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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2568363 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 one child who may experience childhood instability, which may lead to trauma and associated risks.

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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, one child lived at the home. The child was 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 11 September 2023

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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: 2568363 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/09/2023 Full Good 23/11/2022 Full Good 26/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2568363 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has been welcomed into the home. The child has lived at the home for eight months and has made good progress across all areas of their development. One child moved out of the home in a planned way, following a thorough assessment of their needs, into a foster care placement. This child had lived at the home for over three years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A thoroughly planned move was completed with the child who moved out of the home. Staff regularly completed ‘life coach’ sessions to support the child to develop key independent living skills. When planning began, staff completed sessions with the child to raise their familiarity of the new environment they were moving to, by showing the child where local amenities are and how they could access local transport links. This supported the child to feel safe and secure in their new environment. The targets set for children who are working towards independence are age and risk appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children make significant progress from their individual starting points in respect of their education. One child had been out of education for over a year prior to moving to the home. The manager identified a specialist educational provision that provided the child with a positive and nurturing learning environment. The child’s school attendance, as a result, improved significantly. Another child successfully secured a place at sixth- form college prior to their move to foster care. This child had initially been home educated by staff due to their level of social anxiety. This highlights the work completed by staff to develop children’s confidence and ability to participate in new experiences at a pace that is individual to their specific needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to keep in touch with their families. Staff are aware of the importance of helping children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Staff will travel a substantial distance to maintain family relationships for children. This ensures that children continue to develop their relationship with their family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of positive experiences that leads to progress. One child has been regularly attending a local farm to promote their love of animals. This has provided the child with the opportunity to develop peer relationships and develop new skills in caring for the animals. Children’s views are regularly sought in respect of how they feel about their care and how staff can support them to understand their identity and to expand their knowledge and awareness of their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff share the progress that children make in monthly and weekly reports with each child’s social worker and family. Children’s social workers and family members have highlighted in feedback the quality and consistency of this communication. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568363 4

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

Children’s individual risks are identified, understood and managed well by staff and leaders. Risk assessments provide staff with relevant information that they need to keep children safe, and staff know and consistently apply these. Children have trusted adults within the home that they can speak openly with. Evidence of this is seen in regular sessions where staff have meaningful conversations with children about risks that could have a negative impact on their safety and well-being. These topics are reviewed in follow-up sessions so staff can review the child’s learning from these sessions.

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

Staff understand the actions to take if children were to go missing from the home, and they have clear plans to follow. Children’s risk assessments have been appropriately reviewed in order to ensure the least restrictive methods to safeguard them are in place. As a result, door alarms have been removed from a child’s bedroom in line with a thorough review of their current needs.

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

Physical intervention is used as a last resort to keep children safe from harm. When this intervention is used, children and staff are spoken with promptly to reflect on the experience and ensure that children’s rights are upheld. There has been a noticeable reduction in the physical interventions used for one child. The child has experienced much more stability and has developed their relationships with consistent staff members.

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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 suitability of reward systems is regularly reviewed. Staff encourage children to participate in selecting the rewards they would like to work towards. This promotes the voice of each child and is reflective, therefore, of their wishes and feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is child focused and is supported by a team of staff that shares her vision to provide the best possible care for children. The manager has high expectations for children and is passionate about supporting them to achieve their full potential. While the manager will be leaving this post shortly, she has put together a very detailed transition plan to ensure both the child and her staffing team have time to process and plan for this change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of children’s progress and regularly reviews the home’s strengths and areas for development, so that staff can strive to improve practice. Systems, however, have not always been effective to highlight gaps in staff recordings of incidents involving children. Incomplete records of incidents can prevent staff from identifying triggers for children and can have a negative impact on their ability to review and adapt the ways they support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a highly supportive environment for staff to learn. Staff feel supported and receive regular, good quality supervision that provides them with an opportunity to Inspection report for children’s home: 2568363 5 reflect on their practice and identify areas for improvement. Training is arranged so that it is tailored to the specific needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported to progress into senior roles within the home. A member of staff has recently been nominated for their excellent work as part of the ‘National Stars of Children and Young People Awards, celebrating excellence in Social Care’. Representatives from a child’s educational setting and members of the child’s family have provided the positive feedback that has resulted in this nomination.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has built a strong working relationship with key professionals in children’s lives. Professionals comment on how well the team communicates with them, and say that they feel confident that they have the most up-to-date information about children, so they can provide them with the right care and support. Daily handovers with a child’s educational setting ensure that the child receives consistency of care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568363 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 registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which –

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 25 April 2025

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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: 2568363 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: 2568363 8 regulates 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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