Children's Home run by JN Healthcare Group Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 1 Registered provider: JN Healthcare Group 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

The home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home registered with Ofsted in August 2024. This was the first inspection after registration.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since November 2024. A new manager has been appointed. They have not yet applied to register with Ofsted. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. All of 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The inspection started on 11 December 2024. Inspectors returned on 23 January 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Serious and widespread failures were identified in safeguarding practice and the leadership and management of the home. This has had a negative impact on children and their experiences. The shortfalls in help and protection and leadership and management have contributed to the overall judgement of inadequate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Three children have moved into the home since it was registered. Children were helped to settle into the home by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not share positive relationships with all of the staff. Children say some staff shout, swear and give them ‘death stares’. Children are not confident to talk to managers about their concerns because they feel they will not be listened to or believed. When they do speak up, their concerns are not acted on. One child has become unsettled due to incidents where staff have not acted appropriately. The child said, ‘There is nothing positive I have to say about living here.’ Another child said that they are made to feel unimportant by the staff who look after them. This has negatively impacted on children’s emotional well-being and self-confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Information written about children is not always respectful or child focused. One child is described by staff as ‘nosey’, and another child is described as ‘seeking pity from managers’. This lack of understanding by staff and the leadership team about children’s lived experiences creates a negative culture in the home. This means children are cared for by staff who share negative views about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Only one child is in education. Staff are advocating for the other two children to return to full-time education. However, efforts by staff to provide informal educational activities and learning during school hours are not structured. As a result, educational progress and attainment for these children are hindered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the challenges, children are making some progress from their starting points. One child is now sleeping in a bed, and another child’s sleep hygiene has improved because staff read them a bedtime story each night.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s hobbies and interests are supported. One child enjoys attending Army Cadets, and this is helping them become more confident. The child’s social worker said that this is a big achievement for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to be healthy, and their medicines are managed safely. Children have access to the specialist health services that they need. Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 3

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

Children are not consistently safeguarded in the home. One child said they do not feel safe.

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

Children are exposed to emotional harm because of poor staff conduct and poor management oversight. For example, children told the inspector about an incident where a staff member shouted, swore and displayed threatening behaviour towards a child. Staff who were present did not identify their colleague’s poor conduct as a safeguarding concern and failed to report this to the leadership team.

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

On another occasion, a staff member took photographs of a child that were not appropriate. The photographs were subsequently printed and displayed on the child’s bedroom wall. They were not removed until the child’s social worker raised this as a concern with managers. During the inspection, managers confirmed that the photographs were inappropriate and that this should not have happened. Despite this, the manager has failed to address this poor practice with the individual staff member.

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

Another incident was managed well. When a child’s online safety was compromised, this was reported to relevant professionals and learning was shared among the staff team to prevent recurrence. Staff also spoke with the child to offer reassurance and to increase their feeling of safety.

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort. When children are held, the incidents are reviewed by the manager to ensure that the use of the intervention is proportionate and necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager left the home unexpectedly in November 2024, due to unforeseen circumstances. Leaders acted quickly to appoint a new manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have poor insight into the practice of staff. This has led to a culture in the home where poor practice is accepted and is not consistently challenged. On 23 January 2025, inspectors were made aware of concerns about the conduct of several staff who work in the home. Managers had failed to identify and address these conduct concerns before the inspectors raised them. Furthermore, a social worker and one child’s family member say they lack confidence in the ability of leaders to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and oversight of children’s care and experiences are poor. The leadership team lacks professional curiosity and does not thoroughly explore all incidents. For example, managers did not exercise the necessary rigour in exploring an incident where a child was distressed. The record was poor and incomplete, with managers minimising the child’s response to inspectors as a ‘known behaviour’. This lack of professional curiosity in exploring the child’s experiences does not help managers understand if there are practice issues and does not help children to feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 4 Leaders do not ensure that the home environment is nurturing and supportive to children in line with the home’s statement of purpose. This is an ongoing development area. Some areas detract from the homely feel, and other areas are dirty. Some remedial action was taken during the inspection visits, and the responsible individual gave

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

assurance that he will take more action to make improvements. This shows a willingness to learn lessons.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not ensure that Ofsted is notified of all significant events that happen in the home. This compromises the external oversight of safeguarding practices in the home. In addition, the language in the outcome letter that was written to the child is not helpful to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff say they are happy working at the home, and they feel supported by their managers. Staff receive regular supervision sessions, which provide them space to reflect on their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must demonstrate that leaders and managers understand and have the capacity and skill to exercise professional curiosity to promote the safety and welfare of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure records of incidents are complete and capture the views of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that leaders and managers have effective systems in place to review incident records in a timely way and take effective action to improve the care and safety of children. 4 February 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 6 *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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff, including leaders and managers, understand expectations in respect of acceptable conduct with children. This should include clarity about what behaviours are not acceptable and why. The registered person must ensure that all staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in the protection of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff, including leaders and managers, understand their responsibility to identify, report and escalate safeguarding concerns, including conduct issues. To include how to report/escalate internally and externally and how to whistle-blow. 4 February 2025

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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. 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(vii)(viii)(ix) (c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all areas of the home are clean, namely children’s shower rooms and their bedroom windows. Plugs must be available for children to use in their shower room sinks, and towel radiators must be free from rust.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that information written about children is always respectful, considering children’s backgrounds and lived experiences, in order to develop positive relationships.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 8 (Regulation 40 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children and is a homely, domestic environment. The home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities 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)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should include the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the

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Recommendations

staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘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: 2672241 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: JN Healthcare Group limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 36 Navigation Street, Art Court Building, Walsall, West Midlands WS2 9LT

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Inspectors

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Nurul Kabir, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2672241 10 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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