Children's Home run by Solve Housing Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 1 Registered provider: Solve Housing 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

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the visit, one child was living in the home and shared their experiences with the inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. She is registered to manage two homes.

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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 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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 23 July 2024, following a visit to another children’s home in the company, it was identified that children were at risk of harm. This was because safer recruitment checks were not robust. As a result, Ofsted suspended the home’s registration.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following a monitoring visit to the home on 30 July 2024, the suspension was lifted because action had been taken to improve safer recruitment. A notice restricting accommodation was issued on 31 July 2024. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 2 A further monitoring visit took place on 25 September 2024. During the visit, improvements had been made. The seven requirements raised at the monitoring visit in July 2024 were met. The notice restricting accommodation was lifted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2023 Full Good 06/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has experienced change since the last inspection, with four children moving in and four children moving out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress at the home. New children are warmly welcomed; child- focused care planning helps them to settle. One child recently moved out to return to live with their family in line with their plan. They had lived at the home for over two years, and their departure was celebrated with a meal in a restaurant. This means the child had the chance to say goodbye to the adults who had looked after them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, bright and welcoming. The lounge area is particularly pleasant and homely. The child’s bedroom is personalised and comfortably furnished. This helps the child to feel at ease in their surroundings and gain a sense of permanence and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child says they like the adults who are caring for them. Adults speak about children with warmth and affection. They show empathy and patience to understand the impact of previous experiences and trauma on children’s well-being. In addition, adults are committed to helping children make good progress from their starting points. This supports the development of shared trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well supported. Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that children have access to the services they need, including specialist substance misuse support services. This promotes good health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive sensitive care that is responsive to their identity, cultural needs and family history, which contributes to their life story. Staff understand that family relationships are important to children and help them to feel loved and valued. Adults work closely with the child’s parent to promote positive family time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the importance of education, but the educational progress of children is mixed. The child does not attend school. While leaders are advocating strongly for their return, the child’s day lacks structure. More needs to be done to ensure that the child is in a good daily routine and sleep routine, so they are well prepared to resume full-time education.

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

The child feels safe and likes the adults caring for them. The child described the home as ‘a safe place’.

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are effective, and staff understand their responsibilities to protect children. There is a proactive approach to risk management, Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 5 and staff are knowledgeable about the risks that the children face. Staff are confident in their practice. They are vigilant to early indicators of risk-taking behaviours and are attuned to the child’s needs. As a result, incidents are well managed. The manager scrutinises incidents, and any lessons learned are used to improve staff practice.

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

Safety plans for the child need to be more robust because the levels of risk are not always clearly assessed, which is confusing. In addition, a known risk is not assessed, and other safety plans lack detailed guidance. The operations manager gave assurance that this shortfall will be addressed to ensure that staff have the accurate guidance they need to respond to and mitigate risks consistently.

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

The child frequently goes missing from home, and staff follow protocols when this happens, which includes searching for them. This risk-taking behaviour has escalated over recent weeks. In response, leaders have escalated concerns with appropriate professionals and work well with external agencies to develop and review strategies to increase safety. These responses help the child to feel cared for.

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

Good-quality support is provided to help children manage their feelings and emotions. The child has a peer mentor who they described as ‘cool’. Weekly mentoring sessions support the child to reflect on their behaviours and the unsafe decisions that they make in their most vulnerable times. In addition, important discussions about the consequences of risky behaviour take place. This is helping the child to become safer and is building emotional resilience. This is a positive area of practice.

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

Recruitment practice is safe, and managers ensure that children receive care from suitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has just returned to work following a planned absence. The home was led effectively by the operations manager, supported by the deputy manager in her absence. The responsible individual is visible and visits the home frequently. Together, leaders have good oversight of children’s care and the day-to-day running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders understand the strengths and ongoing development areas of the home. There is a comprehensive workforce plan that demonstrates ambition for the continual development of the home and staff team to the benefit of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders are child-focused, and the whole staff team shares high aspirations for the children to make progress and achieve. Leaders work closely with external professionals, including social workers, to ensure that children’s needs are met. They are strong and confident advocates for children and challenge professionals when they feel decisions made are detrimental towards children or are not in their best interests. This shows their commitment to the children. Team meetings are well attended and provide a safe space for staff to reflect on the needs of the children. During meetings, staff are praised by leaders for their hard Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 6 work, which shows they are valued. The meetings help staff to better understand children’s behaviours and how they can contribute to their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy their jobs and feel supported by leaders. New staff complete an induction and a varied training programme, which includes training to help them to meet the child’s specific needs. Training topics include children going missing from home and criminal exploitation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team morale is good, and this creates a positive environment for children. Staff receive frequent reflective supervision sessions that provide them with time to reflect on their work. Staff who have worked at the home for over 12 months have had their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised as required. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 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 any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the levels of risk that children face are clearly assessed. In addition, children’s plans must contain up-to-date and accurate guidance to help staff to provide safe care consistently. 21 February

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities during the daytime while they are supported to resume full-time education. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 8 Unique reference number: 2679735

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Solve Housing Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3000, 123 Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull B90 3ND

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Inspectors

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Mandy Wake, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2679735 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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