Children's Home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare 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

A private provider operates this home. This home provides care for up to four children with a variety of complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The experienced manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and is registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this visit, two children were living in the home. The children were spoken with during the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: Requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/08/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/06/2024 Full Inadequate 10/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children live in the home. No children have moved on, and one child has moved in since the last inspection. Children’s moves to the home are positive. Care planning is thorough and child focused. Before a child moves in, the views and feelings of children already living in the home are carefully considered. This offers children reassurance and makes them feel included when changes occur in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The atmosphere is friendly. Children and staff enjoy meals together at the dining table, creating a welcoming environment that promotes positive social interaction. These shared moments contribute to the children’s sense of belonging and strengthen bonds within the home. The games room door was locked, and children were unable to access some of their possessions. Action was taken by the manager to address this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and are making progress from their starting points. One child said, ‘It is lovely here.’ Children’s progress is encouraged and measured using targets and creative incentives. However, when consequences are used to address poor behaviour, they are not always restorative. They do not help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationship between the children has improved. There are some incidents of bullying in the home. Staff work tirelessly to promote positive relationships using consistent boundaries and talking with the children about the importance of being kind to each other. This support is proving effective, and bullying incidents have decreased. This contributes to children’s well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school full time; they are learning and are making good educational progress. Staff work well with educational professionals, and together, they identify any barriers to learning to ensure that children reach their full potential. One child receives extra tuition in science. As a result, they are thriving in this subject.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s cultural identities are respected and recognised. Staff support children to attend their chosen places of worship. This provides opportunities for children to make new friends with similar interests while also helping them to explore their identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand that maintaining family relationships helps children to feel loved and valued. One child spoke fondly about staying overnight in a hotel with staff when they visited their brother, who lives in a different part of the country. This helps children to stay connected with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. They access specialist health services and engage in therapy sessions that are helping them to overcome previous trauma and build resilience. This is a positive area of practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 4

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe, but on occasions, the support given to them in their most vulnerable times has fallen short of good. While this has not affected the overall judgement of children’s care, their safety has been compromised on occasions. This has left children vulnerable to harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks that children face, and guidance is in place to help them manage risks consistently. However, serious incidents are not always well managed in line with the home’s therapeutic approach. The police are called occasionally to manage situations at the home. On two consecutive days, staff sought police assistance when a child was in crisis. On one occasion, the child was arrested. This overreliance on the police puts children at risk of being unnecessarily criminalised and does not make children feel secure. Plans are in place to prevent this from reoccurring, but their effectiveness has not yet been tested.

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improvement to be good

On another occasion, staff incorrectly reported a child to the police as missing from home. The child was located shortly afterwards safe and well in the home. If staff had followed the safety plan in place, the police attendance at the home would have been avoided.

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improvement to be good

There is a lack of consistency in some incident records. Records vary in quality, and some records are not accurate and do not give a clear account of what happened. This hinders the manager’s ability to identify areas of weakness in staff practice and make amendments to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

When children are unsettled, staff use physical intervention to ensure their safety and the safety of others. The use of restraint is a last resort, and the least force is used for the shortest period. After incidents, staff talk with the children about their experiences; this helps to repair relationships.

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improvement to be good

When children make allegations about staff conduct, prompt action is taken by leaders. Information is shared with external safeguarding agencies to protect children. Staff members concerned do not remain in the home during times of investigation, to safeguard the children and the staff. Following investigations the outcomes are shared with children. This practice helps children feel confident to report any concerns because they are taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager wants the best for children and has shown resilience during challenging times. One child described the manager as the ‘best thing about the home’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good-quality support is provided to the manager by the organisation’s quality manager. Together with the new responsible individual, they are an experienced team. Leaders Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 5 have identified weaknesses and have put plans in place to drive continual improvement to ensure all aspects of children’s care are good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders know that staff feel unsettled and that staff morale has dipped. This is because core staff members have not been at work while necessary investigations to safeguard children were taking place. Leaders are role modelling good practice and working alongside staff to increase their confidence to support children well in times of crisis in line with the home’s model of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, where they can reflect on challenges and successes. Team meetings are held regularly and are used as a forum for open and honest discussions, learning and sharing best practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular training. This includes specialist courses based on the children’s individual needs. In addition, specialist training has been provided for staff to help them support children to manage their feelings and emotions. Further training in this area is planned. There is a shared commitment to practice development to ensure good outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has positive relationships with external professionals. Good multi-agency working helps to ensure that children make progress. A relative described communication with the manager as ‘excellent’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A committed staff team looks after the children. Staff retention is good, and this provides consistency for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 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 harm to the child.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff support children in line with the home’s therapeutic model of care when managing incidents to keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, incident records need to be accurate and clear to ensure areas of weakness in staff practice can be identified, and if necessary, practice is amended to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 6 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children and the staff caring for them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of their home and their possessions unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: 2516553 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 28 Phoenix Business Park, Avenue Close, Birmingham B7 4NU

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Inspector

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2516553 9 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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