Children's Home run by Accalia Care Services Ltd in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 1 Registered provider: Accalia Care Services 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

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post, who is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children lived at the home. Three children were present and spoke with the inspector.

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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 outstanding

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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: 2494873 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2023 Full Good 01/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/10/2021 Full Good 05/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the same three children have continued to live at the home. All three children remain actively settled. There has been no recorded use of agency staff since the last inspection, which has further supported children to form strong relationships with a consistent staffing team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff share the progress that children make in monthly reports with each child’s social worker and family. Children’s social workers and family members provide feedback on the quality and consistency of this communication. Children’s views are regularly sought in respect of how they feel about their care and home environment. The home environment reflects their individual interests and needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have relevant and up-to-date education plans, with focused professional meetings to review progress and next steps. One child has completed their GCSE exams and is now attending college on a full-time basis. Another child successfully completed a 12-week course that was sourced by staff and provided through The King’s Trust. Following the successful completion of this course, the provider then offered the child a part-time paid position with their in-house maintenance team, with an agreement to fund the child to complete their mathematics and English qualifications alongside this. Staff within this home are very creative in the ways they support children to access education that is in line with their individual needs and enables children to reach their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to prepare for their futures. One child will be moving on from the home this year. Staff have carefully considered the child’s presenting needs and have been completing key life-coach sessions to support the child to achieve a smooth transition into semi-independent living. Staff work closely with local authorities to positively support children into this next chapter of their lives. For the two younger children in the home, a carefully considered independence planner that guides children through 12 modules of independence work has been started and is clearly recorded and reviewed in their case files.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s health needs and record these clearly in their plans. Staff support children to have a healthy diet, and children are encouraged to prepare meals as part of their independence work. The arrangements for the storage and administration of medication are safe and effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the support network for children outside of the home. Staff support children to strengthen their relationships with family and friends and facilitate family time. One child’s parent had a significant health need, and family time as a result had to take place in the hospital setting. The staff worked creatively with the hospital and successfully arranged for the child to have family time with their parent in a more suitable environment within the hospital grounds. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 4 minimised the negative impact this was having on a child that had previously spent significant periods of their own life in hospital. This significantly reduced the child’s presenting anxiety about attending family time with their parent.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been a total of five missing-from-home episodes. Staff manage these incidents effectively and provide appropriate reassurance and welfare checks for children following these missing-from-home periods. Information is appropriately shared with both external agencies and parents and carers. Staff maintain a running log of the actions completed when a child is identified as missing from home. However, there has been a shortfall identified in the accuracy of the records of the daily logs to evidence the actions taken by staff. It is not consistently clear, therefore, when escalations have been completed by staff.

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

There has been one recorded physical intervention since the last inspection. There is a clear written summary of this incident on the child’s file, with a detailed management oversight confirming that this intervention was proportional to the presenting risks identified. Staff use the least restrictive means to reduce the risks to children’s safety.

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

Staff support children to understand and identify risk. Staff have regular discussions with children about their experiences of risk and discuss strategies to build their resilience. Children’s risk assessments are reviewed following any recorded incident to provide staff with clear guidance on the necessary steps they need to take to reduce risk.

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

Children say that they feel safe and understand how to raise worries. However, when one concern was raised, staff did not consistently record their evaluation of the risk and what steps they will be taking to support the child. While it is clear that verbal communication is had with management and risks are escalated and shared, there is not consistent evidence of this action being recorded in children’s case records.

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

Positive rewards and verbal praise are consistently used to recognise and celebrate children’s achievements. The staff run regular meetings with the children where everyone comes together to discuss their views. Children are encouraged to build interests and hobbies outside of the home, and all children regularly attend social activities with the staff, building their confidence and exposure to positive experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager presents as an inspirational leader of the home. She entered her staff team into the ‘National Children and Young People Awards’ in 2024, and the team successfully came joint first in this award. This demonstrates the manager’s acknowledgement of the work her team has completed and her commitment to this achievement being recognised in the sector. Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 5 The manager is confident in challenging the wider networks to ensure that children receive the best possible care. The manager escalates her concerns when there have been delays in the home receiving key documents for children’s care. A further example of this is when she has challenged an outcome for a child’s education, health and care plan assessment effectively. This has led to the child now successfully receiving this assessment to explore their educational needs to ensure that they have access to the right educational provision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has high aspirations for her staff. This is evident in the progression the staff have made into more senior roles in the company. Multiple staff members have progressed in their roles since the last inspection. New staff receive a robust induction programme and have increased supervision and reviews of their practice within this probationary period. The manager will put herself on shift to spend quality focused time with children, which also allows her to directly observe the quality and consistency of care provided by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When a shortfall was identified in the quality of supervision records, the manager addressed this effectively and in a timely way. The manager sourced opportunities for this member of staff to observe her practice. This illustrates her careful management of internal auditing of the quality of practice within her staffing team and her ability to provide staff with learning opportunities to develop their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager leads by example and presents as approachable, considerate and supportive of her team. She is creative in using training to inform the development of policies and procedures. One example of this is how she attended a restorative justice training session and used learning from this training to adapt the home’s internal debrief template used for children and adults. The manager is creative with the resources she has access to and has advocated for a child to gain employment within the home’s workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the strengths of her team and similarly can reflect on what could impact on the stability of the home when children transition to independence. She is aware of the impact of changes to the staffing team on children. When inconsistencies were raised by a child with the guidance they were receiving from staff, the new member of staff was supported in a single-subject focused supervision session to address the inconsistency of the guidance and the impact this was having on the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The feedback from parents and external agencies evidences the quality of the relationship the manager has formed. This ensures that children receive the best possible care and experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 6

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Recommendation

 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2494873 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Accalia Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 4a, Space Station Warstock Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 4ST

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leaford Williams

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Inspector

Charlotte Tippett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2494873 8 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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Inspector

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