. Staff help children to understand the expectations of them using rewards and consequences. For example, children can work towards items of their choosing for good behaviour. During the inspection, one child achieved enough points through these rewards to receive a punch bag for their room. This helps children to reflect on the impact of their behaviour and learn from it.

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

Appropriate recruitment checks are carried out on new staff before they work at the home. This ensures that children are cared for by suitably vetted staff.

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

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They are working hard to try and address the staffing difficulties that were present during the previous inspection, including the cohesion of the staff team. The team in place is new, and the manager is working to identify individual staff strengths and to develop them further. Staff spoke positively about the support they have received from the manager and have felt that the team is more cohesive now. However, there are still occasions when staff have felt that the team has not worked together well.

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

Staff receive regular supervision sessions and appraisals. These provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their performance, learning and development. Where staff have not met the required standards, this has been identified and challenged effectively by the manager. Where required, action has been taken to support improvement in the staff team. For example, for one member of staff, this has meant an extension of their probationary period. This helps to ensure that children are cared for by staff that have the guidance and support needed to provide good-quality care.

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

Leaders and managers are aspirational for the children. They value the importance of education and ensuring the children’s well-being. The children are encouraged to participate in education and enjoy new experiences to help increase their confidence and Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 5 prepare them for the future. One child’s confidence has grown in that they were able to perform a dance for the staff and the inspector. Staff told us that this was something that the child would not have done when they first arrived at the home.

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

Feedback from professionals is unanimous in their praise for staff and the care they provide for the children. They are confident that staff understand the children’s needs and have established good routines to help them progress.

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

The manager and other leaders maintain effective oversight of the home through regular monitoring and checks to help keep children safe, for example regular health and safety checks, feedback from children and reviews of incidents. This enables the manager to identify areas for improvement and act when issues are identified. Incidents were generally well reported. However, there was one occasion where opportunities for the staff to reflect on action taken were missed during their debrief. Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 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 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

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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; and

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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)(iii)(iv)(v)) 28 February 2025

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; and 28 February 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. This specifically relates to the delays in replacing furniture in one child’s room and the presence of litter in the garden. (‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC467264 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 69, Steward Street Business Lofts, Steward Street, Birmingham B18 7AF

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Natallina Khushia-Narhar

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC467264 9 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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