Children's home run by Care and Support (Children) Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 1 Registered provider: Care and Support (Children) 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 operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who have had adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024 and holds a leadership and management qualification at level 5.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since registering with Ofsted. The child who lives in the home moved in before the home was registered. The child was present during the inspection and spoke with inspectors about their experiences of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child met with the manager and some staff, and also visited the home before moving in. This alleviated some of the child’s worries. Since moving in, the child has experienced a period of stability and is developing a sense of belonging. The child has strong relationships with the registered manager and deputy manager. New staff are still developing trusting relationships with the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff help the child to understand complex decisions made about their life. When it may not be possible to act on the child’s wishes, the staff explain the reasons why and ensure that the child has access to a suitable independent advocate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Health needs specific to the child are well understood by staff. As a result, the child’s health is improving, and they are learning more about how to keep well. For example, the child has better oral health and is now more able to manage their personal hygiene. The child is receiving specialist support for their emotional well-being. Arrangements for managing medication are safe and effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving into the home, the child has maintained their level of education attendance. When there are barriers to the child’s learning, the registered manager works well with professionals. However, they have not promptly requested a review of the child’s education health and care plan. This means that the child’s current learning needs are not fully known, and this is a missed opportunity to understand more about how to support the child’s learning needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the child well and communicate effectively with them. This ensures that staff care for the child in a way that is appropriate to their needs. Managers develop and role model effective strategies to help the child manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to take part in activities that they enjoy. They develop interests and hobbies. Staff support the child to develop some independence skills. For example, the child is encouraged to cook with staff, complete their laundry and maintain the cleanliness of their bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to visit and keep in touch with people who are important to them. They are also sensitive to the child’s feelings, following a bereavement. Staff help the child to cherish memories and talk to them about understanding and coming to terms with loss. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 3 The home environment is not welcoming and homely for the child. Some areas of the home require cleaning, walls are bare throughout and some rooms require curtains and soft furnishings.

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

The registered manager and staff understand how the child’s life experiences influence their feelings around safety, which is expressed through behaviours that are complex to manage. Staff have a good understanding of the plans that identify known risk and behaviours. These provide clear and detailed strategies on preventative measures, which staff follow.

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

When the child is not where they are expected to be, staff share their concerns with relevant people and continue to search for the child until they return home. There has been significant consideration around managing the home environment to reduce opportunities for the child to leave without permission. This practice contributes to keeping the child safe and there has been a reduction in the number of significant incidents.

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

Staff respond sensitively to the child when there are concerns that they are hurting themselves. Training completed by staff helps them to understand self-injurious behaviours, and identify and reduce risks. The child is offered first aid or medical treatment when necessary.

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

Safer recruitment systems for new staff are good. This helps to ensure that the child is cared for by suitable individuals.

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

Staff are trained in restraint. This is used on some occasions to prevent the child from harming themselves and others, or damaging property. Records completed by staff do not always give a clear description of the hold used and the manager does not always review the effectiveness of the restraint. Staff and children are provided with an opportunity to speak about the incident. However, this is not always with a person who has not been involved in the incident. This may lead to the child not feeling comfortable to raise any concerns about what happened.

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

Responses to allegations are mixed. On one occasion, information disclosed by a child about their experience when away from the home was responded to well and information was promptly shared with relevant people. On another occasion, there was a delay in sharing some information about a staff member’s practice. This has since been shared and dealt with appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager are committed to providing the child with a stable home. This is enabling the child to begin to process their life experiences and Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 4 develop effective strategies to help them make progress in different aspects of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems are used effectively to support the registered manager to understand the child’s experiences of living in the home. This helps the registered manager to understand the home’s strengths and enables him to improve on areas of development identified through this oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. Reflective practice is promoted. For example, staff review incidents, together with additional strategies, to prevent and manage risks. Team meetings and individual supervision provide staff with the opportunity to discuss the child’s plans and agree consistent approaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is sufficient staff to care for the child. Staff undertake relevant training to help them to fulfil their role and meet the individual needs of the child who lives in the home. The registered manager and two staff have a qualification that is relevant to their role. However, the rest of the staff are relatively inexperienced and unqualified. The registered manager has not satisfied himself that qualifications held by some staff are equivalent to those set out in regulation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 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 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)((b)(viii)) 26 February 2025

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to delays in sharing concerns reported about the conduct of a person who works in the home. 26 February 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 6

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps for learning. If a child’s progress is not in line with their agreed targets or next steps, staff should seek expert advice from education professionals. In particular, the registered manager should ensure that the child’s education, health and care plan is reviewed without delay to enable staff to understand the child’s educational support needs and targets. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.11)  The registered manager should ensure that records of restraint are kept and these records should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, the registered manager should

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Recommendations

record the effectiveness of restraints used and ensure that the child has an opportunity to reflect with a person not involved in the situation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered manager should consider qualification requirements for staff as listed in Annex A. In particular, the registered manager should review staff’s existing qualifications to consider equivalency to the level 3 diploma for residential childcare and, when gaps are identified, they should act to ensure that relevant units or qualifications are completed in a timely manner. In addition, a record of information the registered manager has considered to establish ‘equivalence’ should be kept. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.6)

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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: 2778855 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care and Support (Children) Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 77 Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8SP

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Inspectors

Helen Dunn, Social Care Inspector Julia Tompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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